Tiramisu

I try this KAF recipe for the women's book club. It turns out to be a rather well-received dessert. It is a little too sweet to me, but my friends have found it good. I may reduce the sugar by just 1/4 or 1/3 next time.

Recipe: Tiramisu (for a small group of 7)

Ingredients:
- 1 package of starbuck instant coffee
- 2 TB cream sherry
- 1+1/2 tp cocoa
- 1/4 cup curled or shredded unsweetened chocolate
- 8 oz (1 package) low-fat cream cheese
- 2 TB light sour cream
- 1 cup whipping cream
- 3/4 cup confectioners' sugar
- lady's fingers, about 15 pieces

Procedure:
1. Mix cream cheese, sour cream, confectioners' sugar together with a spoon. Then add the whipping cream. Mix into a thick paste. Then mix with electric mixer on low setting.
2. Refrigerate filling until use.
3. Boil coffee in 1/4 cup water until reduced to 1 TB. When cooled, add 2 TB cream sherry.
4. Line a layer of lady's fingers on a pan. Brush with the coffee mixture. Do not be too greedy. Since the cream cheese filling is rather liquid, it's better to be conservative with the coffee liquid.
5. Spread 1/3 of the cheese filling on top.
6. Repeat step 4 and 5 twice to create 6 alternate layers of lady's fingers and fillings.
7. Dust the top with cocoa powder. Then sprinkle chocolate on top.
8. Chill before serving.

Results:
4:33pm, ingredients used to make the cheese filling:

4:39pm, confectioner's sugar, about 3/4 cup:

4:46pm, hand mixing filling to give it a good start:

4:48pm, beating filling with electric mixer:

4:49pm, filling beaten and ready to chill:

8:44pm, ingredients for assembling:

8:45pm, boiling instant coffee to thicken:

8:47pm, thinness of the filling after chilled:

8:55pm, coffee condensed into 1 TB:

8:57pm, 2 TB cream sherry added to coffee:

8:58pm, layer 1:

8:58pm, brushing layer 1 with coffee mixture:

8:59pm, layer 1 brushed:

8:59pm, scooping cheese:

9:00pm, layer 2:

9:01pm, layer 3:

9:04pm, layer 3 brushed with coffee:

9:05pm, layer 4:

9:07pm, layer 5:

9:08pm, layer 5 brushed with coffee:

9:09pm, layer 6:

9:12pm, dusting top with cocoa:

9:13pm, top with cocoa:

9:15pm, unsweetened chocolate:

9:24pm, chocolate sprinkled on top:

9:24pm, height of tiramisu:

9:26pm, cover with paper towel, then wrap with foil to chill:

Overnight, 11:42am, interior holding together strongly enough to be cut:

11:39am, lady's fingers moistened sufficiently to feel like sponge cake, but not soggy at serving time:

Observations:
1. The cheese filling is rather thin, to my surprise. When I brush the top of the lady's fingers with coffee, it suddenly becomes clear to me that the lady's fingers are going to absorb plenty of that moisture in the cheese filling.
2. I've used only 2 TB of the sherry and coffee mixture because I am not sure if the dessert will be too moist. The remaining 1 TB is poured out. Even so, the flavor of coffee is distinct at serving time.
3. After chilling overnight, the lady's fingers have become soft like sponge cakes. But they are not so moist as to be soggy.
4. I wonder if my choice of cream sherry is appropriate for this dessert. Maybe brandy is a better choice.
5. Try using 1/2 cup instead of 3/4 cup of confectioner's sugar next time.