The Better Tiramisu (Cake)

I don't know if you remember my summer bucket list from a while ago, but if you do you will remember that I was dead set on making tiramisu. Well I can kind of cross that off my list. I was too lazy to break out my piping gear and make ladyfingers. Instead I made *this tiramisu cake using hazelnut liquor which was born to go in dessert. This recipe should be prepared the night before you plan to serve it; this way the espresso syrup can be completely absorbed by the cake. 

I opted to leave out the dusting of cocoa powder on top. Usually if I order it I'll suck it up because, hey, it's tiramisu, and when you eat any tiramisu--be it good or bad-- life is just too wonderful to complain about. Also, I was going to coat the sides of the cake with the whipped cream but I thought the exposed layers looked to pretty to hide. 

*A few adaptations to the recipe:

 -Everywhere that Deb used brandy I used hazelnut liquor.

-I couldn't find instant espresso in my grocery store so I used Starbucks extra strong instant coffee.

-Use a high quality bittersweet chocolate instead of any 'ol chocolate chips

-Like a dumb dumb I didn't follow baking 101, and I failed to read the recipe through before starting it. I used all the espresso extract and syrup on the cakes and didn't put any in the whipped cream (thats why the cream in my photos looks so white). 

But even with these changes (and mistakes) it still tasted DELICIOUS!

The Better Graduation Reflections

This year, the beginning of the summer is a bit of a landmark for my family. My parents are having their 30th anniversary, my brother having graduated medical school is officially a doctor, and I'm saying farewell to the small prep school that I have attended for the last 14 years. After watching my father (an alum of the school) hand my brother his diploma, it got me thinking that it would only be a few short weeks before I' be getting my diploma.

Granted it is just high school, and I don't have to deal with the stress of knowing that lives will be in my hands...but still, it was a big awakening. All of this made me realize there are so many things I want to bake, do, see, and read while I'm still footloose, fancy free, and not bound to textbooks in the library. I refuse to let this summer pass only to realize that I have spent most of my days in the house. So here it is, my official Before I Go To College: Summer of 2012 Bucket List.

THINGS TO BAKE

1. Cinnamon Brown Butter Breakfast Puffs (Pictured above. Image via Smitten Kitchen)

2. Naan Bread

3. Homemade Twix Bar

4. Tiramisu (Pictured above. Image via 17 and Baking)

5. Jamaican Hard Dough Bread (This one is especially for my Jamaican parents who have been begging me to make it.)

THINGS TO DO

1. Run on the beach

2. West Coast Swing dance classes

3. Cake decorting class  (Image above via Glorious Treats)

4. Food photography/ styling class

5. Complete my tee shirt rug (Pictured above.)
6. Organize all pictures and computer files

THINGS TO SEE

1. Napa vineyards

2. Broadway show at Pantages Theatre

3. Snow White and the Huntsman

4. Chelsea Lately Live Show (Pictured above. Image via Google Images)

5. Cirque du Soleil

THINGS TO  READ

1. Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire, Book1)

2. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

3. An Abundance of Katherines (Pictured above. Image via Google Images)

4. Pandemonium

5. Uglies

I'd love to hear about all the activities on your bucket list.