Middle Eastern Tiramisu

I'm not a huge tiramisu fan, but that's mostly because I am anti-coffee. La Clutterpunk, however, is an extreme devotee. We have a standing date for Sunday nights, to which Mel has recently been granted admittance, and it was Clutterpunk's birthday last Saturday, which was the excuse for my Syrian French toast. She announced that she was delegating dessert responsibility for Sunday night to my shoulders, then bounced a few ideas around about what she might like, mentioning tiramisu. I knew I had a Middle Eastern variation in my Moroccan book, and when I looked it up I realised it wasn't nearly as hard as I had expected. And, of course, that you can make half of it with chocolate rather than coffee. So that's what I did.

What makes it Middle Eastern? The creamy bit is made with marscapone. It has orange blossom water in it; it was meant to have brandy, sherry, and Marsala, but I used sherry and Grand Marnier instead. The syrup which went over the top was meant to be pistachios, but I used toasted almonds instead and I think they worked out just fine. And when I say syrup, I mean that I made a sugar syrup, added the almonds, and all of a sudden I had praline.

I'm very pleased to have finally discovered tiramisu. This may become a signature dish for me as I experiment with different alcohols, etc. One idea I had yesterday: paint the sponge biscuits with melted chocolate, wait for it to set, and then dip them in the marinade. I wonder if that would work? Anyone want to invite me over for dinner so I can try?

Preserved lemons

Ever since I got a Moroccan cookbook, preserved lemons have been on my personal bucketfoodlist. I tried making my own once, but let's just say there was something of a sterility issue. I did find some at an Indian wholesalers, but decided that a 2kg tub was not the way to start my investigation. Finally, I discovered some at a deli at the Victoria Markets. They are now sitting in my frig, waiting to be utilised...