Double Chocolate Tiramisu

I'm back....life has been crazy over these last few weeks. I cannot even believe that October is here and almost half way through to boot. I just spent the most amazing weekend with my family. They ventured down to DC for a visit. Me, my dad, and my Uncle Gregg raced in the Army Ten Miler yesterday and we all finished with respectable times! Woohoo, all that training really did pay off. Although, it may take a few days to be able to walk normally again. We visited the National American History Museum, where I was able to see Julia Child's kitchen, so cool! It was really neat to see all of her copper pots, and how she organized all of her tools. It was definitely a chef's kitchen. We lounged on the National Mall enjoying the view of the Capitol and the Washington Monument, taking in the great weather. It was so nice to have my family here with me and to have that time to spend together. We don't get to do that often enough. 

Acting like proper tourists

Enough about my weekend let's get onto the good stuff, double chocolate tiramisu. Yes, you heard right double chocolate. This seriously is one of the best desserts I have made in a while. A few weeks back, I visited my grandparents and aunt & uncle. I wanted to make them a nice meal and a kickin' dessert. I definitely think I hit the nail on the head for the dessert. I based the recipe off of Martha Stewart's tiramisu but I tweaked it to my tastes. This is the recipe I followed:

Double Chocolate Tiramisu (adapted from Everday Food)

2 Tbsp. Unsweetened Cocoa Powder (plus more for garnish)

1 1/2 cups Heavy Cream

4 oz. Semi-sweet Chocolate, chopped

1 bar (8 oz.) Cream Cheese, room temperature

3/4 cup Sugar

24 Ladyfinger cookies (premade/bought)

1 1/2 oz. Amaretto Liqueur

2 Tbsp. brewed Espresso

1. In medium bowl, mix cocoa powder with 1 1/2 cups very hot water until disolved. Add brewed espresso and let cool. Once cool, add amaretto. In a small microwaveable bowl, place 1/4 cup heavy cream and chocolate; microwave in 1-minute increments, stirring each time until melted and smooth. Allow to cool to room temperature.

2. In a mixing bowl, add cream cheese, sugar, and cooled chocolate mixture. Using an electric mixer, cream together. Add the remaining heavy cream and mix until fluffy about 2 minutes. 

3. Line the bottom of pan with 1 cup of chocolate/cheese mixture. One at a time dip ladyfingers in cocoa/espresso mixture and line on top of chocolate in a single layer. Repeat layering until all chocolate mixture and ladyfingers are used. Cover tiramisu and refrigerate for at least two hours. Before serving dust with cocoa powder and server with homemade whip cream.

This was a nice fluffy yet rich dessert. Make sure the portions are small when serving. I will definitely be using this one again! 

OK, since this is a cooking blog and I did promise to share the good and the bad, I am going to quickly share my failed attempt at Apple Fritters. I found what seemed to be this great recipe on Pinterest (my new online obesession). It was for Apple Fritters, which is always something I had wanted to try. I have not done a lot of frying in my kitchen so I thought it would be a good blog post right? Wrong. I just don't have the right equipment for it (no heavy bottom pots, candy thermometers, splash screens, none of it). But, I thought I would give it a whirl since the recipe seemed pretty straight forward. You can find the recipe by following this link: Apple Fritters

My fritters came out too dark and raw in the middle. I was cooking them at too high of a temperature and I did not use enough oil in the pot. The glaze came out fine and added a sweetness but overall I would say that I might need to find a new fritter recipe to really find my groove here. Feel free to give it a try and let me know how yours come out, any help with this would be greatly appreciated!

What mine looked like :(

What they were supposed to look like :)