Gimme S'more of That Tiramisu!- aka. Working with Norman's Yogurt

Norman's Yogurt proved to be really easy to work with. Normally, it’s hard to integrate certain ingredients into your favorite foods. The truth is, my biggest challenge with Norman's yogurt was picking one of their amazing flavors to work with. Once I decided to start with the most basic flavor- plain Greek yogurt- moving on from there was easy. The creamy yogurt is super full of flavor and is a great low calorie option for a snack, a meal, or a healthy swap for sour cream.  Now all I had to do was figure out how to make something epic. Easy peasy. Just taking the better of two worlds and mashing them up together in a way that was so epic, I wouldn't even be able to think of a name for it, no sweat.

Inspiration came from two places. My mom, whose favorite dessert is tiramisu and my obsession with anything marshmallow (because who doesn’t love eating anything that’s kind of like eating a huge sugary pillow!). Hence the s’more and tiramisu mashup. To tell you the truth, I hate tiramisu. Soggy crackers, creamy stuff, and coffee in dessert are all stuff I hate. Put em all together an all of the sudden you have reserved yourself a place on my top ten worst foods list.to me, tiramisu is just a mouthful of blah with no texture. I might as well just eat ice cream and save myself the trouble. (Sorry to all you tiramisu lovers out there. (Also, sorry Ma.) So my own private goal when making this dessert was to see if I could change my own mind about tiramisu or if it was totally a lost cause. 

Because I was using Norman's Greek Yogurt, it meant that sorry, not sorry for all of you, but dessert was going to be dairy. Whoohooo! 'Cause dairy desserts always taste way better. (Sorry non-dairy people and vegans) The goal was to center the dessert around the yogurt by mimicking the mascarpone used in tiramisu using a combination of cream cheese and Norman's Greek yogurt. To add the s’more component I added marshmallow fluff to the mix. At first it didn’t really make a difference. It just tasted sweeter. Then! Inspiration struck! A real s’more is toasted, duh! In order to impart that real deal campfire marshmallow flavor it was time to crank up the heat and toast that marshmallow! Viola! Perfect s’more/mascarpone flavor. With a little mini marshmallow action and chocolate chip bite to give it some texture one layer was DOWN!

Now to tackle that soggy ladyfinger layer. Ew. That sentence makes me sad. Ladyfinger-Pesach baby teething food and soggy is just over the top gross. But what if instead of ladyfingers we used graham crackers? OOH I like where this is going! And instead of just a coffee and brandy soak lets add some chocolate cause chocolate always makes things better! Yes, this is good. Way to crank up that s’more action on that tiramisu. With an added bit of chocolate to the coffee soak and swapping the brandy for chocolate liqueur that soggy sadness in the middle of the tiramisu just got a whole lot more happy. Happy happy happy!!!

Now put it all together and what do you get?

This beautiful, epic and delicious Thing that I could not even name!! And it only took a taste to make me a believer! All of the sudden I was a changed woman because this s’more- a- misu, tira-smore whatever the name is was amazing. With the new added chocolate and marshmallows for texture and wonderful s’more flavors added to the classic Italian tiramisu it seemed like every problem was fixed and the good just got better. 

All that was left was the name. If you feel like you can step up to the challenge and name this beauty go to Norman's Dairy's Instagram page and follow the instructions in order submit your entry. Then run to your kitchen and make this recipe! Run! Its deliciousness cannot wait any longer! 

Gimme S'more of That Tiramisu

1 cup marshmallow fluff

6 large egg yolks

1/3 cup sugar

3/4 cup whole milk

16 ounces non-whipped cream cheese, softened

1/3 cup Norman’s Plain Greek Yogurt

¼ cup heavy whipping cream

1 1/2 cups espresso or strong coffee

4 ounce bittersweet chocolate, melted

¼ cup chocolate liqueur

2 sleeves graham crackers

½ -1 cup mini marshmallows

¼ cup mini chocolate chips

1/4 cup Dutch-process cocoa powder

Bittersweet chocolate, for shaving

1. Line an 8-inch-square baking dish with plastic wrap, leaving a 3-inch overhang on all sides. Fill a large bowl with ice water.

2. On a greased cookie sheet, with a greased spatula, spread the marshmallow fluff and place it under a broiler or blowtorch for 2-3 minutes or until the top begins to brown and caramelize. Set aside and allow it to cool.

3. Make the custard: Whisk the egg yolks and sugar in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of barely simmering water (do not let the bowl touch the water) until the sugar dissolves. Slowly whisk in the milk and cook, whisking constantly, until the custard is light and foamy, about 10 minutes (a thermometer inserted into the mixture should register 170 degrees F).

4. Remove the bowl from the saucepan and set in the bowl of ice water; whisk until the custard is cool, about 1 minute. 
 (At this point it should resemble a thick soup. It will firm up once cooled in the fridge.)

5. In another bowl, whip together the cream cheese, cream, Norman’s Plain Greek Yogurt, and marshmallow fluff (Don’t worry about the clumps, it adds to the character of the dish). Fold the custard into the marshmallow mixture with a rubber spatula until almost combined, then whisk until just smooth (Do not over mix or the custard will be grainy).

6. Combine the espresso, chocolate and liqueur in a shallow bowl. One at a time, dip the graham crackers in the espresso mixture until soaked but not soggy; arrange 3 crackers in a row and break a cracker in half to fill in the empty space. Spread one-third of the marshmallow custard over the graham crackers. Sprinkle some mini marshmallows and mini chocolate chips on top of the custard layer and then repeat with a second layer of espresso-dipped crackers, arranging them in the opposite direction. Top with another one-third of the custard some mini chocolate chips and some mini marshmallows. Repeat with the remaining ladyfingers, alternating directions. Spread the remaining custard on top (Do not put marshmallows in this layer) and dust with the cocoa powder. Cover with plastic wrap; refrigerate at least 4 hours, or overnight.

7. Invert a plate on top of the tiramisu, and then flip the tiramisu with the plate. Remove the baking dish and plastic wrap. Invert a serving plate on top of the tiramisu and flip again so it is cocoa-side up. Remove the remaining plastic wrap. Shave curls of chocolate on top with a vegetable peeler.

Note: For easier slicing, freeze the tiramisu and then slice it. Allow it to defrost before serving.

Please Note: Though I have been compensated for the use of this product, all opinions are my own.