Bread Loaf Reunion

We had company this weekend. Kristin, a friend from my years at Middlebury, and her boyfriend Ron drove up from Columbus, Ohio this weekend to spend some time with us and to tour Ann Arbor. We hadn't seen one another since graduation in August of 2004, but it was like it was only yesterday. We had so much fun looking at old pictures, catching up on the news of all of our friends and sharing all the things that have happened to us since we graduated one surprisingly cold August evening in the mountains of Vermont. Kristin and I traveled together when we were in Oxford and used to really enjoy dancing at our weekly barn dances in Vermont, so we had many stories to share with TJ and Ron. We spent all afternoon on Saturday wandering around downtown Ann Arbor and spent hours just chatting and enjoying our friends old and new. Krisitin gave me a refresher course on knitting, so I should begin producing scraves at an incredible rate now. I made an Italian meal for Saturday evening and topped it off with homemade tiramisu. I was so proud of my creation that I have included a picture so that you can all marvel at my culinary skill and the recipie so that you can make some too. Enjoy!

Tiramisù Trifle

Two steps will assure your success with this famed Italian "pick-me-up" dessert--packing the ladyfingers snugly in the dish so you're sure to use them all and using every drop of the coffee-rum syrup to soak them. Yield: 8 servings

Ingredients

16 ounces mascarpone cheese*

1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened

1 cup whipping cream

1/3 cup sifted powdered sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups whipping cream, whipped

1 cup (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate morsels, melted

1 1/4 cups fresh brewed strong coffee, cooled (we tested with a French roast)

1/3 cup dark rum

3 (3-ounce) packages ladyfingers

2 (1-ounce) white chocolate squares (I used dark chocolate on top instead of white chocolate.)

Preparation

Beat first 5 ingredients at high speed with an electric mixer 45 seconds or just until blended. Gently fold in whipped cream. Divide mixture into 2 portions. Fold melted chocolate into 1 portion. Set both mixtures aside.

Stir together coffee and rum.

Split ladyfingers in half. Arrange enough ladyfingers to cover bottom of a 3-quart trifle dish or other glass bowl. Soak ladyfingers with coffee mixture. Top with half of chocolate cheese mixture. Add another layer of ladyfingers; soak with coffee mixture. Top with half of cream cheese mixture. Repeat layers with remaining ladyfingers, coffee and cheese mixtures, ending with cream cheese mixture. Cover and chill trifle 8 to 24 hours. Grate white chocolate using a vegetable peeler, and pile shavings in center of trifle just before serving.

*As a substitute for mascarpone cheese, combine 2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, 1/3 cup sour cream, and 1/4 cup whipping cream; beat well. Use 2 cups for recipe, reserving remainder for other uses.