The Chic Tiramisu Cake!

I’ve been gone a long time. I have NOT been lazy or had a lack of inspiration in the kitchen!

It so happened …

I bought a 17″ macbook pro in the spring of 2009. And, as newer, sleeker machines came out in the time between, my dear old, heavy-as-a-tank mac, remained by my side. I loved him (yes it was a he!) and went everywhere with him. Till one morning, in the December gone by, after my delicious morning breakfast of corn bread and cheese, I turned him on to start my day.
It was my worst nightmare. He just wouldn’t come on. I tried and I tried but he refused to respond. I panicked. Called the apple people and was told he was fried. “He cannot be saved anymore ma’am”.
We’d been together for nearly four years. He’d even come on all my vacations. Now he was gone.

Meanwhile Christmas came and went and so did New Years and I refused to look at any other computers! Silly? Yeah probably! 🙂

Here is my next post from my, all new shiny macbook retina in-cased pro.
To rewind, as Christmas approached in the month gone by, my daughter came home one day and told me that she needed to wear something “chic” to their Christmas dinner. At first I didn’t understand what she meant when she said it in her adorable dutch accent. “Chic”? Did she mean ‘chic’? But she’s only seven!
“Mama, maak voor mij een chic taart voor mijn chic diner!” (Mama make a chic cake for my chic dinner!!!). Wow!

So here it is, my attempt at chic-ness for my baby girl with a Tiramisu cake! I think the cake paled a little in comparison to her…

The Chic Tiramisu Cake!

 

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Prep time

1 hour

Cook time

45 mins

Total time

1 hour 45 mins

 

Recipe adapted from call me cupcake.

Author: boxofspice

Recipe type: Dessert

Serves: 8-10

Ingredients

• For the Sponge Cake
• 3 eggs
• 250 gms sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 300 gms all purpose flour
• 1.5 tsp baking powder
• 100 ml milk
• 50 grams butter
• 
  
• For the Coffee Syrup
• 200 ml strong coffee
• 50 ml kahlua
• 100 grams sugar
• 
  
• For the Mascarpone Cream
• 250gms mascarpone cheese
• 200 ml heavy cream
• 4 egg yolks
• 100 grams sugar
• 4 egg whites
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 
  
• For the Decoration
• Cocoa powder
• 100 gms grated or chopped dark chocolate
• 200 gms Savoiardi biscuits

Instructions

1. For making the sponge cake. Preheat oven to 175°C (350 F). Butter and flour a round 20 cm cake pan. Whisk the eggs and sugar until white and fluffy. Heat the milk and butter in a sauce pan until the butter has melted. Gradually add the milk mixture to the batter. Mix the flour and baking powder in a separate bowl and then add it to the batter. Pour the batter in the prepared pan. I did it twice which makes dividing the cake much simpler.
2. Put the pan on the lower rack in the oven and bake for about 35-45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
3. Let cool on a rack for 15 minutes. Invert the cake onto parchment paper. Let cool for a while and then split the cake so you have 3-4 layers.
4. For the coffee syrup, make 2 ml strong coffee or espresso. Mix with the kahlua and sugar in a saucepan. Let it boil until all the sugar has melted. Let cool.
5. For the mascarpone cream, mix the egg yolks and sugar in a heat proof bowl in a double boiler over simmering water. Mix constantly so the mixture starts to thicken. This process is exactly as for a regular tiramisu. Remove from heat and let cool.
6. In a dry, clean bowl, whip the egg whites until stiff. In another bowl, whip the cream until stiff peaks form.
7. Mix the mascarpone cheese and the egg yolk mixture. Add the whipped cream and vanilla. Gently fold down the whipped egg whites. Put it in the fridge for a 10-15 minutes.
8. For assembling the cake, soak all the cake layers in coffee syrup. And when I say soak I mean soak!
9. Start by putting the first layer on the bottom of a cake stand, Evenly spread out the mascarpone cream on the first layer. Repeat the same step until you have used all layers. Finish off with a layer of mascarpone cream on top and on the sides. To this arrange all the savoiardi biscuits all the way around the cake. They stick well to the mascarpone cream mix.
10. Once arranged put in the fridge for at least 4 hours
11. Before serving, powder with cocoa powder and then garnish with grated chocolate curls.

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