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Monday, January 3, 2011

Limoncello Mascarpone Verrines


Most of us have heard of a parfait, but take that same idea and artfully layer ingredients in a small glass with either savory or sweet and you have a French creation called a Verrine (pronounced vair-EEN) from the French word for glass (verre). Tres chic, this one is served in a tall shot-glass! I love to serve appetizers and desserts with this persentation to create a real WOW effect! My husband and I ate all 6 of these yummy desserts all by ourselves, 3 nights in a row! They are so good! Makes about 6-8 Verrines depending on the size of your glass.
Ingredients:

 1 cup prepared lemon curd (recipe below or Trader Joe’s Lemon Curd)
 4 tablespoons Pallini Limoncello (add to pre-made lemon curd or follow recipe below)
Whipped Topping:

1/3 cup mascarpone cheese
1 teaspoon finely grated fresh lemon zest
1 tablespoon Pallini Limoncello
2/3 cup heavy whipping cream


Garnish Options:
6-8 fresh raspberries
Fresh mint leaves, for garnish     
Dark chocolate, shaved
Graham cracker, crushed

Directions:

1. Rinse and drain raspberries, gently pat dry and set aside.
2. In a small bowl, stir together the lemon curd and the Limoncello liqueur, whisking briskly until combined.
3. In a separate bowl, whip the cream until soft peaks form. Beat in the lemon zest and Limoncello. Whip in the mascarpone until combined.
4. In 6-8 large shot-glasses, evenly and attractively layer the lemon curd mixture over the graham cracker layer and then top with the mascarpone mousse (use a pastry bag fitted with a plain tip for lemon curd and a large star tip for whipped topping).
5. Top with a fresh berry, and garnish with a mint leaf or a dusting of crumbled crushed graham crackers or shaved dark or bittersweet chocolate.
6. Chill until serving time. 
Graham Cracker Layer
Ingredients:
4 whole graham crackers
1 Tbs sugar
2 Tbs melted butter
Directions:
Roll graham crackers finely and place in a bowl. Add sugar and melted butter. Mix all ingredients until combined. Place 2 Tbs of graham mixture at the bottom of a tall shot glass or ramekin and chill until ready to layer in lemon curd.
Lemon Curd
Ingredients:
1/2  cup white sugar
3 whole eggs
3 egg yolks
1/8 teaspoon salt
Zest of 3 lemons
4 oz lemon juice
4 tablespoons Pallini Limoncello
4oz butter
Directions:

In a medium bowl over a double boiler, whisk together eggs, sugar, lemon juice and zest and salt. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until mixture comes to a gentle boil and thickens.
Remove from heat and cool 5 minutes. Whisk in butter in 4 stages – 1 oz per stage. Strain and chill. Pipe into glass over the graham cracker layer so that lemon curd does not drip down the sides of the glass. Each layer should show as an individual layer in the glass.

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