mm: tiramisu cookies

this time for martha mondays we had the choice of anything from her current newsstand issues of living or everyday food (or really anything, including her books, i'm pretty easy!!) this way some of you savory gals and guys could join up with us too.

but for me, i stayed sweet. and inexplicably even though i hate coffee i chose these cookies. without a doubt the best tiramisu is to be found at noodle pudding. then again, i love it because it doesn't have an overly disgusting coffee flavor, so maybe you tiramisu diehards wouldn't like it as much? but trust me, it's so creamy, and fluffy, and chocolatey, and a hint of coffee. just thinking about it makes me swoon.



these were fun to make, a bit messy because, well ... because i'm still quite a messy baker. especially when anything needs to come out of a piping bag. it's like, ohh, you mean for that to come out of the bottom of the bag and not the top? oops!! despite the stern warnings from the professional (mr. mimi) i overfill my piping bags like i overfill my burritos. it's really not a pretty sight!

and somewhere along the way i also seemed to have made a baking sheet of perfect cookie bottoms that were firm and solid, and came off the parchment easily. and also a sheet of not so great cookie bottoms that were soft and half the cookie stuck to the parchment. so they prolly just needed more bake time, but it made for an interesting night of peeling them off.



and of course, i also forgot to dust the cookies with cocoa before baking. i know, i'm horrible at mis en place!! i'm sure that i would absolutely get yelled at if i ever took a professional class ... fancy teacher chef: mimi, where is your cocoa? mimi: umm, oops, i forgot. fancy teacher: you call yourself a baker, you're a disgrace! and then i'd end up crying, because i'm like that. but thankfully no one yelled at me and i made up for it with a little dusting on the mascarpone filling.



and just like i thought ... i hated them! but mr. mimi, the coffee lover, found them quite delectable!

** if you joined up for martha mondays, please send me an email: mimikatzchen at -- gmail dot com and i will post the round-up tomorrow! **



tiramisu cookies: makes 30
from martha's living magazine (may 2008)

5 large eggs, separated
1 cup sugar
3 tb instant espresso
1/2 cup cake flour
1/4 tsp salt
dutch process cocoa powder, for dusting
3/4 cup mascarpone cheese
1/4 cup plus 1 1/2 tsp confectioners' sugar, sifted
3 tb almond-flavored liqueur
1/2 tsp vanilla
6 oz semisweet chocolate, melted

1. preheat oven to 350F. line two baking sheets with parchment paper (you may want to rule them with lines 2 inches high).

2. using mixer with whisk attachment, beat yolks and 1/2 cup sugar until pale and stiff, about 3 minutes. add espresso powder, and beat 2 minutes. add flour and beat until just combined.

3. clean bowl and whisk; beat whites and salt until foamy. with mixer running, add remaining 1/2 cup sugar in slow steady stream until stiff peaks form, about 5 minutes. fold whites into yolk mixture in 3 additions until well combined.

4. using pastry bag with 1/2" plain tip, pipe batter onto baking sheets 2 inches long, and 1 inch wide. dust with cocoa.

5. bake, rotating halfway through, until firm 12-14 minutes. let cool completely on the parchment paper on wire racks.

6. stir together mascarpone, confectioners' sugar, liqueur, vanilla until well combined. refrigerate for 15 minutes (up to 3 days).

7. when ready to serve, brush cookie's flat sides with melted chocolate. refrigerate to firm chocolate, about 10 minutes.

8. spread a generous 1/2 tsp mascarpone filling over one half bottom of cookie and sandwich with the other half. serve immediately!