Hello my fellow foodie and welcome to another recipe.
I hope you all had a lovely break for Easter.This month, with the promise of some good weather, two bank holiday weekends and a distinct probability of the first Le Fey barbecue of the year, my thoughts turned to a dessert, that is not only a real crowd pleaser, but is simple to create and can be made in advance.
I used a 20cm x 20cm ceramic serving dish approximately 6cm deep, but you could use a different size and have a deeper or more shallow slice, I have even seen it made in individual portions and also served up by the spoonful like trifle.
You will need
• 568ml Double Cream
• 250g Mascarpone Cheese
• 75ml Marsala
• 5tbsp Brown Caster Sugar
• 300ml Strong Black Coffee
• 175g Sponge Fingers
• 50g Dark Chocolate
• 2 tsp Cocoa Powder
Let’s begin by making the coffee and pouring it into a shallow dish to allow it to cool before we need to use it. Next we should whisk the cream, mascarpone, sugar and Marsala into a thick, yet light and airy mixture. Set this to the side while we move on to the next step.
Take the sponge fingers and, one at a time, dip it into the coffee and turn it over to ensure both sides are covered, then lay the sponge fingers in neat rows covering the base of your dish. Resist the temptation to completely soak the sponge fingers they will be extremely tricky to handle or disintegrate completely. Once you have a completed layer, top with half of the cream/mascarpone mixture and finish to a smooth top.
Now cover with a fine layer of finely grated chocolate and a dusting of cocoa powder. (I grate the chocolate straight on to the top). Repeat with a second layer of coffee soaked biscuits and a second layer of the cream and mascarpone mixture again finishing to a clean, smooth top. Finish with a generous layer of grated chocolate and a dusting of cocoa powder. Now leave in the fridge for a couple of hours to chill and firm up then it is ready to serve in slices, spoonfuls or great big dollops…the choice dear reader, as always, is all yours.
Variations
You may choose to leave out the Marsala or you may wish to add more. For more of a boozy kick sprinkle a little Marsala on top of the soaked sponge finger layer before adding the cream and mascarpone layer. Some people may not like coffee -you could use a blend of freshly squeezed citrus fruits to soak the sponge finger and flavour the cream mixture with a glug of Limoncello or something orange based like Cointreau.
Until next time dear reader…
