​We all know by now that Tiramisu translates as 'pick me up'. It's a classic dessert, it's simple to make, it looks amazing, and it's delicious.

I recently tried this version of the tiramisu at my Goddaughters house, she made it and we all loved the flavour. Now Gino uses Amaretto (I don't like amaretto, at all), so when my goddaughter used frangelico instead (which I love), I thought this would be great. Well one bite in and I loved it.

So for New Years Day this year, I thought I'd give it a go myself. Now I will say, the flavour was delicious, but it was not perfect, it was a little wet, a little soggy, a bit too creamy. What went wrong, reason number one, I didn't really follow the recipe properly, I didn't beat the double cream. I thought it was thick enough, but it wasn't, so the mascarpone mixture didn't set properly. Second reason, which I have found out recently, mascarpone brands matter. Normally I have never bought the Woolworths (or Coles) or any other generic brand of mascarpone, but have you ever tried to find mascarpone cheese around Christmas time, it is impossible to find, it's always sold out. So when I finally found the Woolworths brand I grabbed it. Well I have since found out these generic brands of mascarpone are too thin and won't set, and that's why my cream layer was too thin and didn't set. So as I loved the flavour, I needed to make it again.

​So today I am making my third attempt at this tiramisu, fingers crossed, all goes well with it.

Now lets talk liqueurs, I love Frangelico, it’s a hazelnut flavoured liquor. I also love Kahlua or Baileys, which are coffee flavoured. Other options: which I haven't tried but could work is Croatian Rum (it's fabulous in desserts, brandy or Marsala. Use what you love. You could even make it alcohol free and use hot chocolate, or vanilla extract to flavour the coffee.

Tip: The tiramisu needs to be covered and refrigerated for a few hours. In my baking dish this tiramisu goes all the way to the top, if I covered it directly, when I took off the cling film, it would take off some of my cream. So what I do is, I break two chops sticks in half (I always save the chop sticks I get with sushi, as I use my hands normally at home or we use our own 'fancy' chopsticks I bought) and poke them in near the corners of the tiramisu. Then I cover the tiramisu over those sticks and my cream is untouched. I'd rather have four small holes, than my whole cream ruined. You can see the holes in one of the photos below.

This is a great dessert to serve at parties, because you can make it in advance, it's quick to make, it feeds many and it's delicious. It's time you give this a try.

​Recipe adapted from Gino D'Acampo's cookbook 'Gino's Italian Coastal Escape'

Serves 8-10

350ml cold strong black coffee, preferably
espresso
150ml frangelico (hazelnut liqueur)
200ml double cream
5 medium eggs, separated
6 tablespoons caster sugar
500g mascarpone cheese
50 Savoiardi sponge fingers (ladyfingers)
Cocoa powder for dusting


Put the coffee in a medium bowl and stir in 4 tablespoons of the frangelico. Set aside.

Pour the cream into a medium bowl and whip until thick enough to just hold its shape and form soft peaks. Set aside.

Place the egg yolks and sugar in a large bowl and whisk using a balloon whisk (or electric hand held mixer) for about 5 minutes until thick and pale. Add the mascarpone and beat thoroughly. Gently fold in the whipped cream and remaining frangelico.

Put the egg whites in a separate bowl and with clean beaters, whisk with an electric hand whisk on full speed until they form stiff peaks. Using a metal spoon, gently fold one third of the egg whites into the mascarpone mixture until well blended. Fold in the remaining egg whites in 2 stages. Set aside.

Dip one of the biscuits in the coffee for 2 seconds (no longer) and place it in the bottom of a 20 x 30 x 7cm ceramic dish, with the sugar-side facing upwards. Repeat until the bottom of the dish is covered with half the biscuits.

Spread a third of the mascarpone mixture over the biscuits,  then cover with another layer of the biscuits dipped in coffee. Spread with half of the remaining mascarpone mixture, then cover with another layer of the  biscuits dipped in coffee. Spread the remaining mascarpone mixture on top and smooth the surface using a palette knife.

Cover with cling film and refrigerate for 3 hours.

Just before serving, remove the cling film and dust with cocoa powder.

​Now either slice and serve the tiramisu or you can get a spoon and dollop out your serves, like you would with a trifle.

To save the recipe to your favourites go to www.whatscookingella.com/tiramisu-with-frangelico.html 
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​​​​​If you make this recipe, please let me know! Leave a comment below or take a photo and tag me on Instagram or Twitter with #whatscookingella

​I love when you find a recipe, by chance, and it turns out far greater than you ever expected. The ones that you find just because you need to use up an ingredient in the house. In this instance that ingredient was the tomato.

I had four tomatoes that were not at their peak, slightly over ripe, you could still eat them, but I felt they were now better to use cooked than eaten fresh. I wanted to make a soup, I wanted it to be an Asian style soup, as following the soup would be a stir fry. I wanted it to be easy to make.

I came across this one, saw the ingredients list and questioned if we'd like it. But after looking at a few more recipes, I came back to this one because it was quick, it was easy to make, I had all the ingredients at home and most importantly, it was an egg drop soup.

Was I completely blown away by this soup, I was, it was delicious. My current favourite thing are egg drop soups, I absolutely love them. The eggs strips formed when you slowly drizzle egg into a hot soup, which replace noodles, I think is fabulous.

Now I love it with the shallots and coriander in it, while some of my family preferred it without, so that is up to you whether you add it or not.

If you are looking for a quick, easy and tasty soup idea for dinner, look no further.

Recipe adapted from thewoksoflife.com/

Serves 4-5

2 tablespoons oil
4 medium tomatoes, about 560g, roughly chopped
2 cups chicken stock
4 cups water
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil
½ teaspoon white pepper
Salt, to taste
2-3 eggs, beaten
3 teaspoons cornflour
2 shallots, finely sliced, optional
4 tablespoons roughly chopped fresh coriander, optional


Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the tomato chunks and stir-fry for 5 minutes until the tomatoes are softened and start to fall apart.

Add in the chicken stock, water, light soy sauce, sesame oil, ground white pepper and salt to taste. Bring to a boil, and then lower the heat so that the soup is simmering with the lid on. Simmer for 30 minutes.

Now you don’t have to, but I blitzed the soup with a stick blender, because my son wanted me to.

Now quickly beat the egg in a small bowl and in another bowl, whisk together the cornflour and water.

Use a spoon slowly swirl the soup in a whirlpool motion. Keep swirling as you pour in the cornflour mixture, until well incorporated. 

Now pour a thin stream of egg into the middle of the whirlpool as you slowly swirl the egg into the soup. This is how you get that pretty egg drop effect.
​
Ladle the soup into bowls and garnish with chopped scallions and cilantro, if using. Serve hot.

To save the recipe to your favourites go to www.whatscookingella.com/tomato-egg-drop-soup.html 
Pin it: www.pinterest.com.au/pin/399413060715774621/

​​​​If you make this recipe, please let me know! Leave a comment below or take a photo and tag me on Instagram or Twitter with #whatscookingella