June birthdays, the start of summer, any reason is a good reason for lemons in my book!
And no-bake during summer is always a win!
I modified and combined several recipes I saw online so here’s my version
It’s made in 3 parts
- Soak the lady fingers
- Make the lemon curd
- Make the mascarpone filling
This does contain a small amount of alcohol, to make non-alcoholic sub out the limoncello for the same amount of lemon juice
2 packages lady fingers (each package contained 24)
For the soak:
6 oz limoncello
2 oz lemon juice
4 oz water
For the lemon curd:
2/3 cup lemon juice
4 whole eggs
2 yolks
1 cup sugar
4 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp heavy cream
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
For the marscapone filling:
6 egg yolks
4 egg whites
32 oz. marscapone
4 Tbsp lemon zest
3/4 cup sugar plus 1/4 cup sugar for the egg whites
Mix the soak, dip lady fingers in mixture and layer in single layer on bottom of 9x13 pan
Make lemon curd by combining eggs and egg yolks in small dish, heat lemon juice to just before boiling then slowly temper the eggs. Return lemon juice, eggs and sugar to pan and cook over medium heat til thick and bubbly. Continue cooking and stirring constantly 2 minutes more. Remove from heat and press thru fine mesh strainer. Add in butter, heavy cream, and vanilla and mix till incorporated. Refrigerate until we’re ready to use it
Next, the marscapone filling
The original recipe did not cook or even temper the egg yolks but that freaked me out so I place metal bowl with egg yolks over top of small saucepan filled with almost boiling water and whisked continuously for 2 minutes (don’t let eggs scramble) I then added the egg yolks to a stand mixer and mix with mascarpone cheese, 3/4 cup sugar, and lemon zest. While that is mixing take egg whites and mix (with different mixer) until soft peaks form. Add 1/4 cup sugar and continue mixing til stiff peaks form. Fold egg white mixture into marscapone mixture. (Fold in the cheese, David!)
Layer marscapone filling over layer of soaked lady fingers. Then soak another round of lady fingers and layer them, topping with the remaining marscapone filling. Finally, top with lemon curd and garnish with sliced lemons and mint (I couldn’t find any so I did without)
The finished product!
Some in-progress shots
I made this the night before to let the flavors really come together, I’ll let you know how it is tomorrow!
Is it tiramisu? Is it trifle? The world may never know!
