The Best Tiramisu

If you google "Best Tiramisu" like I did, you will find a number of wonderful sounding recipes.  Making the custard from scratch with cream, mixing it together with heavy cream, and using the other full fat items will certainly give you a very rich dessert.  However, most of these recipes were considerably over 400 calories and over 30 grams of fat per serving.  Is this very rich dessert really going to make you feel good as you try to digest it in the next few hours or when you step on the scale in the morning?   As a foodie who loves wonderful tasting food  and as a dietitian who also loves great tasting food but sees the problems lots of calories create,  I pondered this question.  The answer that made sense to me was to make some compromises.  There is no way that I'm going to make tiramisu into a health food.  However, the following recipe has many ingredients that can be made with whole fat, low fat, or no fat ingredients.   I made the recipe with mostly no fat ingredients and when cut into 9 servings,  the calorie count was 248 and the fat 4 grams.  I served it to a small group of women with very favorable reviews.   As a dietitian I know that an occasional very high fat treat will not usually cause great health problems, but I know that you can lower the fat of some of these items without making a significant difference in the taste.  Let me know what you would choose to do?  I'd love to hear about what you tried. 

Tiramisu 
Ingredients:
1 cup cold water                                              
1.4 oz package instant vanilla pudding*
1 3/4 cup milk*
8 oz of cream cheese*
4 oz of frozen whipped topping, thawed*
2 packages of lady finger
4- Tablespoons coffee liqueur
1/2 cup of dark chocolate chips1/3 cup of sweetened cocoa
*These items may no-fat or full fat, the difference in calories and fat is significant, but not the taste.
 Make pudding with the milk according to directions. Beat the cream cheese in a mixer until smooth; mix in the pudding adding 1-2 tablespoons of liqueur.
Fold the thawed topping into the mixture, when well-combined, add the chocolate chips. Line pan with ½ of the ladyfingers and pour ½ of the remaining coffee liqueur over the fingers. Put ½ of the cream cheese mixture on the ladyfingers in the pan.  Add the remaining ladyfingers (or as many as needed to make a layer). Pour remaining liqueur on the second layer of fingers and put the rest of the  mixture on top. Sprinkle with cocoa powder and refrigerate until it’s time for dessert.
#Stonesoupblog, #Tiramisu, #Cookingtogetherwithfriends 

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