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Dessert Wed Nov 11 2009
Beeramisu
I've been in a cranberry rut lately with my desserts, so yesterday in preparation for a dinner with friends, I hit went online for inspiration and something without berry or crumble in the name. Right away I found it, at one of my favorite sites, 101 Cookbooks: Beeramisu, or tiramisu made with beer. (follow the link for the recipe.) Fall is always a good time for cooking with beer. Especially something like Beeramisu, which doesn't require a lot of prep time or ingredients.
After two trips to the grocery store, one to double the amount of mascarpone I'd initially bought, I began to assemble my dessert. When I popped open the bottle of beer I realized there were going to be three kids eating with us, so I decided it would be best to boil the alcohol out of the beer. I made a mistake with the beer. I didn't want to buy a six pack of stout or porter, so I bought Grimbergen, thinking it would be sweet and spicy enough. But when it came time to pour the beer over the lady fingers, I added a shot of coffee, as the recipe says to. I thought I could skip the coffee, and perhaps with a darker beer I could have, but not with a Belgian blonde.
Since tiramisu, or Beeramisu, doesn't need to bake, it's a quick dessert to make. I layered lady fingers with the beer-coffee mixture poured over them, alternating with a creamy blend of mascarpone and whipped cream. When I served it I worried that my lady fingers looked a little dry, but my 6-year-old dinner guest assured me that, no, those lady fingers looked soggy. They tasted soggy, too. In the end it was hard to actually distinguish the beer taste, but the dessert was a hit. My husband even ate a spoonful at breakfast this morning. Next time, I'll try a richer, darker beer and leave out the coffee, for a more beer-thentic experience.
