Tiramisu Ice Cream

As a kid, tiramisu was one of those desserts that adults always ordered if you went to an Italian restaurant. It didn't look terribly exciting, and it had the funny translation of "pick me up," which sounded about as stodgy as your Uncle Lou's paisley tie. Besides, if it was an Italian restaurant, that meant gelato was on order, so who would even contemplate anything else. Which is why I'd never had tiramisu until one day when I bought one at a Damascus cafe. Now, I realize Syria is not the place for one's first tiramisu experience, but it looked good and the pastry shop was a very reputable one. It was delicious, with fluffy filling, the bite of coffee and hint of chocolate.

Since then, I've had many more tiramisus (from more traditional sources), but I still love gelato, and this tiramisu ice cream is a perfect marriage of the two. In fact, it's one of my favorite flavors, and the best part is that all you do is put all the ingredients in a blender and blitz! Which means that you'll only have one dish to wash, provided you haven't licked it squeaky clean already.

In other ice cream news, I'm working on a little ice cream project for the month of August. I'm quite excited about it so I hope you'll stay tuned for the details!

Tiramisu Ice Cream
Two classic Italian desserts in one, this ice cream has the rich tang of mascarpone with hints of coffee liquer. Layering the ice cream with cocoa powder after you've churned it gives it beautiful stripes.

2 cups mascarpone (or 8 oz cream cheese plus 1 cup sour cream)
2/3 cup whole milk
2/3 cup cream
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup Kahlua (or substitute strong espresso)
1 tbl brandy or rum
pinch salt
1/2 cup cocoa powder

1. Place all the ingredients except the cocoa powder in the blender and blend until completely smooth. Transfer to the refrigerator and chill thoroughly (at least 4 hours), then churn in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's directions.
2. After you've churned the ice cream, transfer 1/3 of the ice cream to your storage container, then sift some of the cocoa powder over top, top with another layer of ice cream, sift with cocoa powder, and finally cover with the remaining ice cream. Store in the freezer.

Note: you can substitute 1 1/3 cups half-and-half for the milk and cream.
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