From Charmaine Lord From ZOOMER

To make this Caribbean take on the traditional Italian dessert, Tiramisu, you’ll need to make two substitutions. Instead of using ladyfingers, we use traditional Jamaican banana bread, and instead of espresso, coffee, and rum, we make a bath of a citrus syrup including lemons, limes, and orange juice, boiled with sugar.

Caribbean Tiramisu

Yield: 4 – 6 servings

Banana Bread

Preparation: 15 minutes; baking: 50 minutes (makes one loaf)

2 cups flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1⁄2 tsp salt

1⁄2 tsp cinnamon

1⁄2 tsp nutmeg

1⁄2 tsp ginger

8 Tbs (1 stick) unsalted butter, soft

1⁄2 cup brown sugar

1⁄2 cup white sugar

2 eggs, beaten

3 large and ripe bananas, mashed

1⁄2 cup milk

3 drops lemon juice

1 tsp vanilla

Zest one each, lemon, orange & lime

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Cream the butter and sugar together for approximately 10 minutes. In the meantime. beat the eggs and add to the butter mixture, followed by the mashed ripe bananas. Sift together the flour with all of the other dry ingredients. Gradually add the flour mixture to the first mixture, alternating with the milk that has been mixed with the lemon juice.

2. The milk will be slightly curdled. Add also the lemon, lime and orange zest, and save the juice for making the syrup. Finally, add the vanilla, and coarsely chopped walnuts if desired. Pour into a bread pan prepared with butter and breadcrumbs, or butter and a non-stick cooking spray.

3. After the allotted cooking time, test the bread for doneness by sticking a wooden skewer in the center. If still too moist, leave in the oven for another 5 minutes. Take the bread out of the oven and immediately pour some of the prepared citrus syrup on top and bottom of the bread. This can be done even a day before assembling the dessert.

Lemon Syrup

Preparation: 15 minutes (makes approximately 1-1/2 cups of syrup)

Juice of 3 lemons

1 cup sugar

Juice of 1⁄2 orange 1tsp Limoncello (or other citrus liquor), if desired Juice of 3 limes

Place all ingredients except the Limoncello in a small saucepan. Cook at low heat, stirring frequently until the sugar dissolves. Cook for another 5 minutes until the syrup thickens. Take off the heat and add the Limoncello, or, for example, Grand Marnier, if desired. Pour immediately approximately 1⁄4 of the syrup over the hot bread leaving more or less 3⁄4 of the syrup to moisten the bread on all sides once it is cut into slices for the assembling of the dessert.

Lemon Mascarpone Cream

Preparation: 10 minutes

Small container of Mascarpone (approx. 250 gr.)

1 cup sugar

Zest of 2 lemons, 2 limes and 1 orange

4 egg yolks

4 egg whites

8 drops of lemon juice

Whip the egg yolks together with the sugar. Add the mascarpone and the lemon peel, continuing to mix all the ingredients together. Apart, whip the egg whites until they hold a peak. Add 8 – 10 drops of fresh lemon juice to the whites. In a few additions, gently fold in the whites.

Additional Ingredients

2- 3 ripe mangos sliced, if desired

1 cup pineapple chunks, if desired Confectioners sugar

Candied zest of lemons, limes and orange**

Assembling the Tiramisu

Preparation: 15 minutes

1. Slice the banana bread. You can decide what type of dish to use, but it must have high sides. It doesn’t have to be transparent. Take the first slices of bread and bathe gently on both sides with the syrup.

2. Place in dish and cover with the mascarpone cream, followed by a layer of fruit. Repeat this step except for the fruit until the bowl is full. The top has to be completely covered with the cream. Cover carefully with plastic wrap. You should then refrigerate the dessert until approximately 15 minutes before serving.

3. Then decorate with confectioners sugar, and if available candied lemon and orange peel, which can be made a few days ahead and stored in an airtight container (**). An alternative is simply to use lemon and lime zest mixed with sugar, which is sprinkled lightly on top (approximately two of each), which gives a lovely color contrast to the top.

Note: I also like to use lemon cake or Savoiardi cookies (Ladyfingers). Savoiardi are traditionally used in a tiramisu.

**Candied citrus peel is made by creating thicker slivers of zest, which is then allowed to boil for approximately 2 minutes in the remaining syrup. Remove from the syrup and cover with granulated sugar, gently folding them in the sugar until coated on all sides. Remove and place on a plate and let cool. The slivers can be as thick and long as you wish.

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