Thought I would mention Ermilio’s…

While visiting in Eureka Springs this week I had the great fortune to dine at a wonderful little place called Ermilio’s Italian Restaurant. Entering this welcoming little cottage, I immediately fell in love with the ambiance. Surrounded by trees and other houses equally adorable, a stroll inside feels like walking into a charming italian home. The walls are decorated with old family photos, as well as housing some amazing furniture.

Everything I placed on my taste buds was so heavenly, which included sauteed artichoke heart, spinach fettuccine with a basil pesto sauce, and the best tiramisu I have ever had. So of course I insisted on sneaking into the kitchen to see the magic happen. To my delight when I did it was TIRAMISU DAY!! My luck continued to grow as I was able to help out in the creation of this mouth watering confection. It was such a wonderful experience I thought I would share it with the internets!

Pastry chef Jane Tucker (creator of Cateraid catering co.) took me through the paces of how this Ermilio’s favorite is made. DISCLAIMER: This is not Ermilio’s exact recipe. To protect the family secret I have excluded a few ingredients and injected some of my own.

My job was to separate the egg yolks from the egg whites for the egg mixture.

ZEBION CUSTARD:

6 Egg Yolks
1 1/4 cups of Sugar

Combine egg yolks and sugar in the top of a double boiler. I do this over boiling water. Always use a double boiler. Make sure the water doesn’t touch the bottom of the top boiler containing the eggs, or it will be too hot and you’ll end up with scrambled egg instead. The water should be simmering, heat should be turned down low once it starts to boil. Don’t let it boil over. Once done, put bowl on ice to stop cooking.

Then came the espresso “mascarpone” cheese mixture. Traditional tiramisu calles for mascarpone cheese, but this one is so much dreamier.

Faux Mascarpone Cheese:

1 (8 ounce) Cream Cheese
1/3 cup sugar
3.0 fl oz of espresso
2 1/2 tablespoons sour cream

Oh, and then ya know, we made our own whipped cream, no big deal.

Whipped Cream:

1 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

Then it was time to make the magic happen. The coolest twist on this traditional dessert is that it comes complete in a cute little cup! Now that we had all our ingredients ready, we laid them out nicely and started layering.