Ebony & Ivory "Pavê"

We spent Christmas' Eve at my sister-in-law's and I was in charge of making dessert. With this "excuse" I was able to prepare something I was missing so much, because of the stupid diet I'm on. I got wild and made 3 different desserts. And yes, my dear, I made Donna Hay's truffle cake, too. :D

The pictures are awful because we arrived there very late (it was 11:40pm), there was no room for the desserts and my camera battery would die any minute. It's like the old saying, haste makes waste. :S

This is a very popular dessert here in Brazil, called "pavê". It's similar to a trifle, but the recipe calls for ladyfinger cookies instead of sponge cake. You can use savoiardis, as well. Click here to check Haalo's beautiful savoiardis.
The preparation of this dessert resembles the way tiramisu is prepared.

I don't listen to Beatles or Paul McCartney - I'm a Smiths kind of gal - but the song came to my mind the minute I finished making the "pavê". So I decided that the original name - two-toned pavê - was not as nice and changed it.

Recipe from here - there's not an English version for this recipe there, but this site is worth visiting since there are other delicious recipes, too.

Ebony & Ivory "Pavê"

5 egg yolks
160g sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
500ml hot milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon Cointreau or Grand Marnier - I had neither so I used the zest of 1 large orange
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
180g ladyfinger cookies
250ml orange juice
100g semisweet chocolate
100g white chocolate

Prepare the "custard": beat the egg yolks and sugar and add the cornstarch. Start adding the milk gradually. Beat well. Transfer the mixture to a saucepan and cook over low heat, stirring constantly until it thickens. Add the butter and cook for another minute, still stirring. Remove from heat, add Cointreau and vanilla and divide this cream in half: add cocoa powder to one half. Set aside to cool down.
To assemble the dessert, soak the cookies quickly in the orange juice and make layers: light custard, 8 cookies, dark custard, 8 cookies, and so on.
Make chocolate shavings and place them on top of the finished dessert.
Keep it in the fridge until serving.

Serves 8 - I doubled the recipe, that's why my "pavê" is so big!