I’ve made a berry variation of this Italian dessert before. Usually I used berry puree with an addition of a matching liqueur for dipping the ladyfingers. But this tiramisu is different from what I used to make. Last weekend we were invited to our friends’ house for dinner, and after a terrific meal we were served the raspberry tiramisu for dessert. Somehow it had never occurred to me until then that Martini Bianco was perfectly suitable for dipping the ladyfingers. It makes such a wonderful and easy dessert base. An addition of cinnamon to the mascarpone cream and a lot of fresh raspberries (whole and intact, not pureed) tie nicely with the martini flavor. I’m very much obliged to my friend Olya for this neat idea. Below is my version of Olya’s dessert, tweaked just a little bit.

I used a 3 ½ -cups capacity Rehrücken mold for assembling, any loaf pan of similar size will work, or adjust the ingredients to fit into 8-inch square pan.

I’m submitting this dessert as my entry for this month Sugar High Friday, the theme of which is “Berries”.

Raspberry Tiramisu with Cinnamon Cream recipe…

This is a kind of dessert I’m the most fond of – rustic, homey, full of flavors, and incredibly easy to prepare. Don’t try to serve the pudding on its own, serve it with roasted grapes as intended. They are meant for each other providing so desirable contrast of sweet and sour, smooth and crunchy. For Russian readers of my blog (I know for sure there are at least two) – the texture of the pudding is similar to Russian “zapekanka”, but it’s sweeter since the ricotta cheese is way less tangy compared to tvorog (Russian curd cheese).

This is an adaptation of the latest “Gourmet” recipe. I prepared and served the pudding in individual shallow pans, each is about 4-inch wide and near ¾ -cup capacity. You can bake the pudding in a 9-inch pie-plate and serve it cut into wedges as it was suggested in the magazine.

Sweet Ricotta Pudding with Roasted Grapes recipe…

(fragole al vino con ricotta e pepe)

I guess I’m not the only one who thinks twice before turning the oven on and baking something when the weather is hot. And I’m not complaining, it’s finally resembling summer here. Until now all we could enjoy was gray cloudy days.

This dessert is wonderful in many ways. It tastes superb. The ricotta cream spiked with cracked pepper is topped with Chianti marinated strawberries. Doesn’t it sound good? I found the combination to be perfect. Make sure though to crack - not grind the peppercorns, or the cream will be too spicy. The dessert components can be prepared in advance and assembled before serving which is another plus. And the presentation is pretty, so summery bright!

The recipe is from Gina De Palma, the pastry chef at Mario Batali’s Babbo.

Strawberries in Chianti with Black Pepper Ricotta Cream recipe…

I guess everybody is familiar with classic Italian fritters. These are scented with nutmeg and lemon zest. Sure, they are good (as any food fried, to be honest) and incredibly tender. Fried and still warm zeppoli are divided between the lunch bags and then shaken with some icing sugar to coat. This dish should be very popular among kids – everyone gets his own bag of fritters. Isn’t it appealing? But I would serve it in the backyard for sure, not at home.

I don’t cook them often but occasionally I give my boys such a pleasure. To make the fritters a bit “healthier” I always use organic canola oil for frying and dump it as soon as all the batter is fried. I use rather small high-sided saucepan which requires only about 2 cups of oil, so I don’t feel myself as a squanderer. If it still seems like a terrible waste, the oil can be reused once (I would although try to talk you out of using the same oil more than twice). Let the used oil cool, then drain it into an airtight container leaving any sediment behind and store it in the refrigerator until the next use.

The recipe is from Sherry Yard’s latest book “Desserts by the Yard”. If my description isn’t convincing enough, may be mentioning the author’s name will help…

Zeppoli recipe…

This rustic looking pie, distantly reminiscent to a cheesecake, is an Italian specialty and usually served on Easter. Don’t try to substitute orange-flower water for anything else. There’s no such substitution. And in my opinion, this aromatic fluid is what makes this cake so special. Most likely you will find the orange-flower water in the Ethnic food section in any supermarket.

There are a lot of recipe variations of this pie. This one is Michele Scicolone’s, published two years ago in the Easter issue of “Gourmet”. I followed the recipe almost to a letter. I just boiled the wheat-berries in milk instead of water as it was suggested. It didn’t look like a bright idea when my milk boiled over (which it always does) and made a terrible mess on the stove. So, the moral is - follow the recipe… I added a bit more zest though…

Neapolitan Ricotta and Wheat-Berry Easter Pie (Pastiera Napoletana) recipe…

These are wonderful and irresistible. I’m not promoting fried food here, but it won’t hurt to treat yourself once (or several times) in a while.

The recipe is from “Chocolate Holidays”.

Honey-Drizzled Chocolate Ricotta Fritters recipe…