Berry Tiramisu

I saw this on "The Kitchen" and thought it would be great to make with all the local fresh berries in abundance right now minus strawberries, they're done locally now.  The liqueur in it cost me $53 here in Canada 🙄.  I would use it for some "French martinis" though another time 😋.  

Raspberry Simple Syrup:

• 1 cup granulated sugar (I used Kirkland Organic)
• 1 cup fresh raspberries
• 1/3 cup black raspberry liqueur (I used 1/2 cup)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste (I used half a vanilla bean pod)

Tiramisu:

• 5 cups mixed berries, including raspberries, blueberries and sliced strawberries, plus 2 cups raspberries, blueberries, and thinly sliced strawberries, for garnish
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1 lemon, zested
• 2 cups cold heavy whipping cream (I freeze my beaters & bowl before I whip)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste (I used half a vanilla bean pod)
• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 16 ounce container mascarpone cheese, at room temperature
• 38 to 42 ladyfingers (I just bought a 400 gram bag of them)

For the raspberry simple syrup: In a small saucepan, add the granulated sugar and 1 cup water and bring to a simmer over medium-low heat. Allow to cook until the sugar dissolves, 2 to 3 minutes.

Add the raspberries and continue to simmer while mashing with a potato masher until the berries break down, about 5 minutes.

Using a fine mesh sieve over a bowl, strain the simple syrup. Stir in the black raspberry liqueur and vanilla bean paste and set aside to cool completely.

For the tiramisu: Toss the 5 cups of berries with the granulated sugar and lemon zest in a bowl and set aside to slightly macerate for 15 minutes.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, add the heavy cream and whip until soft peaks form. Add the vanilla bean paste and powdered sugar gradually and continue whipping until stiff peaks form. Remove from the stand mixer.

In a large bowl, add the mascarpone and a third of the whipped cream and fold to combine. Add another half of the whipped cream and this time gently fold, being careful not to deflate the mixture. Add the remaining cream and fold once more.

In batches, briefly dip the ladyfingers on both sides in the raspberry simple syrup. Line 20 lady fingers in the bottom of a 9-by-13-inch baking dish in two rows, trimming any edges of the ladyfingers as necessary.  I put a scant layer of the whip cream mixture on the bottom of the dish because I always do with tiramisu.  

Drizzle another 3 tablespoons of the raspberry simple syrup over the ladyfingers.  Add half of the mascarpone whipped cream mixture over the top of the ladyfingers and evenly spread over the macerated berries with any juices.

Repeat with the second half of the ladyfingers, simple syrup and remaining mascarpone whipped cream.

Cover and refrigerate for at least 12 hours or up to 16 hours (I did mine overnight, so 24 hours).

When ready to serve, garnish with the remaining 2 cups of berries on top. Slice and serve.  On the show she just used a spoon to dig it out.  I managed to get a slice out - the first one is always tough to get out and usually messy.  It didn't look amazing, but it tasted wonderful.  If you like berries, this does the trick.  It was light tasting, fresh and summery.

My son loved it.  The first bite and he was like "WOW".  I shared with my neighbors as well and she just messaged me saying: "That was incredible!  We had some friends for dinner and we shared with them. Everyone was raving about how delicious it was - their favourite dessert ever!".