Well everyone, the big news is finally here: I have officially changed the name of my blog! Not only did I change the name, I have completely updated the website design. Over the next few months I will be re-sharing some of my favorite old and forgotten recipes from the blog as well as plenty of new ones. I am so excited to finally be sharing the new blog that has been in the works for over three months now. I am the only person who works on my blog so I have been spending every free moment to transfer over all of the old recipes and create a new design that fits my personality. It has been a lot of hard work but it has all paid off.

So, without further ado, Welcome to Persona Kitchen!

So why did I change the name?

Well, to be honest, I never liked the old name A Common Kitchen. Back in 2017 when I decided that I for sure wanted to start a food blog I had no idea what I wanted to call it. I spent over a month writing down names, words, and phrases that I liked but none of them felt right. Whilst trying to come up with a name I was also starting to develop recipes. Eventually my eagerness to share my recipes overshadowed my need for the perfect blog name. So I chose the first name that didn’t make me cringe and on January 13th, 2018 I shared the first recipe on A Common Kitchen.

Now A Common Kitchen wasn’t an awful name. At first I thought it was a perfectly fine name because I’m a ‘common’ person with no special cooking or baking training and I bake in a ‘common’ kitchen. Why not call it that? However, I quickly felt like the word ‘common’ started to feel like a synonym for ‘boring’. It didn’t fit my personality at all and furthermore, it did not represent the recipes that I wanted to create. So ever since I shared my first recipe on A Common Kitchen I had been trying to think of another name that fit better. And well, here we are nearly two years later and I finally did it and this time I know I got it right.

Why I decided to stay with SquareSpace

Back in late June when I finally came up with the name Persona Kitchen I decided that I wanted to improve the overall look of my blog as well. I wanted it to be clean, organized, and simple. It’s not that the older version of the blog wasn’t those things; it’s just that, again, it didn’t quite have the feel that I wanted it to have. I tried messing around with the different templates on Squarespace and I wasn’t liking any of it. On top of that, Squarespace did not (and still doesn’t) have a recipe plugin. That was something I wanted for my website because it formats your recipes in a particular way and also allows readers to print the recipe directly from the site.

So suffice it to say that there were quite a few things that Squarespace lacked in. I had read a couple posts from other food bloggers who talked about how much they loved Wordpress because they had multiple recipe plugins. Of course they also had other reasons as to why they liked Wordpress but that was a pretty common one amongst food bloggers.

I decided that I wanted to host my new blog on another platform that offered more features than Sqaurespace did. So I purchased my new domain name on a new hosting site and started creating the website. Errr… kind of. As soon as I started “designing” my website I quickly realized that I was in way over my head. I had NO idea how to use the website. I could barely figure out how to create even a simple blog post! I watched videos on Youtube and did research online to help me but none of it worked. Now I will be the first to admit that I am not very tech-savvy. Yes, I know how to use my iphone, macbook, and ipad but that’s really the extent of it. If anything breaks I have to take it somewhere to get fixed. I will also admit that if I watch a few Youtube videos and do research online and still can’t figure out how to create a simple blog post, then I don’t care to keep trying. So I cancelled my subscription to the new hosting site and waited the 60 days to transfer my new domain name to Squarespace. (Yes, there are internet ‘laws’ that make you wait 60 days to transfer a domain once it’s been purchased.)

During my 60 day waiting period I quickly got to work on the new blog. I chose a minimal yet beautiful template and made it my own. I chose the fonts and adjusted the formatting of my blog posts. I completely re-did my About page and added new photos of myself to it. As soon as I started the re-design process I new that I had made the right choice staying with Squarespace. I could have eventually figured out how to use the other platform but it would have taken a lot of time; time that would have been better spent developing and photographing recipes.

You see, creating recipes, taking beautiful photos of them, and sharing them with the world is why I started a food blog. I don’t want to have to spend hours upon hours working on the “tech” side of the blog. That’s exactly what I was looking at spending 80% of my time on if I stuck with the other hosting site. So I made a decision to trade extra website features for the ease of a simple platform. I truly believe that I made the right decision.

Persona Kitchen’s first recipe!

Now this weeks recipe is not a new recipe, rather it is a retelling of an old one. You see, I have made and rephotographed this recipe at least three times and I have never been able to get it right. The first time I made and photographed it I was so new to photography that the photos were awful in my opinion. The second and third time I completely botched the recipe and the end result was too messy to photograph. I was always so disappointed that I couldn’t seem to get it right because it is my absolute favorite dessert.

So in light of “getting things right” I decided to give Tiramisu another try. Maybe it was just good luck, I don’t know, but this time I finally got it right! This Tiramisu is light, fluffy, and decadent. It consists of layers of espresso-soaked lady fingers (Italian cookies) and a creamy mascarpone filling. It is then topped with a fine dusting of high quality cocoa powder. Et voilà! A simple, elegant, and delicious dessert! The espresso, mascarpone, and cocoa powder all pair together beautifully to create the most classic and iconic Italian dessert.

How to make the perfect Tiramisu

So how do you create the perfect Tiramisu? Here’s a secret: there’s really not much to it! Tiramisu uses a small list of ingredients and I have three tips for you that will ensure you get the perfect Tiramisu.

Use imported Lady Fingers: By imported I mean straight from Italy! Over the years I have tried countless store-brand lady fingers and all of them have been, well, bad. I don’t know why but they always make the tiramisu have the absolute worst texture. They turn extremely mushy once the tiramisu sits overnight and can ruin the entire dessert The only way I have found to avoid this is to buy Italy imported lady fingers. They hold up beautifully and are a vital part of the dessert. Now I suppose you could make homemade lady fingers but to be honest, I think the Italy imported ones would still be better. So, go to your local Italian deli or specialty shop and get yourself some good quality lady fingers.
Use good quality espresso: The espresso is the main flavoring in Tiramisu so you do NOT want to skimp on it. I do not recommend using espresso powder dissolved in water or even strongly brewed coffee. You need real good quality espresso and if you have to drive to your local coffee shop to get it, then do that. Another crucial step involving the espresso is not to use hot or even warm espresso. You ideally want it to be cold or at the very least room temperature. I once used hot espresso and my lady fingers turned to complete mush.
Use good quality cocoa powder: Since the cocoa powder is dusted on top of the entire dessert you want to make sure that you use a good tasting cocoa powder. And i’m sorry you guys, Hershey’s will not do. You want to use a dutch processed cocoa powder because it is richer and, in my opinion, is superior to natural cocoa powder. You can find it at most grocery stores nowadays and even most Costco’s!

Now I know I said there were three tips for the perfect Tiramisu but there is one last tip that you think would be an obvious one but it’s one that even I have overlooked. That tip is simply to follow the recipe exactly. Yes, I have misread or glossed over my OWN recipe and that’s why I had three failed attempts at Tiramisu in the last two years. The directions are simple and if you follow them you will have the perfect Tiramisu.

I hope that you all enjoyed this week’s recipe as well as the big news. I have been biting my nails waiting to share the new name and website with you all and I’m so happy that the time is here. I would also like to say thank you to everyone who follows the blog and has been for the last two years. I sincerely appreciate all of the support, feedback, and friendships that have come from running the blog. It is my favorite thing that I have ever created and the thing that I am most proud of. So, here’s to many, many more years and hopefully no more name changes. ;)

Tiramisu

Makes about six individual or one 8x8” Tiramisu

Ingredients:

6 Large Egg Yolks
1 Cup White Granulated Sugar
¼ Teaspoon Kosher Salt
1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1 ¼ Cups Mascarpone Cheese, softened
2 Cups Heavy Cream
2 Packages Lady Fingers *see note
2 Cups Freshly Brewed Espresso, chilled completely
½ Cup Liqueur, optional *see note
3 Tablespoons Dutch Processed Cocoa Powder

Directions:

Combine egg yolks, sugar, salt, and vanilla extract in a large bowl and whisk until combined. Place the bowl over a medium sized pot filled with about two inches of water that is at a gentle simmer over medium heat— this is called a double boiler. Cook the egg mixture for 8-10 minutes or until the yolks register 165ºf on an instant read thermometer, stirring constantly. The yolk mixture should be smooth and there should be no sugar granules. Remove from the heat and whip with the handheld mixer until the mixture is thick and a pale yellow color and completely room temperature. Add in the mascarpone and mix until fully incorporated.
Add the heavy cream to a separate bowl and whip on medium-high speed until stiff peaks form. Fold in about a cup of the whipped cream to the mascarpone/egg mixture with a rubber spatula until the mixture is almost fully incorporated. You can mix a little more vigorously at this stage since we need to loosen the mixture before adding the rest of the cream. Gently fold in the rest of the whipped cream until no streaks remain. Set aside.
Pour the espresso and coffee liqueur (if using) into a shallow dish and dip the lady fingers into it, about one second on each side (you do NOT want to over-soak them) and arrange them in a single layer in an 8x8" baking dish, cutting any down with a knife to fit the the dish. If you are using individual cups, use 1 or 2 espresso-soaked lady fingers for each layer, cutting them to fit the size of your cups.
Spoon ⅓ of the mascarpone filling on top of the lady fingers and spread it out into an even layer with an offset spatula. Repeat for the second layer. For the third and final layer, add another layer of lady fingers and the rest of the mascarpone filling and use the offset spatula to cover all of the lady fingers. If you are using the individual cups, you will use about 3 tablespoons of mascarpone filling for each layer. Depending on the size of your cups, you might only get two layers of each but if you play it right you might be able to get three layers!
Refrigerate the tiramisu for no less than 4 hours but preferably overnight. *See Note
Once the Tiramisu has chilled, remove it from the fridge dust the top(s) of the Tiramisu with the cocoa powder.
Slice and enjoy!

Notes:

You can find Italian Lady Fingers at most grocery stores nowadays. I know that Whole Foods usually has them and most chain grocery stores do, usually in the isle with the pasta or Italian foods. If you can't find them at any local grocery stores, try calling a local Italian deli, they almost always have them. If all else fails, Amazon has some right here.
Most classic Tiramisu recipe use some kind of liqueur mixed in with the espresso to dunk the lady fingers in. However, I am not a big fan of alcohol so I usually just leave it out. However, if you prefer to have alcohol in it (which I totally get!) you can add ½ cup of liqueur to the espresso. You can buy any brand of liqueur that you prefer. You can use Marsala, Madeira, rum, or a coffee flavored liqueur. If you don’t or can’t consume alcohol, feel free to completely omit the alcohol all together, I have made it both ways and it will still taste just as delicious.
Without a proper rest in the fridge, the tiramisu will fall apart when you cut into it and try to remove a slice.