The next time you see a cherry stand on the side of the road, stop and grab some then make this delicious Cherry Almond Tiramisu!
A few weeks ago, my older son and I went on a mini vacation up to Northern California. We flew into San Fransisco, then drove North to Mendocino for a special weekend of Foraging & Fermenting at The Little River Inn. This post has been sponsored by Mazada USA, however all opinions are my own.
The folks at Mazda graciously provided us with this 2018 Mazda Mazda3 Grand Touring for our mini road trip. It was a great road trip car- super comfortable, smooth ride, and most importantly, great on gas milage. With its sleek white leather interior, huge sunroof, and Bose® Centerpoint® 2 Surround Sound audio system with AudioPilot® 2 and 11 speakers, I got some major brownie points from my teenager for arranging this ride.
I usually never do road trips alone because I am the worst at directions. Despite the car's navigation system with the map displayed on 8" full-color touch-screen display, I still managed to miss a turn. I do my best thinking/future planning while driving. Unfortunately for us, it was the worst turn to miss as the next turn off was 20 miles away! My co-pilot was useless in helping navigate as he slept soundly in the very spacious backseat.
Being a city girl, I didn't even think about the gas tank, as we had ¾ of a tank when I missed the turn. I had no idea about the drive I was taking and I didn't realize that we would go from inland driving, to moutain turns, to driving through the Redwood Forest, to finally hitting the coast. My trip theme song was This Land is Your Land.
It wasn't until we had almost hit our destination that I realized we had gone about 70 miles without seeing a gas station!!! I looked at my tank and we had hardly used any gas at all! Thank goodness because I would have been stranded for a long time if I would have been driving my personal gas guzzler.
Along the way there were fruit stands in every corner. I tried to resist the urge to stop, especially because the car had a slick white leather interior. I certainly did not want to return the car with cherry or raspberry stains, but my son persisted. He has the same love of fruit as I do. We finally stopped and picked up some gorgeous fresh cherries. However, I wouldn't let him eat them until we arrived at the hotel.
Trying to make conversation, my son was pondering ideas on what we (I) could make with our new bounty. Being the Tiramisu lover that he is, he came up with this idea for the Cherry Almond Tiramisu, and didn't drop it until I made it. I have to say, perhaps he should be in charge of the recipes for my next cookbook because he was spot on with this recipe. It was delicious, fresh, and super easy to make! The next time you need a tasty recipe, try this.
For more information on the car that we had, please visit MazdaUSA.com.
- 4 cups pitted cherries cut in half
- 1 cup sugar
- ¼ cup cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- 16 ounces mascarpone cheese at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup whipping cream
- ¼ cup sugar
- 2 packages Lady Fingers
- 1 tablespoon Cocoa Powder
-
Place cherries into a saucepan over medium heat, and cover the pan; heat cherries until they release their juice and come to a simmer, 10 to 15 minutes stirring regularly.
-
In a bowl, whisk the sugar with cornstarch until smooth; pour the mixture into the hot cherries and juice, and thoroughly combine.
-
Return to low heat, bring to a simmer, and cook until the filling has thickened, about 2 minutes; remove from heat, let cool completely.
-
In the bowl of your mixer beat sugar and whipping cream until soft peaks form.
-
In another bowl, stir the mascarpone and vanilla until smooth.
-
Fold in ⅓ of the whipping cream into the mascarpone until incorporated.
-
Fold in remaining cream.
-
Line the bottom of a 8x8 inch glass baking dish or other decorative serving dish with half of the ladyfingers.
-
Pour half of the cherry pie filling over the lady fingers.
-
Spread half of the mascarpone mixture over the ladyfingers.
-
Repeat layering with the remaining ladyfingers, cherry pie filling and mascarpone mixture.
-
Sift with cocoa powder before serving.
Alice Kaker
OMG....I loved this post.....what a great trip for both of you. I LOVE anything cherry......even artwork of cherries. I can't wait to try your recipe of Cherry Almond Tirimisu....looks delish!