Francesca's tirami su from Treviso. Edible and handmade gifts.

If someone had to give me a gift but not sure what, an edible or a handmade present will always make me happy, very. 

I like the Christmas tradition of making decorative gingerbread biscuits, in different Christmas shapes that Aurelia chooses, dusted with icing sugar like it was snow, and wrapped them in a nice clear bag with a red ribbon. 

When we were living in Buenos Aires, the embassy held the Christmas party with all the staff around the 6 of December. Nick was Santa Klaus the first year; a skinny Santa, so hard to believe!. In the second Navidad of our posting in Argentina, Nick's Kris Kringle or amigo invisible gave him a handmade Christmas tree of star biscuits of various sizes, covered in icing sugar. It was inside of a white box. I loved it.

My sister in-law Jane always makes something delicious to give away for the Christmas lunch in Melbourne. One year she made rocky road and last year a healthy and tasty granola whose recipe I have tried but I never got the same result. Her granola was rich but lighter than mine. I have called hers "Jane's granola" and the recipe is from this link she gave me: http://www.thehealthychef.com/2012/10/granola/

My daughter Aurelia had a birthday party last May and the mums of two of her friends made a fantastic sofa for her. Aurelia was very excited. It came wrapped in brown paper with drawings of her firends. We kept the drawings and she sits down on it with a nice book to read, away from her two brothers. She feels cozy and enjoys a quite time in the corner of her room. Thank you Jackie and Catherine!

And finally, my friend Francesca made the most mouth-watering tirami su as a gift for my birthday last year and for Nick this year. We both are very grateful for her time and dedication making this edible present. I had to ask her her recipe, a real Tirami su from an Italian woman! and she came home, wrote  by hand in a piece of paper the recipe, explaining with a cute Italian accent that the biscuits have to be Savolardi and the creamy Italian mascarpone Galbani.

Tiramisu is a rich Italian dessert short for "Tira mi subito!" that literally means "pick me up right away!" and it was created in 1960s. Traditionally consists in layers sponge cake soaked in brandy and expresso with mascarpone custard cream flavored with chocolate.

With this recipe you make tirami su for a bowl of 2L capacity

• 375g Savolardi or lady finger biscuits ( about 24 )
• 2 cups of cold song black coffee
• 200 g grated bittersweet chocolate
• 500 g mascarpone Galbani
• Ducth cocoa
• extra grated bittersweet chocolate

zabaglione:

• 6 egg yolks
• 1/3 cup castor sugar
• optional 1/3 cup of brandy

1. Make the zabaglione first: whisk the egg yolks with castor sugar (and brandy if you use it) in a bowl over a saucepan of simmering water until thick. remove the bowl from the heat and continue to whisk until the mixture has cooled.
2. In another bowl, whisk the mascarpone until softened a bit and fold it into the cooled zabaglione.
3. Soak the biscuits, one by one, into the cold coffee until covered but be careful they don't break. Arrange some of the biscuits over the base and sprinkle some of the grated chocolate. Add a layer of the mascarpone mixture, spread it over the sponge layer. 
4. Repeat the process until you fill the bowl.
5. Sift the cocoa over the top and sprinkle on the grated chocolate.
6. Refrigerate for 2 hours before serving.

Tirami su by Francesca

PS: I am not great at baking cakes. It stresses me a bit. A confession I should make in this post. That's why I always try to find easy-making desserts and fool proof recipes. Flan is my favourite and tirami su the second. Both are amazing crowd pleaser and perfect for dinner parties because they are made in advance. This actually tastes better!

This is my handmade Christmas gift for my lovely friend Francesca who is leaving next week to Italy to celebrate Christmas with her family. I told her she can open it before she leaves even if it is cheating a bit...