Valentine's Day: Verona City of Love & Tiramisu

I did not expect to fall in love with the city of Verona. Known around the world as the setting of Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet depicted in the 1968 Academy Award film by Franco Zeffirelli,           more than 1 million visitors a year stop at the home of Giulietta Capuleti heroine of the romantic story. You can walk through the rooms of the family home and leave a letter for Giulietta or post a note as seen in the photo below. Romeo's family home is located a short walk away. The gift stores surrounding Juliet's home abound with every trinket imaginable including cookies known as Juliet's kisses and Romeo's hugs shown in the picture below. You can find recipes on the internet.

Verona also has many architectural wonders, beautiful cathedrals, and a Roman-period Colosseum still used for concerts. This fall I missed Andrea Bocelli by a few days. The entire old town area is walkable with booming retail shops, eateries, and gelato cafes galore.

Chef and cookbook author, Maria Cristina Tabacchi, led a small group of us cooking fresh pasta, ragu, risotto, and my favorite, tiramisu. Having just prepared this recipe with a fabulous home chef, Clara, in Venice, my recipe below combines the best elements of both cities. That's Amore!

Tiramisu alla Venice and Verona

Ingredients:

Cookies - imported lady fingers (photo available at Trader Joe's, but soft Italian ones are best if you can find)
6 oz expresso fresh brewed bring to room temp (will have leftovers)
1 teaspoon of sugar add to expresso
8 oz mascarpone
2 oz sugar
3 whole eggs separated
2 tablespoons aged grappa it is golden and flavorful NOT regular Grappa (see photo from Binny's ~$16 for 200 ml) this small amount adds tremendous flavor!
2-4 oz rich unsweetened powder coco imported is best, but Hershey's or Trader Joe's brands work

Method:

Prep mascarpone whip with 2 oz sugar till light (5 minutes) add egg yolks. Beat. Whip egg whites. Add the aged grappa to egg yolk mixture. If serving children or people who can't have grappa, at this point make a separate individual serving w/o grappa. Otherwise proceed by blending in whipped egg whites to the egg yolk mixture. You are ready to assemble.

In a glass container line bottom with one layer of cookies quickly dipped in coffee sweetened with sugar. Don't soak they will fall apart. Top with 1/2 of the cream mixture. With a sifter add a thick layer of powder coco. Repeat another layer and top with cookie only finished with thick coco powder. Cover with saran wrap and chill 4 hours. Overnight will be too soggy, but doable if time is limited. The container shown here is a glass loaf pan and serves 8. It is a picture of the recipe I made in Venice.  You can also make in individual bowls everything the same except assembly, which is method preferred in Verona for a neat presentation.