I attempted tiramisu last night. I say attempted because I couldn't find ladyfingers and ended up using Stella Dora cookies that are shaped like ladyfingers, which made an entirely different animal altogether. I knew I didn't have the right kind of cookie, though, so I only made a half-batch. I'll spend more time looking for real ladyfingers later, which should improve my results immensely.

First I whipped 8 ounces mascarpone with 1/2 cup powdered sugar, 1 cup heavy cream and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract. Then I placed 5 of the cookies side by side on a platter, brushed them liberally and repeatedly with a mixture of strong coffee and kahlua, then added a layer of the mascarpone mixture. Repeated the layers once, then dusted the whole thing with cocoa powder.

I think it would've worked better if I had soaked the cookies in the coffee mixture instead of brushing them. Another option, the one in the recipe I used, is to make a sponge cake in a jelly roll pan (but I didn't feel like doing that last night). I have about half the mascarpone mixture left over. I think I may make the sponge cake, then cut rounds to fit in my ramekins and make individual tiramisu with that.