Blueberry Tiramisu

1. Split ladyfingers in half. Use to line a 9-inch springform pan, brushing sides with limeade and placing cut sides to the inside and facing up. You will have to cut pieces to fit the bottom layer.
2. In saucepan, combine blueberries, cornstarch slurry and sugar. Cook over medium to medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until thickened. Set aside to cool to room temperature.
3. In a large bowl beat mascarpone until smooth. In separate bowl, whip cream until stiff, adding the powdered sugar gradually once it starts to thicken. Fold whipped cream thoroughly into cheese.
4. Spread one-third of the cheese mixture over bottom layer of ladyfingers. Add a layer of half the blueberry mixture. Top with a layer of split ladyfingers, cut sides brushed with limeade. Repeat layers once, using half of the remaining cheese mixture and all of the remaining blueberry mixture and ladyfingers brushed with limeade. Top with final layer of cheese mixture.
5. Garnish as desired with additional whipped cream, fresh blueberries (or a little of the blueberry mixture, reserved) and/or grated or candied lime peel. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate 8 hours before serving.

So in reading Step 1 of the directions, I became confused with the arrangement of the ladyfingers. Were they supposed to line the sides of the pan? That doesn’t seem right when you take into consideration the traditional tiramisu recipe. But come to think of it, neither does serving tiramisu in triangles or wedges.

This is where I diverged. I decided to assemble the dessert in a 9×13 glass dish. I wanted my tiramisu to be served in squares. To accomplish this I had to double the amount of lady fingers. I used most of two 7-oz. packages of lady fingers. I also had to double the blueberries and probably should have doubled the mascarpone/whipped cream mixture as well – I ran out of that. (And mistakenly used only 1 cup instead of 2 – because the recipe called for 1 pint of whipped cream and I just read “1.”) So another improvisation was topping the dessert with 2 (liquid) cups of whipped cream whipped with powdered sugar.

The end result was a hit even though some of the lady fingers were just the slightest bit crunchy. (I probably could have used more limeade concentrate – I doubt I even used half a cup). Everyone loved the blueberry/lime combination and I actually got compliments on the whipped cream topping. (I did also get a demerit from one particular picky eater who doesn’t like whipped cream.)

I was not a fan of the consistency of the mascarpone cheese mixture. Buuuuut, given I didn’t mix it with enough whipped cream, following the directions correctly could have greatly improved the texture.

Recipe rating: 