Tiramisu ~ So how do you make that?

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays my friends. I hope you've had a wonderful few days and have eaten enough to make you want to diet for the next few months. That's the sign of a good holiday if you ask me.

Over my holidays, I spent a lot of time cooking and baking. My most favorite dish was the Tiramisu that we had for Christmas evening dessert. Be warned that this is not a "light" dish, but boy is it worth every calorie in there. It's also less work than you'd think, which in addition to being a lick the plate type of dish, that makes it a complete winner in my book.

Just a note: I've made this a few different ways. The difference is in the texture of the filling. This is probably the easiest way to make it. So here we go!

Ingredients:

6 egg yolks
3/4 cup white sugar
2/3 cup milk
1 1/4 cups heavy cream
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
8oz mascarpone cheese
1/8 cup rum
1/8 cup kahlua
around 20 ladyfinger cookies
1 tblsp unsweetened cocoa powder

Step 1: Combine 6 egg yolks and sugar in a saucepan - mix until well blended.

Step 2: Whisk in milk and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture boils. Boil gently for 1 minute.

Step 2a) Add two chunks of baking chocolate into the mix and remove from heat. Give mixture a good mix and set to side to cool.
OPTIONAL: This is a complete deviation from the way Tiramisu is typically made, and I'm not entirely sure it's even "allowed". We may have to rename this to Chocamisu or something.

But someone in my household thinks Tiramisu is "boring" without chocolate, so I decided to switch it up a bit. You can choose to skip this step and you will continue with everything else to make regular Tiramisu. But this turned out to be fantastic, so feel free to give it a try!

Step 3: While egg/milk/chocolate mixture is cooling, whip the mascarpone in a medium bowl. Set aside.

Step 4: Combine heavy cream and vanilla. Mix until stiff peaks form.

Step 5: When egg/milk/chocolate mixture has cooled, add to mascarpone and mix well.

Step 6: After mixture is completely smooth, fold in the whipped cream in thirds.

When done, mixture will be light and foamy. Almost like mousse.

Step 7: Combine any sort of rums and kahlua. You should be able to taste the mixture and make a combination you enjoy.

If you decide you don't want to use alcohol, you could use a cup of coffee instead.

Step 8: Dip each of the lady fingers in the mixture, until the cookies have absorbed a bit of the liquid and is somewhat softened but not soggy - about 5 seconds a side.