Tiramisu [with ladyfingers and no bake]

I am overjoyed with two successful cakes in a row.
Blueberry Crumble Cake for my birthday..
and now this yummy Tiramisu for my mom's birthday!

No more resorting to the safe (but delicious) route to make chiffon or asian sponge cakes with cream, and just in time to check this no bake tiramisu off my to bake list before 2015 comes to an end. I definitely want to tackle a mousse or some stunning looking naked cakes for the next big occasion. Stay tuned in 2016!

Tiramisu 
recipe adapted from Inspired Taste
makes 2- 6" round (7 slices per 6") or 1 9" square

1/2 cup (120 ml) brewed espresso or very strong coffee, room temperature*
*1 Tbsp instant coffee powder dissolved in 1/2 cup hot water
1/4 cup (60 ml) kahlua, divided
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 large egg yolks
1/8 cup (25 g) sugar
8 oz (225 g) mascarpone cheese, room temperature
3/4 cup (175 ml) heavy cream
18 to 20 (1-7 oz package) Savoiardi Italian ladyfingers
cocoa powder for dusting

Ingredients for Tiramisu.

Coffee mixture-
1. Combine espresso (or coffee), 2 Tbsp Kahlua, vanilla extract in a wide, small bowl. Set aside.  

Filling-
1. On medium speed, beat egg yolks, 2 Tbsp Kahlua, and sugar in a bowl set over a saucepan of barely simmering water until tripled in volume, 5 to 8 minutes.
2. Remove bowl from heat then beat in mascarpone cheese until just combined.
3. Whip heavy cream in a bowl until it holds stiff peaks.
4. Once yolk-mascarpone mixture has cooled a little, gently fold in half of the whipped cream into the yolk-mascarpone mixture, then the remaining half just until fully incorporated. 

Beat yolks, kahlua and sugar until slightly thickened and tripled in volume. 

Recipe calls for exactly one 8oz tub of mascarpone.

Beat mascarpone with yolk mixture until just combined.

Left: stiff whipped cream, Right: mascarpone + yolk mixture

Gently fold cream half at a time into mascarpone/yolk.

Assembly-
1. Cut ladyfingers in half or to desired height and line around sides of pan.
2. Dip ladyfingers very quickly into coffee and arrange in bottom of pan.
3. Evenly spread half of mascarpone filling over ladyfingers.
4. Repeat for second layer.
5. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate 4 to 6 hours. *I left mine set overnight.
6. Dust with cocoa powder and leave out at room temperature for about 20 minutes before serving.
*Tiramisu can be chilled up to 2 days, but no longer or else the ladyfingers will break down too much.

Arrange ladyfingers around sides of pan.

1st layer: soak ladyfingers in coffee mixture and arrange on bottom of pan.
Evenly spread mascarpone filling on top.

2nd layer: repeat.

Cover and refrigerate for 4-6 hours or overnight.

Decorative touches..

Dust with cocoa powder.

&now, birthday sign and candle!

All ready!

Happy Birthday Mama!

Cheers to another year..

and a yummy slice of tiramisu!

Taste: 4.5 stars out of 5

Good as is. Would try espresso or stronger coffee for a more prominent flavor next time. 

Texture: 5 stars out of 5

Rich and decadent cream with just moistened ladyfingers!

Appearance: 5 stars out of 5

Tiramisu♥♥♥♥♥

Alas, the long awaited TIRAMISU : D
(Warning: this will be one LONG detailed post!)

Taste: 5 stars out of 5
Texture: 5 stars out of 5

Step ONE: make sponge cake.
Basic Sponge Cake Base
recipe adapted and translated from Dessert & Baking DIY
-makes one 6" round cake

125g(2) eggs, room temperature
60g sugar
60g flour, sifted
15g unsalted butter, melted

1. Line your 6" pan
2. Beat eggs and sugar till stiff (about 5 minutes).
3. Add flour to egg/sugar mixture and fold.
4. Add melted butter and mix well.
5. Pour into pan and smooth top.
6. Bake for 30 minutes at 356F.
7. Cool and remove cake from pan.
8. Trim edges so that it's slightly smaller than the 6" pan
9. Slice into two layers horizontally.
10. Set aside.

Step TWO: make kahula expresso for brushing.
Kahula Expresso Mix
recipe adapted and translated from Dessert & Baking DIY
-makes enough for two cakes (*halved if looking to just make one cake)

80g espresso (80g hot water+ 2 spoonful instant expresso powder)
20g kahlua
2tsp sugar

Mix everything and set aside.

Step THREE: make mascarpone cheese/cream mixture.
Mascaropone Cheese/ Cream Mix
recipe adapted and translated from Dessert & Baking DIY
-makes one 6" round cake

100g mascarpone cheese, room temperature
30g sugar
1 egg
140g whipped cream
7g gelatin
35g water

1. With electric mixer, whip cream slowly until it resembles ice cream texture.
*Over whipping can result in a lumpy and firmer cake.
2. On a double boiler, beat egg and sugar on high until pale and loose.
3. Mix gelatin and water and microwave until gelatin melts and steams.
4. Add 1/5th egg mixture to gelatin and mix. Set aside.
5. Add cheese to the remaining 4/5th egg and beat till incorporated.
6. Add cream to the cheese/egg mixture and quickly fold till even.
7. Lightly mix the gelatin and egg and add to the cream/cheese/egg mixture. Mix well!

Now, you've got all the different components of the tiramisu ready to go.

Step FOUR: assemble!
1. Get a 6" ring mold or use the side of your 6" springform pan.
2. Wrap the bottom of the ring with saran wrap and set on a tray.
3. Put bottom layer of your sponge cake in the center of the ring. (The edges should have a 1cm gap from the ring)
4. Generously brush the sponge cake with the kahlua/espresso mix.
5. Pour half of the mascarpone/cheese mix on top of the sponge cake, making sure it fills up the gap between the sponge cake and ring.
6. Brush the top layer of sponge cake with kahlua/expresso mix.
7. Place brushed** side of sponge cake face down onto the mascarpone/cheese.
8. Brush the top of sponge cake with kahlua/expresso mix.
9. Pour the rest of mascarpone/cheese onto the sponge cake.
10. Smooth and lightly tap pan on counter top.

Step FIVE: refrigerate and final touches.
1. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours.
2. Remove cake from ring mold.
Tip: wrap warm towel around ring for easier removal
3. Dust with cocoa powder
*Optional: cut out fun patterns and place them on top of cake before dusting(:

Step Six: ENJOY(:

OVERVIEW---------------------------------------------------------------------->

Tiramisu #1






Mascarpone cheese/cream was fluffy and light.
Layers were even.
Edges were rough and not clean.
Coffee taste was prominent.

Tiramisu #2

^before dusting









Mascarpone cheese/cream was more liquidy before refrigerating.
Texture after refrigerating is smooth and velvety.
Edges were smooth and clean.
More kahlua was used.
Sponge cake was more soaked.
Layers were not even.

Tiramisu #3




Mascarpone cheese/cream was more firm after refrigerating.
Edges were smooth and clean.
Layers were even.
Sponge cake was a little dried (overbaked ._.).
Sponge cake can be soaked with kahlua/expresso more.

---------------------------------------------------------------------->

Total of three takes so far. Seeing improvements yet?(:

Sorry for the poor quality pictures. I am never patient enough to take pictures after the long prep/baking time. But I assure you.. they definitely taste better than they look. Hahah(:

To Bake: Tiramisu. Checked!

Ladyfingers

Ladyfingers
recipe from Joy of Baking who got it from Cordon Bleu at Home
-makes 24 big ladyfingers or 45 small (2 1/2″ to 3″ long) ladyfingers

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

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.

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.
Hold the parchment paper in place with your thumb and lift one side of the baking sheet and gently tap it on the work surface to remove excess sprinkled sugar.

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.
________________________________

Today, I decided to tackle the ladyfingers component of my all time favorite dessert- tiramisu! One baby step at a time toward my goal of making a whole tiramisu(:

I won't say the ladyfinger was a complete success but they surely were not a failure. They came out tasting pretty good.. a nostalgic taste indeed. They reminded me so much of this puff crackers I used to love and eat all the time when I was little.


image from Google

The outside is crunchy which I love and the inside is moderately soft and dry. Exactly like the puff crackers.(: From what I've been reading, I feel like ladyfingers shouldn't be like this. Maybe more airy and sponge-like. I suspect that I might just have over-folded the yolk/ dry ingredients and kill the volume in the meringue. My plastic bag pipping also failed on me. It was all over the place. And I think this resulted in the dense texture as well. Tiramisu is so daunting with its bajilion components (= bajilion ingredients) needed but I believe.. I can overcome this by taking it sloooooowly. Who doesn't love a challenge?

Tira miss you.

Drumroll please!
Let's welcome the classic Italian dessert..

TIRAMISU!





Ehhh.. alright! I did not make this. I wish I did though.

Every time I come across a recipe for Tiramisu, there are either too much steps or I don't even have a clue where to start. The ingredients are foreign to me. Marsala wine? Mascarpone? Ok.. maybe not that foreign but definitely they are not something you would have at hand. Agree?

Well meanwhile, I figure I can just spend my meal points (prepaid credit for food) on this decent cafeteria dessert. It's surprisingly not that bad. I have been getting these once in a while for almost 2 years already (haha). These Tiramisu are definitely not the "real" stuff. No ladyfingers nor wine nor whatever they should have. It's like a simplified version with just a few layers of sponge cake, cream and chocolate. Still good enough for me to go back for seconds twenties(?) :P