My dad makes homemade Irish cream. I wanted to come up with a dessert to incorporate the flavor of the upcoming holiday, utilizing his homemade liquor.

Tiramisu is such a fancy-looking dessert, yet, its easy to make and a crowd-pleaser.

This Irish Cream Tiramisu has the perfect balance of sweet, creamy, coffee and Irish Cream flavors.

Irish Cream Tiramisu

5 large eggs, separated

3/4 cup of sugar

1 pound of mascarpone

¼ cup of Irish Cream

1 cup of strong coffee plus ½ cup of Irish Cream

1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract

½ cup of heavy cream

40 ladyfingers

¼ cup of cocoa powder

Shaved chocolate

In a bowl, mix together ½ cup of Irish Cream and one cup of strong coffee. Set aside.

In a medium-sized mixing bowl, whisk the heavy cream and vanilla until soft peaks form. Set aside in the refrigerator until ready to use.

In the bowl of your stand mixer, whisk together a quarter of a cup of sugar with the egg yolks. Set over a double boiler and continue to whisk until eggs register 165 degrees Fahrenheit with a cooking thermometer. Put the bowl on your stand mixer and whip with your whisk attachment until cooled down to room temperature.

To the egg yolk mixture, add in the pure vanilla extract, ¼ cup of Irish Cream and the mascarpone. Whisk together until well combined. Place into a large mixing bowl.

Wash the stand mixer bowl until very clean and dry. Put the egg whites and the remaining sugar into that stand mixer bowl. Heat until the temperature registers 165 degree Fahrenheit. Place this bowl onto your stand mixer and whisk this mixture on medium high until cool.

Take ½ of the egg white mixture and fold it into your mascarpone mixture gently. Once well combined, gently fold in your remaining whipped egg whites with refrigerated whipped cream. Be careful not to overmix.

To assemble, dip 20 ladyfingers into the coffee mixture. Line the bottom of your 9 x 13 baking dish or whatever shape dish you choose.

Writer’s note: Glass or ceramic works out best, so that there would be no chance of a metal taste in your dessert.

Spread half of the mascarpone mixture over the lined ladyfingers. Repeat above steps to create the next layer. Cover tiramisu ightly, and place in the refrigerator to set up.

Prior to serving, garnish with sifted cocoa powder and semisweet chocolate shavings.

Sarah Schweitzer is dual-certified in Culinary Arts and Baking & Pastry from the Escoffier School of Culinary Arts (www.escoffier.edu). She is currently Line Cook and Baker at CB’s on Center in JT. She can be reached at sarah.schweitzer18@gmail.com.