After my half year long hiatus with Daring Bakers, I finally had the chance to bake again. This month’s challenge involved very little baking (only the ladyfingers), but it was fun to learn how to bake from scratch one of my favorite Italian desserts. All of those people on Food Network who do it the easy way- by buying all the pre-made ingredients and then assembling them are definitely missing out. It may have taken me near 6 hours to make this cake, but it was definitely worth the time. It came out light, bursting full of tones of coffee, and simply delicious.
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.
Afterwards, I had three leftover ladyfingers (Savoiardi Biscuits) with alot of the filling so I made a single layer tiramisu. It was like a stick of heaven.
Probably not the most photogenic looking tiramisu, but… it’s okay.
So yes, everything was made from scratch. That means the mascarpone cheese, the ladyfingers, and the filling. That means half a dozen of eggs, more sugar than I want to know, and a good amount of cream.
Tiramisu takes 2-3 days to make. You’ll want to make the mascarpone cheese and pastry cream ahead of time. After you finish assembling, you should let it chill for at least 24 hours as the flavors need to mature. It’s true. I had a small bite after assembling and while good, I was disappointed. Then I set it sit in the freezer for a week and it the flavors were dramatically enhanced.
Tiramisu
Daring Bakers February 2010
(Recipe source: Carminantonio’s Tiramisu from The Washington Post, July 11 2007 )
Equipment Required
- A double boiler (a stainless steel bowl that fits inside a large saucepan/ pot without touching the bottom will do)
- Two or three large mixing bowls
- Whisk
- A medium sized heavy bottomed pan
- Fine meshed strainer (to remove lumps from pastry cream, if any)
- Electric mixer, hand held
- Serving dish (or dishes) of choice (8″ by 8″ should be fine)
- Spatula for folding and spoons as required
- Plastic wrap/ clingfilm
- Baking sheets
- Parchment paper or nonstick liners
- Pastry bag (can be disposable)
- Plain 3/4″ pastry bag tip or cut the end of pastry bag to this size (If you don’t have a pastry bag and/or tips, you can use a Ziploc bag with the corner snipped off)
- Oven
- Cooling rack
- Thin-bladed spatula for removing ladyfinger biscuits from the baking sheets
- Instant-read thermometer (optional)
- Strainer
- Cheesecloth or cotton napkin for draining mascarpone
- Fine-mesh strainer for shaking cocoa powder on tiramisu
Ingredients:
For the zabaglione:
2 large egg yolks
3 tablespoons sugar/50gms
1/4 cup/60ml Marsala wine (or port or coffee)
1/4 teaspoon/ 1.25ml vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
For the vanilla pastry cream:
1/4 cup/55gms sugar
1 tablespoon/8gms all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
1/2 teaspoon/ 2.5ml vanilla extract
1 large egg yolk
3/4 cup/175ml whole milk
For the whipped cream:
1 cup/235ml chilled heavy cream (we used 25%)
1/4 cup/55gms sugar
1/2 teaspoon/ 2.5ml vanilla extract
To assemble the tiramisu:
2 cups/470ml brewed espresso, warmed
1 teaspoon/5ml rum extract (optional)
1/2 cup/110gms sugar
1/3 cup/75gms mascarpone cheese
36 savoiardi/ ladyfinger biscuits (you may use less)
2 tablespoons/30gms unsweetened cocoa powder
—
LADYFINGERS/ SAVOIARDI BISCUITS
(Source: Recipe from Cordon Bleu At Home)
This recipe makes approximately 24 big ladyfingers or 45 small (2 1/2″ to 3″ long) ladyfingers.
Ingredients:
3 eggs, separated
6 tablespoons /75gms granulated sugar
3/4 cup/95gms cake flour, sifted (or 3/4 cup all purpose flour + 2 tbsp corn starch)
6 tablespoons /50gms confectioner’s sugar
Recipe:
Preheat your oven to 350 F (175 C) degrees, then lightly brush 2 baking sheets with oil or softened butter and line with parchment paper.
Beat the egg whites using a hand held electric mixer until stiff peaks form. Gradually add granulate sugar and continue beating until the egg whites become stiff again, glossy and smooth.
Stiff Peaks!
In a small bowl, beat the egg yolks lightly with a fork and fold them into the meringue, using a wooden spoon.
Sift the flour over this mixture and fold gently until just mixed. It is important to fold very gently and not overdo the folding. Otherwise the batter would deflate and lose volume resulting in ladyfingers which are flat and not spongy. Fit a pastry bag with a plain tip (or just snip the end off; you could also use a Ziploc bag) and fill with the batter.
Pipe the batter into 5″ long and 3/4″ wide strips leaving about 1″ space in between the strips.
Sprinkle half the confectioner’s sugar over the ladyfingers and wait for 5 minutes. The sugar will pearl or look wet and glisten. Now sprinkle the remaining sugar. This helps to give the ladyfingers their characteristic crispness.
I obviously had no parchment paper…
Bake the ladyfingers for 10 minutes, then rotate the sheets and bake for another 5 minutes or so until the puff up, turn lightly golden brown and are still soft.
Allow them to cool slightly on the sheets for about 5 minutes and then remove the ladyfingers from the baking sheet with a metal spatula while still hot, and cool on a rack. Store them in an airtight container till required. They should keep for 2 to 3 weeks.
For the Mascarpone Cheese:
We also had to made mascarpone cheese, which was possibly the easiest part of making the tiramisu. For step by step instructions, visit this post.
For the pastry cream:
Mix together the sugar, flour, lemon zest and vanilla extract in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan. To this add the egg yolk and half the milk. Whisk until smooth. Now place the saucepan over low heat and cook, stirring constantly to prevent the mixture from curdling. Add the remaining milk a little at a time, still stirring constantly. After about 12 minutes the mixture will be thick, free of lumps and beginning to bubble. (If you have a few lumps, don’t worry. You can push the cream through a fine-mesh strainer.)
Transfer the pastry cream to a bowl and cool to room temperature. Cover with plastic film and refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight, until thoroughly chilled.
For the Zabaglione:
Heat water in a double boiler. If you don’t have a double boiler, place a pot with about an inch of water in it on the stove. Place a heat-proof bowl in the pot making sure the bottom does not touch the water. In a large mixing bowl (or stainless steel mixing bowl), mix together the egg yolks, sugar, the Marsala (or espresso/ coffee), vanilla extract and lemon zest. Whisk together until the yolks are fully blended and the mixture looks smooth.
Transfer the mixture to the top of a double boiler or place your bowl over the pan/ pot with simmering water. Cook the egg mixture over low heat, stirring constantly, for about 8 minutes or until it resembles thick custard. It may bubble a bit as it reaches that consistency.
Let cool to room temperature and transfer the zabaglione to a bowl. Cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight, until thoroughly chilled.
In an attempt to cut down the amount of eggs, I actually halved the amount of ingredients so I ended up with less zabaglione than what the recipe called for.
For the Whipped Cream:
Combine the cream, sugar and vanilla extract in a mixing bowl. Beat with an electric hand mixer or immersion blender until the mixture holds stiff peaks. Set aside.
By this time, my arms were so sore, I could barely beat any more.
To assemble the tiramisu:
Have ready a rectangular serving dish (about 8″ by 8″ should do) or one of your choice.
Mix together the warm espresso, rum extract and sugar in a shallow dish, whisking to mix well. Set aside to cool.
In a large bowl, beat the mascarpone cheese with a spoon to break down the lumps and make it smooth. This will make it easier to fold. Add the prepared and chilled zabaglione and pastry cream, blending until just combined. Gently fold in the whipped cream. Set this cream mixture aside.
Now to start assembling the tiramisu:
Workings quickly, dip 12 of the ladyfingers in the sweetened espresso, about 1 second per side. They should be moist but not soggy. Immediately transfer each ladyfinger to the platter, placing them side by side in a single row. You may break a lady finger into two, if necessary, to ensure the base of your dish is completely covered.
Spoon one-third of the cream mixture on top of the ladyfingers, then use a rubber spatula or spreading knife to cover the top evenly, all the way to the edges.
Repeat to create 2 more layers, using 12 ladyfingers and the cream mixture for each layer.
Clean any spilled cream mixture; cover carefully with plastic wrap and refrigerate the tiramisu overnight.To serve, carefully remove the plastic wrap and sprinkle the tiramisu with cocoa powder using a fine-mesh strainer or decorate as you please. Cut into individual portions and serve.
That’s it! Should have made it in a bread pan to hold the shape but eh. I should start working on my cake presentations though.
You should also check out:
- Daring Bakers: Orange & Strawberry Tian
- Daring Bakers August 09: Dobos Torte
- Daring Bakers: Coffee and Lemon Cheesecake
- Daring Bakers: For the Love of Chocolate, a Chocolate Valentino Cake
- How to make Mascarpone Cheese!
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
Great job on your tiramisu! It looks fantastic. And welcome back!