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These ended up quite good, but I think the mascarpone soaked into the macaron shells too much and left them pretty fragile. Broken macarons aren’t the most terrible thing in the world, because they’re just as delicious broken or not! But for photography purposes, you’d want them a little more presentable! Sprinkle some cocoa powder or cinnamon on top of the assembled macarons and you have yourself a fancy dessert!

MACARON RECIPE ADAPTED FROM YOU CAN DO IT AT HOME – MACARONS (ITALIAN MERINGUE VERSION)

MASCARPONE FILLING

6 oz Mascarpone cheese (room temperature)

6 tbsp butter (room temperature)

1/2 – 1 cup powdered sugar (sifted)

espresso or finely ground instant coffee

cinnamon sugar (optional)

MASCARPONE FILLING DIRECTIONS

1. with a mixer, beat the mascarpone and butter until creamed

2. slowly add the sifted powdered sugar and beat until fully incorporated; add in small increments to determine your preferred sweetness

3. add espresso powder and beat until fully incorporated; add in small increments to determine your preferred taste

4. add cinnamon sugar if desired

With that said, I do like an occasional tiramisu! I love mascarpone cheese and I definitely love ladyfingers! I love how the ladyfingers become cake-like after being soaked with all that tiramisu-coffee filling! Then dusted with cocoa powder, cinnamon and chocolate shavings — what’s not to like? Authentic tiramisus have raw eggs in them, and as much as I like to stay on the authentic side I don’t like to serve raw eggs when I know my niece or my nephew will be consuming it. I was fortunate to find a tiramisu recipe that didn’t have raw eggs in it.

I made this dessert for New Year’s and to assemble the ladyfingers in this circular fencing, you need a 7″ springform pan. Well, I don’t have a 7″ springform pan and the last thing I wanted to do after the holidays is to run around town looking for one! So, I just took two thick cardboard/Bristol papers, taped them together, cut it in half and then rounded it into 7″ in diameter and then tape the inseams. Then I placed this homemade springform pan/crown on top of the cake plate and I assembled the tiramisu cake right on the plate. You’re gonna wanna assemble it on the cake plate since you don’t have the bottom part of the springform pan to allow you to transfer it. What a frugal and innovative way to start the year!

RECIPE ADAPTED FROM HAPPY HOME BAKING – TIRAMISU CHARLOTTE CAKE

Again, you can make this easily with store-bought rotisserie chicken and even add ingredients you’d like. I’ve tried them with mushrooms, corn and last Thanksgiving I rolled leftover stuffing into balls and added them to the filling!!! It was so delicious! It tasted like a Thanksgiving version of Chicken & Dumplings or Matzo Ball Soup.

RECIPE ADAPTED FROM INA GARTEN – CHICKEN POT PIE

LATTICE PUFF PASTRY DIRECTIONS

1. unfold one puff pastry sheet and cut to desired length in long strips

2. on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, weave strips into lattice large enough to cover your serving bowl

3. brush lattice crusts with 1 beaten egg and a tablespoon of milk; sprinkle with sea salt & pepper

4. bake for 5-10 minutes (or until puffed and golden brown) on a 350 degree, preheated oven

I hope everyone had a warm and blessed Christmas season, as much as I had been gifted. Although it’s been said many times, many ways… Merry Christmas to you!

Whatever you  may celebrate, I hope your day is filled with love, light and lots of good food!

Naturally, I tweaked the recipe a little. Instead of regular sweet Italian sausage, I used maple sausage. When I make my stuffing, I add  a sleeve of Saltine crackers to it (A little trick I learned from Paula Deen). so instead of Panko crumbs, I used crushed up Saltine crackers. The salty bite from the Saltine crackers was perfect with the sausage! I also left out the 2 tablespoons of olive oil since the sausage was fatty enough. I will post my version of the recipe and the link to the original recipe will be on the bottom.

I also want to add that this recipe is great to make a day or two ahead. Just simply make the filling, stuff the mushrooms, cover it with plastic wrap and then store it in the fridge. Bake it an hour before dinner time and you have a stress-free side dish or appetizer!

INGREDIENTS

16 extra-large white mushrooms

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 1/2 tablespoons Marsala wine

1 lb Maple Sausage (Jimmy Dean brand preferred)

6 scallions – white and green parts (thinly sliced)

2 garlic cloves (minced)

2/3 cups coarsely crushed Saltine Crackers

8 ounces Mascarpone cheese

1/3 cup grated Asiago or Parmesan cheese

2 1/2 tablespoons minced parsley leaves

pepper to taste

NOTE: Feel free to season with more salt, but I found that the maple sausage & the cheese made it salty enough

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 325

2. Remove the stems from the mushrooms and chop them finely. Set aside.

3. Place the mushroom caps in a shallow bowl and toss with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and Marsala. Set aside.

4. Brown the sausage in a skillet over medium heat – crumbling the sausage with the back of a wooden spoon. Brown the sausage 8-10 minutes.

5. Add the chopped mushroom stems and cook for 3 more minutes

6. Stir in the scallions and garlic; cook for another 2-3 minutes.

7. Add the crushed Saltine cracked, stirring to combine evenly.

8. Swirl in the mascarpone cheese and continue cooking until the sausage mixture is creamy.

9. Remove the skillet off the heat and stir in the Asiago or Parmesan cheese and chopped  parsley.

10. Stuff the mushrooms and place them in a casserole dish. Sprinkle more cheese on top, if desired.

11. Bake for 50 minutes, until the stuffing & cheese is browned and crusty.

RECIPE ADAPTED FROM INA GARTEN – SAUSAGE STUFFED MUSHROOMS