Christmas typically brings to mind a period of festivities, indulgence, family gatherings and generosity, but it hasn’t always been. We owe much to the Victorians who re-invented Christmas as a time for family and celebration. The Puritan authorities of the Seventeenth Century repressed many Christmas traditions due to their pagan origins, and Christmas remained largely a Church based celebration through the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. The writer Charles Dickens contributed greatly to the Victorian re-construction of Christmas with his novel ‘A Christmas Carol’, which historians have said redefined the spirit and importance of Christmas. This is the first time I have dared to shoot a video with my minimal gear.I really want to thank my hubby to patently shoot the video with so many retakes.Hope you like it.I am really sorry as I really lack the patience today to churn up a story.I pray for your goodwill and the world peace for christmas as I silently celebrate with my family. Really thankful to “The Black Atlantic” for letting me add beauty to this video with their song “Fragile Meadow“.Do pay them a visit at this link.
- 1 tbsp of cafe Azera from nescafe dissolved in 150ml / 1 cups water (boiled and cooled)
- 300 ml Dark Chocolate Liqueur (17% alcohol)
- 400 grams savoiardi biscuits/sponge finger biscuits
- 2 large eggs at room temperature
- 75 grams caster sugar
- 250 grams mascarpone cheese
- 2 ½ teaspoons cocoa powder
- Mix the coffee with 150ml / 1 cup of first boiled and then cooled water with 1 tbsp of sugar.
- Separate the eggs, but keep only one of the whites aside.
- Whisk (with quite a lot of agility as we don’t want scrambled eggs) the two yolks and the sugar together until thick and a paler yellow over a hot water bath or double boiler.This ensures that the egg yolk is cooked and has no bacteria, then fold in the remaining 150ml of liqueur, and the mascarpone to make a mousey mixture.Using a spatula always helps.
- Whisk the single egg white until thick and frothy using a food processor. Fold the egg white into the yolky mascarpone.This should be a gentle mix as we don’t want to lose out the foamy texture of the mixture.
- Take the prepared coffee and add the remaining 150ml of Liqueur and give it a gentle stir.Dip the biscuits into this liquid; let them soak on each side enough tobecome damp but not soggy.
- Then take your shot glasses and then layer your biscuit and spoon the yolky mascarpone mixture and another layer of biscuit and finally the mixture on top flattened.
- Cover the shot glass with clingfilm and leave in the fridge for four hours (more the better) to soak the flavours. When you are ready to serve take it out of the fridge, sieve the cocoa powder through a small tea strainer to dust the top of the tiramisu.We do not add cocoa powder from before as it turns bitter in the refrigerator.