Tiny Desserts and Beer Tiramisu (Beeramisu)

Bear with me while I gush a little about one of my favorite food blogs, DessertForTwo.com by Christina Lane. Girl, you are as adorable as your desserts are tasty. Thank you for finding a way to preserve the waistlines (and bank accounts) for all obsessive bakers out there. I love that you have puff pastry, sugar free detox, cocktails, and a judicious hand with the bourbon. And CROISSANT. Eer-mer-gerd, nom nom nom!

A while back I got it in my head to make ladyfingers. I had mascarpone in the fridge at the time (on waffles and french toast with apple butter) and was looking for other ways to use it. Tiramisu popped up a lot, big sarcastic surprise, and all the recipes called for a package of ladyfingers. I am a paranoid label reader, and if it isn’t already an ingredient in my cupboard, I cringe. Fortunately, the internet provides many ladyfinger recipes and I liked this one and it’s tiny variation. While it is ten more steps to make the ladyfingers, they keep well in a tin and I found it rewarding and fun with my pretend pastry bag. If you would rather go have bottomless mimosas at brunch, by all means, buy a package of ladyfingers or make them on a different day.

Milk stout with vanilla bean = the only flavoring you need

Enter again, Christina Lane, who has no less than three tiramisu versions and several different techniques. I admit that a full recipe of tiramisu would be overwhelming in dishes to wash after, but not so much when you use tiny bowls and tiny amounts of ingredients. That is especially good, because I didn’t want to sacrifice an entire beer to replace the spirits in a full recipe. Especially this special beer which Shane brought back from his travels, Creme Brûlée from Southern Tier which is so so so so good! So good!

Beer tiramisu is not a new idea and several schools of thought have developed around it; pure expression of the beer in the dessert and the boozier version with added spirits like Kahlua, Bailey’s or Brandy. With a beer like Creme Brûlée, I have to go with pure expression. Other beers that would be fun for pure expression would be Chocolate Sombrero by Clown Shoes and Kasteel Winter. A strong belgian beer version might be pretty good, too.

Below is Christina’s traditional tiramisu method including beer and less sugar.

Beer Tiramisu for Two

Prepare double boiler and in the bowl beat the following until thick and pale yellow:

• 2 egg yolks
• 2 tablespoons sugar

Stir in:

• 2 oz Southern Tier Creme Brûlée

Beat with hand mixer for two minutes or until 160 F. Allow to cool.

Whip the following:

• 0.25 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1 tbsp powdered sugar

Fold whipped cream into zabaglione/custard.

Then fold in:

• 3 oz mascarpone

Dip

• 8-16 ladyfingers (packaged or this recipe which were not as tall as commercial versions)

for 1-2 seconds in

• 3 oz Southern Tier Creme Brûlée

and layer with cream/custard mixture in two bowls with capacity to hold two cups.

Dust with cocoa powder. Allow to chill 5 hours.

Enjoy with the rest of the Southern Tier Creme Brûlée.

I may have Miss Partner addicted to Beeramisu.

Now, what to do with the rest of the ladyfingers. Send some to Corbet and Bill. Check. Perhaps make a sandwich cookie like those Milanos? With beer flavored ganache?