Chocolate Banana Tiramisu

Since I never wanted to use raw eggs, I never made Tiramisu.  That was until I decided to substitute bananas for the raw eggs. Mascarpone is the secret ingredient in Tiramisu. It has an ivory color and will soon seduce you with a delicate perfume.  I find it to be perfect with bananas and rum.  This is now my favorite dessert. Tiramisu (tih-ruh-mee-soo) is Italian for "pick me up."  

This dish does give you a bit of a heady feeling!  It is truly heavenly in any form. Usually it contains very strong coffee. Since not everyone has an espresso machine, I used coffee granules, which work quite well. Lady Fingers are essential and lately I prefer the softer version in place of the dry cookies, which also come in a 7-ounce package.  

The packaged cookies are a product of Italy. I prefer not to over soak the cookies. You may wish to double the coffee liquid for the dry cookies. Sometimes I just use cocoa powder and omit all the other chocolate ingredients. 

1 (7 ounce) package Lady Fingers  (you will need 16 cookies) or 1 (3 ounce) package Fresh Lady Fingers

which you might find in the frozen food section of your local grocery store or you can call 1-800-755-9890 for more information.  The ones by Specialty Bakers, Inc. are the best ones I have tasted. 

Coffee Liquid

1/4 cup fat free milk

1 teaspoon instant coffee granules

1 tablespoon rum or apple juice

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

1/4 teaspoon imitation rum extract

Creamy Banana Filling

1 (8 ounce) container Fresh Mascarpone also available through 1-800-Balducci  

Look in the cheese section of your grocery store or try the deli

1/2 cup mashed banana (1 medium banana) Cannot be over ripe!  Will make cheese look curdled.

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar

1 tablespoon meringue powder  (select ingredients, click M, then #82260 is the item number. 

Chefmaster is the brand.) This is what I use in place of the eggs.

Toppings

Dutch processed cocoa powder

1 ounce white or semisweet chocolate, shredded

Chocolate Syrup

1 banana, sliced 

Whipped Cream

1.  Place the the Lady Fingers in a square baking dish.   

2.  In a small bowl, mix milk, coffee granules, rum or apple juice,  

     granulated sugar and rum extract. Stir until the sugar has 

     completely dissolved. Sprinkle this mixture over the Lady Fingers.  

     Leave to soak.  

3.  In a medium bowl, use a mixer on medium speed to cream the 

     mascarpone cheese cheese until smooth. Add in the mashed banana, 

     banana flavoring, vanilla, confectioners’ sugar and meringue 

     powder. Beat the mixture until thickened and creamy or 

     about 1 minute.  Beat one more minute until light and fluffy.   

4.  Pour the banana filling into a piping bag or use a large plastic bag

     and snip off one of the corners when ready to use.  

5.  Place half the soaked Lady Fingers side by side in the middle of a

     serving tray. Pipe half the banana filling over the cookies, then use

     a small sifter to lightly dust a layer of Dutch cocoa powder over the

     filling. You could also substitute grated semisweet chocolate.  

6.  Top carefully with the rest of the Lady Fingers and then top with

     remaining filling. Sprinkle with more cocoa powder, then top with

     grated white chocolate. Refrigerate 1/2 an hour to an hour.  

7.  Just before serving, decorate with bananas and chocolate syrup. The

     chocolate syrup looks pretty drizzled from one side the to the other

     in stripes across the tiramisu.  This is heavenly! 

     Hint: You can double the recipe or even use sponge cake if you prefer. 

     You could slice a sponge cake in half and use the cheese as a filling and  

     icing.  Then, top the cake with fresh berries and sprinkle with sugar.  You could

     also split a sponge cake into three slices, use the cheese as a filling, then top 

     the entire cake with melted semi-sweet chocolate and decorate around

     the edges with Amaretti: small round cookies with an almond flavor.  

     Serves 2 when using fresh cookies, or 4 when using dry cookies.