Tiramisu Cake

I love tiramisu, then again who doesn’t?

This twist on the Italian classic is mind-blowing! Layers of chocolate cake, ladyfingers dipped in cold espresso with a dash of coffee liqueur, that rich mascarpone filling, all dusted in rich cocoa powder decorated in dark chocolate dipped ladyfingers – pure bliss!!

I know this cake may look complicated but trust me it isn’t, I made this whole cake in under 2 hours while running around my sick baby who refused to take her meds and rest – mom things!

Tiramisu Cake

Ingredients

Chocolate cake
3 eggs, yolks separated
75 grams castor sugar
75 g flour
20 g high-quality cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 pinch of salt

Tiramisu filling
4 large egg yolks
3/4 cup castor sugar
250g mascarpone cheese, at room temperature
1 cup double cream
1 teaspoon gelatine

1 cup cold espresso
1/2 cup coffee liqueur
+- 25 ladyfingers
100g dark chocolate
Cocoa powder for dusting

Method

Trim 2cm of the ladyfingers, dip the tops with dark chocolate, and place on baking paper to set. Keep the cut-off bits aside.

Chocolate cake

Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celcius. Prepare a cake tin with baking paper and baking spray and set it aside.

Whisk the eggs and sugar together until pale and creamy, fold in the dry ingredients until combined.

Pour the batter into the prepared cake tin and bake for 25 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.

Set on a cooling rack.

Tiramisu filling

Place about 3 cm of water in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to simmer and place a bowl on top of the pan ensuring it is not touching the water.

Add the egg yolks and sugar to the bowl, whisking to mix the ingredients. Place the bowl on the small pot of simmering water. Using a whisk to mix, whip the mixture constantly for about 10 minutes. This will cook the eggs. The mixture will increase in volume as it thickens. After you have finished whipping the egg and sugar mixture, remove the bowl from the heat and continue to whip the mixture to help it cool. The mixture should be thick and yellow in colour.

Add room temperature mascarpone to the mixture, mix until well combined. Don’t overmix this can cause curdling.

In a separate bowl, whip cream to stiff peaks.

Gently fold the whipped cream into the mascarpone mixture. Add a little water to the powdered gelatine and set aside to bloom (5 minutes). Place in the microwave for 5 seconds and fold it into the mixture. Refrigerate until you are ready to assemble the tiramisu cake.

Assembly

Using a serrated knife cut the chocolate cake making two layers. Place the first layer in a springform pan.

Place the cold espresso and coffee liqueur in a shallow bowl, dip the cut of buts of ladyfingers in the mixture, and place over the chocolate cake layer.

Layer with half the tiramisu filling, use the back of a spoon or offset spatula to spread the mixture evenly.

Add the 2nd layer of chocolate cake and place in the fridge to set (preferably overnight) Cover the extra tiramisu filling and refrigerate.

Once set place the cake on a serving plate or cake stand. Decorate with the chocolate-dipped ladyfinger, pipe the extra tiramisu filling on top of the chocolate cake layer. Dust with cocoa powder and serve.

Keep refrigerated.