B.L.T. Pasta Salad
It’s B.L.T. in a bowl, and it takes pasta salad to a whole new level! This slammin’ side dish is crazy delicious and is sure to steal the show at your next bbq!
June 11, 2022 No Comments
Menu
(egg free)
Now this may not be yours Nonna’s tiramisu, but I promise it is just as incredible. I wanted to post a tiramisu recipe for a while now, it’s one of Dustin’s favorite desserts, but I wanted to mix it up. I recently got my hands on the English Toffee Blend from Scotty P’s Big Mug Coffee and felt inspired to create a tiramisu around it. The English Toffee blend has a wonderful profile. It has a heavenly aroma and taste of caramelized sugar, toasted nuts, and rich and creamy cocoa. I like to sprinkle a little cocoa powder in the grinds before I brew it to really highlight it even more. It’s unbelievable the way it perfumes my house first thing in the morning.
It was those flavors that I really wanted to showcase in this tiramisu, and of course the coffee! A key component and arguably the most important part of a tiramisu is using really good espresso or strong brewed coffee. I’ve definitely got the coffee part covered here! You only need 2 cups to dunk the cookies into but I used enough grinds for 5 cups. You can tailor the ratio to your taste, but it was important for me to really have that wonderful roasted, nutty, caramelized flavor come through.
When I tasted the nutty, chocolatey profile of the English Toffee blend, I knew I had to use my favorite chocolate and nut combination: Chocolate & Hazelnut. I mean, who doesn’t love chocolate-hazelnut spread? It’s so good! I thought it was also important to feature the toffee flavor, and since I was already having fun with the main flavor of the tiramisu, why not kick it up another notch and make some hazelnut brittle to go inside of it. I placed the brittle in a food processor and pulverized it until it resembled coarse crumbs. It adds texture and brings the flavors of sugar and vanilla from the coffee to the forefront. I deliberately left out the egg yolks in this recipe because of my use of the spread. The mousse is so light and fluffy, and the chocolate-hazelnut spread gives a silky richness that I personally didn’t think it needed the egg yolks. If this was a plain ol’ tiramisu? Yes, I’d add the egg yolks. But this is far from plain, and you won’t even miss the eggs!
It’s so important to use good ingredients, like the coffee I used in this recipe. You can get Scotty P’s Big Mug Coffee here at the Amazon store, and you can also find them on their website at SCOTTYP.COM (linked here).
Ingredients:
1 cup mascarpone, room temperature
1 cup Chocolate-Hazelnut spread
1 + 1/2 cup heavy cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract, divided
1/4 cup powdered sugar
2 cups freshly brewed Scotty P’s Big Mug Coffee, English Toffee Blend (linked here)
(1) 24 count package of Savoiardi Ladyfinger cookies
3/4 cup Cocoa powder, unsweetened
Hazelnut Toffee:
1/2 cup salted butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup chopped hazelnuts
Instructions:
1. First make the Hazelnut Toffee. Preheat oven to 400 degrees and line a sheet pan with parchment paper. Toast the hazelnuts for 5 minutes or or until they become fragrant and just begin to brown. Allow them to cool on the sheet pan with the parchment paper.
2. Place the 1/2 cup of butter and sugar into a small, light-colored saucepan and melt on medium-low. Stir to combine. Allow butter and sugar to boil and cook until it reaches about 290 degrees Fahrenheit. *The mixture will look golden brown. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Immediately pour the mixture over the toasted hazelnuts. Place pan in the fridge and allow to harden.
3. Once hardened, chop the toffee into small pieces and place them into a food processor. Pulse or blend until coarse crumbs form. Set aside.
4. In a large mixing bowl beat the mascarpone and chocolate-hazelnut spread together with a stand or hand mixer on medium-high for 2 minutes until incorporated and fluffy. Set aside.
5. In a medium mixing bowl whip the cream and the remaining teaspoon of vanilla extract on medium-high until soft peaks form. Add the powdered sugar and continue to beat to stiff peaks. *Be careful not to overwhip
6. Fold the whipped cream into the mascarpone mixture 1/3 at a time until fully incorporated and there are no white streaks. Chill for 30 minutes.
7. Assemble the tiramisu in a 7x11in pan – I like to use a glass Pyrex pan so you can see the tiramisu inside. Briefly dip each lady fingers into the warm coffee and lay them into the bottom of the pan until it’s covered. Sprinkle a layer of crushed hazelnut toffee over the cookies. Spread half of the chocolate-hazelnut cream mixture over the cookies. Repeat with the remaining cookies, toffee, and chocolate-hazelnut cream. Sift the 3/4 cup cocoa powder over the top and cover with plastic wrap. Chill for at least 4 hours – overnight.
*Optional: add 2 shots of Hazelnut, Coffee Liqueur, or Rum to the coffee before dunking the cookies in.
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