The February 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Aparna of My Diverse Kitchen and Deeba of Passionate About Baking. They chose Tiramisu as the challenge for the month. Their challenge recipe is based on recipes from The Washington Post, Cordon Bleu at Home and Baking Obsession.

When I saw that the Daring Baker challenge for this month was tiramisu, I was absolutely thrilled! I’ve never had authentic tiramisu before – only tiramisu-flavored things like coffee creamer, and of course these incredible tiramisu cheesecake bars. I have to admit though that when I saw that this challenge would also involve making my own mascarpone cheese, I was a little nervous. But, it was a lot easier than I thought it would be, especially after I ditched the double-boiler method that just didn’t seem to work for me. This heavenly dessert definitely took a lot of time and preparation, but the result was well worth that effort…and everyone I served it to agreed!

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This eggplant parmigiana was inspired by my favorite Italian restaurant. Hubby and I went there on a date together recently, and I decided to try their eggplant parmigiana. I’ve only had it once before; it was cooked exactly like chicken parmigiana and almost like a lasagna, with layers of eggplant and sauce. However, this eggplant parmigiana was nothing like that one. The slices of eggplant were light, pan-fried with a delicate crust so that they were firm instead of mushy, surrounded by a light tomato sauce, and covered with melted slices of fresh mozzarella cheese. After one bite, I knew I needed to replicate this dish at home. Hubby and I both agreed that I came pretty darn close to the original, so here it is – hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

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I asked for a mini madeleine pan for Christmas last year because I’ve always been intrigued by these delicate cookies. I finally just got around to making them this past weekend, and my only regret is that I waited so long! They’re easy to put together, especially on the weekend when you can do something else around the house while the dough is chilling. They’re perfectly fluffy with a light crunchiness, and there are so many ways you can change up the flavor. However, be warned that the mini ones are very dangerous – I think I ate half the pan myself!

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Okay, I’m not going to lie. When I saw that the theme for this month’s Tigress’ Can Jam was carrots, I was less than thrilled. But the truth is I’ve never pickled anything before, and this assignment gave me the little push I needed to learn how to do it. In that respect, it was a lot of fun. Since I didn’t want to experiment with acid levels on my own yet, I simply took Dori and Jilly’s advice to stick to a published recipe and tweak it a little from there. I used the dilled carrots recipe from The Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving, only I halved it – twice – because I only wanted to make one 8-ounce jar. (As you can see, I wasn’t very optimistic about how my carrots would turn out!) I shouldn’t have worried though, since they seem to have turned out well. Now I just have to figure out what to do with them!

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I know the Super Bowl has come and gone, but I made this for the party we went to and it was just too good not to share. The recipe is a combination of one a friend gave me a couple weeks ago and what was already in my mind, and I’m really pleased with how it came out. There are tons of variations out there of course, but this one is by far my favorite. Be careful, though – this dip is very addictive. In fact, I may or may not have eaten a fourth of the pan by myself. And that is part of the reason I’ve started Couch to 5K. (Any other walkers/joggers/runners out there? You can follow my progress on the widget on my sidebar and motivate me if I’m slacking off!) Anyway, I digress, so on to the dip…here’s what you’ll need!

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