Thursday, June 3, 2010

Lime Blueberry Tiramisu

Sometimes people surprise me.

I have always enjoyed Paula Deen. Reading her books, watching her shows, even meeting her in person at a book signing. But I have to admit, I don’t make a lot of her recipes. Frankly, they tend to be too fatty for me, and use a lot of prepared food items.

Recently, I was browsing through an email newsletter and came across a recipe entitled Lime Blueberry Tiramisu. Now, normally I am a tiramisu purist, but with blueberries being in season right now, this one caught my attention. Reading the recipe, I was even more intrigued. Although it called for a can of blueberry pie filling instead of fresh, it actually lists mascarpone cheese (instead of the cream cheese most country cooks seem to want to replace it with).

Boy was I surprised to see that it was a recipe from our girl Paula!

I knew I had a birthday food event coming up at work, so I immediately proceeded to conjure up a pound of mascarpone (food of the gods) and gathered the remaining ingredients.

This dish was not only quick and easy to put together, but the limeade concentrate gives it a wonderfully limey flavor punch that I thoroughly enjoyed. It was light and fresh and just perfect for a June day. This one is definitely a keeper!

Lime Blueberry Tiramisu
Recipes courtesy Paula Deen, 2008

Ingredients
1 pint heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup confectioners' sugar
1 pound mascarpone cheese, at room temperature
3 (3-ounce) packages unfilled ladyfingers
1 (6-ounce) can frozen limeade concentrate, thawed
1 (21-ounce) can blueberry pie filling
Fresh mint leaves, optional

Directions
In a large bowl, beat cream with an electric mixer at medium speed until thickened. Gradually add confectioners' sugar, beating until soft peaks form. Gently stir in cheese until combined; set aside.
Split ladyfingers in half. Line a 13 by 9 by 2-inch baking dish with ladyfingers, cut side up. Brush ladyfingers with limeade concentrate. Spoon half of cheese mixture over ladyfingers. Top with half of blueberry pie filling.Repeat procedure for the next layer with remaining ladyfingers, limeade, cheese mixture, and pie filling. Cover and chill 8 hours. Cut into squares to serve. Garnish with fresh mint, if desired.

5 comments:

Kim said...

Oh my......I would really love a slice of this! Paula seems to be expanding her horizons and also lightening up some of her recipes, which is a good thing. This is a fun twist on tiramisu.

julie said...

That sounds good! I hear ya on Paula Deen. She's good, but not good for you. I was watching her cook on Food Network the other day and the recipe started out by putting in oil and butter to your skillet and then adding the bacon grease. It did look delicious (some type of tomato okra dish) but yowza's on the fat!

MonkeyGirl said...

That looks really yummy but the heavy cream kills me - any ideas on how to substitute the heavy cream with something with a lower fat content?

Krista said...

Oh my. I have never thought about Tiramisu this way...but I like it. Especially for summer. Mmmm.

Ty'sMommy said...

You know, I've been sitting here trying to think of a way to make this healthier and it was hard for me to come up with something because I have a very traditional idea of what tiramisu should be. BUT! That being said, I think the Lime and fruit in this would stand up to using some fat free sour cream in place of the heavy cream. I think it could stand up to the extra tartness. I wouldn't use a full 2 cups, but just enough to thin out the mascarpone a little.