RASPBERRY DARK CHOCOLATE TIRAMISU

As much as I keep churning out desserts and baked goods, I don't actually have a sweet tooth.  Quite the opposite.  Sickly sweet dishes that cling to your tongue with the cloying desperation of a mewing cat can cause me to push my plate away faster than anything.  But a balanced sweet dish, with a hint of savoriness, tartness, or herbaceousness...well, that's just heavenly.  And this tiramisu is the precipitation of those tastes.  Tiramisu is one of those sweet, rich dishes that can be generically mediocre or palette-coating-ly overwhelming.  But I love chocolate zabaglione, and didn't want to give it up because of a finicky sweet tooth.  So I upped the dark chocolate and replaced coffee with raspberries, and there you go: creamy, tart, deep tasting tiramisu with the mysterious taste zabaglione in the background.  Enjoy!

Ingredients:

For cream topping:

12 ounces mascarpone cheese
1 1/3 cup whipping cream
1/2 cup sugar

For raspberry sauce:

4 half pints of raspberries

1 half pint blackberries

2 tablespoons sugar

24 crisp ladyfinger cookies (recommended: Savoiardi)
Unsweetened cocoa powder, for garnish
3 tablespoons finely chopped semi-sweet chocolate

For Chocolate Zabaglione:
2 tablespoons heavy cream
3 1/2 ounces semisweet chocolate
4 large egg yolks
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup grand marnier and chambord (or cassis)
Pinch salt

Directions

Make the chocolate zabaglione first. Add the cream and chocolate to a double boiler and cook over medium heat, stirring often, until the chocolate chips are melted and smooth. 

In a separate glass bowl set over the bottom half of the double boiler, whisk (I use and electric beater) the egg yolks, sugar, liquor, and salt until thick and creamy, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat.

Using a large rubber spatula, fold the melted chocolate mixture into the egg mixture. Cover and refrigerate to chill completely or if you're in a hurry, like I usually am, pop it in the freezer for about 30 minutes.

For the topping:

With an electric mixer, beat the cream and the sugar in a medium bowl until soft peaks form. Mix in the mascarpone.  Place 1 1/2 cups of the cream topping in a separate bowl, and fold the rest in with the the chilled chocolate zabaglione. Cover and refrigerate.

Meanwhile, put two half pints of the raspberries and the blackberries in a small saucepan with 2 tablespoons of sugar over medium heat.  Let the berries cook until they have all softened and burst, filling the pan with juice.  Allow to cool until slightly warm (I usually place it in the freezer for 30 minutes).

When the raspberry mixture has cooled a bit, immerse the lady fingers in the mixture, one at a time, and lay them on the bottom of a large dishpan (mine was about 10 x 10 and 4 inches deep).  You want to have three layers of the lady fingers, so it should be 8 lady fingers per layer.  It's fine if there's spaces in between the lady fingers, just be sure to cover the whole pan. Once you've assembled the layer, add some of the extra pulp and softened berries.  With a spatula smooth a layer of the chocolate mixture, about 3/4 inch thick.  Repeat this until you've used up all of the ladyfingers and chocolate zabaglione.  Sprinkle the chopped up chocolate over the pan.  Smooth a thick layer, about 1 inch thick, of the cream-mascarpone mixture over the pan.  Dust with unsweetened cocoa powder, and assemble fresh raspberries on top.

Chill overnight to let the flavors meddle and serve out of the dishpan with a cake knife.