Tiramisu

tiramisu, originally uploaded by pearlyn83.

 

My first Tiramisu was nearly 3 years ago. Then I still didn’t have much baking skills so it was challenging for me to make something of such “hard” level considering I couldn’t even make a chocolate cake properly! :p As most are aware, the Italian name Tiramisu literally means “pick-me-up”. Well, coffee lovers all over the world would have to agree that this dessert definitely earns its name. Nowadays, there are many different versions of this mouth watering dessert. Most of them using sponge fingers. However, I’m not a big fan of sponge fingers. I’ve tried it a couple of times but have come to the conclusion that when you make a sponge cake as the base, that’s still the best.

Ingredients:

Sponge cake:

• 6 eggs, split the whites and yolks
• 200g sugar
• 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp vanilla essence
• 140g self-raising flour
• 100ml thickened cream
• 5 tbsp oil

Method:

• Preheat oven to 180C.
• Beat egg whites, cream of tartar and 100g sugar to stiff peaks.
• Beat egg yolks, vanilla essence and 100g sugar till light and creamy.
• Sift flour and baking powder together.
• Add cream to egg yolk mixture. Gradually fold flour into mixture, alternating with oil.
• Fold egg yolk mixture into egg white mixture lightly. Pour into ungreased pan. Bake till set.
• Allow cake to cool. Divide cake into half.

Tiramisu:

• 225 g mascarpone
• 1/4 cup icing sugar
• 2/3 cup strong coffee, chilled
• 1 1/4cups double cream
• Coffee liqueur, eg Tia Maria, Kahlua
• Sponge fingers or sponge cake
• Cocoa powder

Method:

• Beat mascarpone and icing sugar for 1 min. Stir in 2tbsp of coffee.
• Whip cream and liqueur till soft peaks. Add liqueur according to taste. Some people like theirs strong whereas some are not big fans of alcohol.
• Stir a spoonful into mascarpone then fold in the rest. Make sure mixture is completely mixed.
• Add some liqueur into remaining coffee. Place one half of the cake on serving plate or cake board. Brush cake with coffee mixture. Make sure cake is moist with the mixture. Do not overdo it till cake becomes too soggy.
• Spoon 1/3 of mascarpone mixture onto cake. Even it out.
• Place other half of cake on top of the first half. Repeat above steps to moist cake. Spread cake with remaining mascarpone mixture.
• Decorate according to preference.

Note:

• Most Tiramisus are decorated with cocoa powder sprinkled on top. I made my own chocolate curls for the side and sprinkled the top with cocoa powder and chocolate flakes

 

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