Quick catch up : more uses for Heston Chocolate Biscuits, and a recap of the Tiramisu (Mk II)

So this is a quick one, because I don't have a full dish to cover. (I promise, there is one chilling in the fridge, to be written up soon..)

Anyone actually waiting to read a new post - sorry, Christmas happened. And then my daughter's birthday. That time of year is crazy for me.

But! Let's cover the two quick recipe commentaries...

Tiramisu, Mk II.

First: That dessert. So a long time ago, waaaay back in December, I did that lunch.

We did Tiramisu for dessert.

This one:

As before, I used the online recipe.

I'd learned a few things from the last time, so I made a few changes.

Firstly, I used smaller flowerpots. These were about half-cup sized.

Secondly, this time round I followed Heston's layering - which puts the sponge fingers at the bottom, and then just layers of marsala cream and chocolate.

And finally, having learnt my lesson, I used a finer layer of chocolate "dirt" and put the mint in at the last minute.  I only used enough dirt to just cover the marsala cream.

Outcome: They were more successful this time round (not that they were a failure last time)!

They were light, and a more suitable size, especially after so many other courses. The thinner layer of dirt was much better, providing flavour and texture without being the hugely sweet hit from last time.

Guests loved them, and happily devoured them despite, initial comments of "probably only eating half, I've eaten enough..." I slightly preferred the more layers of sponge/coffee, but that's a personal preference - one guest preferred the more cream version, as she finds Tiramisu having "too much wet cake".

However. Because it was a Special Birthday Lunch (yes, it needed capitalising), I didn't mess with the quantities (except to make a single batch of dirt). This means I made enough for 8 - a double batch.

Result? I had enough leftovers to make two large glass bowls of tiramisu. Enough for two extra standard dinner party's worth.  Enough for my mum to take to work for everyone she works with. Craaazy volumes. (But it made her very, very popular.)

Heston Chocolate Biscuits, re-imagined.

These chocolate biscuits have become so "standard" in our household, that my daughter made several batches to give to her grandparents for Christmas.  But, since (it would seem) she takes after me in the food stakes, she made a request for her birthday icecream.

What, you mean every family doesn't have a "You get to pick the icecream flavour for your birthday" rule?

My daughter picked "Chocolate cecream, with chocolate fudge and Heston chocolate cookie dough".

We used the "Milkiest Chocolate Icecream in the World" recipe, from my Jeni's Splendid Icecream cookbook, with a miscellaneous chocolate fudge sauce recipe. And the obligatory lumps of cookie dough.

One batch of icecream, about 2/3 a batch of fudge sauce and about half a single batch of cookie dough made up about 1.5L.

It was good.

It was so rich, we switched the second planned dark chocolate ice-cream for a straight vanilla. (My girl is all about the chocolate.)

I was worried the lumps would be too hard, but they were fine. The only possible complaint is the ice cream was pretty sweet, so the salty made the cookie dough seem almost unsweetened. (Not quite though.) The girls LOVED it. One stated it was the best ice cream she'd ever had.
In my opinion, it was pretty good, I'd certainly make the ice cream again.

Oh, um. I forgot to take a picture. Sorry. We were busy, making pasta, making pizzas and generally having a birthday party. (Yes, it was a cooking party. No, not my idea.)

Next: Caraway biscuits!

And then some planning for dinner parties :) Anyone want to contribute to costs to help them get an invite? *grin*