Christmas dessert

[dumpling]

Did the Tiramisu Eggnog Trifle from the December issue of Bon Appetit. Came out pretty well. Best a couple of days aftermaking it I think. Makes a nice presentation, good flavor.

[kthull]

I loved the eggnog tiramisu trifle too. I did the original recipe as a test a week before Christmas. For the actual run, I made genoise to replace the ladyfingers and it was a huge improvement in both taste and texture. Plus, my Christmas Eve version was with store bought mascarpone and the cream texture ended up a bit grainy. The Christmas day version was with homemade mascarpone which was soooo smooth and creamy. That one really shined. Didn't have time to make the chocolate leaves for either, but it didn't suffer one bit.

I also did the Schwarzwalder torte from December Gourmet and I have to say that it only works if you double everything. There's no way the photo represents the printed recipe and that really bugs me. I didn't have time to test that one so I was a bit upset. I doubled the chocolate and cream on the fly because there was no way it would be enough, but the meringues were already baked and thin as crackers. That said, it's a great dessert...not too sweet and nice presentation. I'm putting together another one today for the last of the Christmas dinners and the doubled meringues look much better.

[Ladybug]

I made Cook's Illustrated's Pumpkin Cheesecake for Christmas and it turned out very well. It was almost . . . fluffy. The pumpkin cheesecake I've made in the past is the one from epicurious and isn't nearly as good - it's very dense and the flavor is a bit strong. It's also very rich, so almost everyone who ate it said they couldn't finish their slice - but that didn't happen this year. My father-in-law ate a fourth of the cheesecake IN ONE SITTING.

I had intended to make a Buche de Noel (from The Cake Bible - I've made it before) for my daughter's birthday cake (She was born on Christmas - woo woo!) but my sister-in-law's boyfriend's mother sent over a cake for her, and I felt I had to use it. Box mix, canned frosting - but my 2 year old liked it and the gesture was so incredibly nice I felt I couldn't complain.

[Mottmott]

...I'll making some mascarpone in a few minutes ...

re tartaric acid...

Edited: Oops, nevermind.

Edited December 28, 2003 by Mottmott (log)

[Joni]

I also made the Eggnog Tiramisu...with the genoise...it was a huge hit. Terrific. I did use the store bought mascarpone...and really beat it well and it was fine. I will have to try homemade just to compare. Everyone loved it. I did not use as much espresso or Kahula...just barely brushed the genoise. I did make the leaves in dark chocolate and some in milk chocolate....beautiful and amazingly so simple to make..used mostly camellia leaves. So easy, so do try it.