Tiramisu
5 May
Today, I feel like the most popular kid in school – because this week, I got to choose the recipe for TWD.
First and foremost, I’d like to thank Laurie (our illustrious leader) – because of her, we all get to participate in this awesome group. It has been quite a learning experience for me – and I’ve “met” some amazing people along the way.
I got to thinking the other day – what are we all going to do when we finish baking our way through the book? Seriously? Tuesdays will never be the same again!
While you ponder that thought – let’s get down to business. Let me say that this was a great cake and I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did! I halved the cake recipe, which fit two 6″ round pans. I did not halve the filling/frosting because I wanted a nice thick layer between the cakes and it worked out perfectly.
Incidentally, did anyone attempt homemade mascarpone? Lindsay from Cafe Johnsonia was gracious enough to email to recipe to anyone that requested it, but I haven’t worked up the nerve to try it yet. I did find the mascarpone at Trader Joe’s for $3 per 8 oz container, which wasn’t a bad price at all.
The first Tiramisu I ever made was during a “weekend warrior” cooking class at Le Cordon Bleu here in Vegas. It was the traditional version with ladyfingers and lots of mascarpone cheese. I loved it then, and I love it now. I’d heard through the P’s & Q’s that some members were contemplating cupcakes – and I can’t wait to see them!
I’m posting the recipe backwards – meaning that the assembly directions (and my photos) are first, and the quantities are listed second. This way you can see what I did without having to scroll all the way down.
And for the record – Sabrina loved the cake, Alexander didn’t like it at all, and David ate a piece of lemon cake instead. My mom thought it was good, but my dad didn’t try it because coffee desserts give him agita (you know, indigestion).
And one more thing – (I sound like Columbo here) I’m going to be MIA for most of the morning, Sabrina is getting her braces today! But I plan on getting to everyone’s blog, it just will take me a day or two.
Here we go……………..
To assemble the cake: if the tops of the cake layers have crowned, use a long serrated knife and a gentle sawing motion to even them. Place one layer right side up on a cardboard round or a cake plate protected with strips of wax or parchment paper.
Using a pastry brush or a small spoon, soak the layer with about one third of the espresso syrup.
Smooth some of the mascarpone cream over the layer – use about 1 ¼ cups – and gently press the chopped chocolate into the filling.
Put the second cake layer on the counter and soak the top of it with half the remaining espresso syrup:
Then turn the layer over and position it, soaked side down, over the filling. Soak the top of the cake with the remaining syrup.
For the frosting, whisk 1 to ½ tbs. of the remaining espresso extract into the remaining mascarpone filling. Taste the frosting as you go to decide how much extract you want to add. If the frosting looks like it might be a little too soft to spread over the cake, press a piece of plastic wrap against its surface and refrigerate it for 15 minutes or so. Refrigerate the cake, too.
With a long metal icing spatula, smooth the frosting around the sides of the cake and over the top.
If you want to decorate the cake with chocolate covered espresso beans, press them into the frosting, making concentric circles of beans or just putting some beans in the center of the cake.
Refrigerate the cake for at least 3 hours (or up to 1 day) before serving – the elements need time to meld.
Just before serving, dust the top of the cake with cocoa.
And serve:
Tiramisu Cake
For the cake:
2 cups cake flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
1 ¼ sticks (10 tablespoons) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1 large egg yolk
1 ½ tsp pure vanilla extract
¾ cup buttermilk
For the espresso extract:
2 tbs. instant espresso powder
2 tbs. boiling water
For the espresso syrup:
½ cup water
1/3 cup sugar
1 tbs. amaretto, Kahlua, or brandy
For the filling and frosting:
1 8-oz. container mascarpone cheese
½ cup confectioners sugar, sifted
1 ½ tsp pure vanilla extract
1 tbs. amaretto, Kahlua, or brandy
1 cup cold heavy cream
2 ½ oz. bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped, or about ½ cup store bought mini chocolate chips
Chocolate covered espresso beans, for decoration (optional)
Cocoa powder, for dusting
Getting ready: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter two 9 x 2 inch round cake pans, dust the insides with flour, tap out the excess and line the bottoms of the pans with parchment or wax paper. Put the pans on a baking sheet.
To make the cake: Sift together the cake flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter on medium speed until soft and creamy. Add the sugar and beat for another 3 minutes. Add the eggs one by one, and then the yolk, beating for 1 minute after each addition. Beat in the vanilla; don’t be concerned if the mixture looks curdled. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients alternately with the buttermilk, adding the dry ingredients in three additions and the buttermilk in two (begin and end with the dry ingredients); scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed and mix only until the ingredients disappear into the batter. Divide the batter evenly between the two pans and smooth the tops with a rubber spatula.Bake for 28-30 minutes, rotating the pans at the midway point. When fully baked, the cakes will be golden and springy to the touch and a thin knife inserted into the centers will come out clean. Transfer the cakes to a rack and cool then for about 5 minutes, then run a knife around the sides of the cakes, unmold them and peel off the paper liners. Invert and cool to room temperature right side up.
To make the extract: Stir the espresso powder and boiling water together in a small cup until blended. Set aside.
To make the syrup: Stir the water and sugar together in a small saucepan and bring just to a boil. Pour the syrup into a small heatproof bowl and stir 1 tablespoon of the espresso extract and the liqueur or brandy; set aside.
To make the filling and frosting: Put the mascarpone, sugar, vanilla and liqueur in a large bowl and whisk just until blended and smooth. Working with the stand mixer with the whisk attachment or with a hand mixer, whip the heavy cream until it holds firm peaks. Switch to a rubber spatula and stir about one quarter of the whipped cream into the mascarpone. Fold in the rest of the whipped cream with a light touch.
Your cake looks fantastic!
Great pick, Megan! LOL about your Dad’s agita!! We use that word quite a bit in our family, too. David’s lemon choice sounds pretty darn tasty!
Good luck to Sabrina with her braces!!! See you soon.
You did make a lot of bakers happy this week Megan. Your cake is so pretty and the step-by-steps are great. Thanks for the pick. That filling is my new favorite thing!
Nancy
Your cake looks absolutely gorgeous! I really loved this one, thank you so much for picking the tiramisu cake!!
Thank you Megan, for such a great pick this week! It was fun to make (can’t tell you yet if I liked it, for I haven’t tried it – still in the fridge macerating for more flavour!!!)
But if I take it from you (and because I’m a freak for coffee flavoured foods) …should have a great one tonight! lol
Beautiful!
Megan, you made my week w. your pick this week. Tiramisu is one of my fav desserts, so was very excited about making this cake. Thank goodness for Trader Joe’s – at $3 the mascarpone was a screamin’ deal.
Your cake looks so delicious….you did a fantastic job!
your cake is beautiful, megan! thanks for choosing this recipe. i did make cupcakes, and they were so fun!
Thanks for the pick! I had been wanting to make this for awhile now.
Yours looks great!
Awesome cake! Yeah, my “frosting” was not as thick as the others I’ve seen and would have slid off the sides. Guess I didn’t whisk the cream quite long enough?? (Should have just used Cool Whip-ha) It tasted good though.I had fun with this one, thanks, Megan!
You cake and instructions are great.
looks just delicious! thanks for the pick–this was a fun one! hope the trip to the orthodontist goes well!!
Look at those sky-high layers! Your cake is gorgeous – thanks for picking this one. It’s such a large cake we’re still enjoying it 3 days later.
That looks wonderful, Megan! I was going to try a 6-inch version as well, before my oven went on strike. I’ll have to remember not to halve the filling/frosting when I do get a chance to make this one.
Great pick and I love that you halved the cake, but not the filling. This was a wonderful recipe and your pictures are gorgeous.
Great pick! I’m sad I didn’t have time to make it, but it’s definitely on my list to make up soon. Yours looks amazing
You are most definitely the most popular kid in school…and at my house. I just loved this…thank you for picking it. Your cake looks much more like a proper layer cake than mine did…and it’s just making me wish I hadn’t share my leftovers!
Thanks again, Megan…and I’ll thank you again every time I make this!
I loved this recipe, and will be making it again soon! And once I finish the book, I’m going to go into serious sugar withdrawal, that’s for sure. Thank you!
Thanks for choosing this delicious cake! Yours looks wonderful. I also made a half batch, and I halved the filling/topping, too. Shouldn’t have done that. The filling was way too good for skimping.
Great choice!
Do you have all of the patience in the world!? Because seriously, that frosting job is AMAZING. Perfection! Looks like you picked a GREAT one this week! Thanks!
This cake was so delish – thanks for choosing it! I also used half the cake, but all the frosting…yum!
Megan, Oh your cake looks so wonderful! I’m so sorry I skipped this week but I was away. But I am going to make this soon. It is just so pretty!
Excellent choice, your cake looks BEAUTIFUL! Good luck with the braces this morning; I’m sure Sabrina will get a comforting treat later.
Megan, I am not an official Tuesdays with Dorie participant but I like to tag along on occasion — Tiramisu made for a great opportunity! This was delicious. I verified by looking at your photos that the icing was supposed to be a kind of blend of rough and fluffy, since that’s how mine came out too and I wasn’t sure if I had over-whipped the cream. Thanks!
Great photos, Megan! Your cake looks wonderful! And thanks so much for picking this recipe!! We’re all huge tiramisu fans at my house.
Beautiful job! Great choice, too. I have a feeling I’ll be making this again…
Your cake looks so beautiful…..Really!! Nice job and the texture is fabulous. I enjoyed baking this weeks because it was easy to sample and share on the sly. he he Glad most of your family enjoyed too. Thank you for choosing tiramisu.
AmyRuth
Megan, this was such a hit here with the guys…and I loved making it and making all the parts…mine looks a lot like yours, so that’s good! Thanks for the pick…it was a good one. You ARE the most popular kid in school today! Kudos to Megan!
Thanks megan for choosing the recipe! it was favourite amongst my family and everyone loved it! pity I don’t have pictures to vouch for it. But making it in little cups made it almost similar to those dessert tiramisus! EXCELLENT choice!
Looks fabulous! And great photos as well. Now I kind of wish I hadn’t sat this one out (but my waistline will thank me I’m sure).
Wow. What a pretty cake. Your frosting looks great. Great pick.
Oh man that looks so good… I can’t wait to try it.
This was a great pick Megan. I made mine into cupcakes and I had a fun time making them.
Thanks for the great pick! Your cake looks so good with all the filling and chocolate chips in the middle!
Megan, GREAT PICK! Thanks so much – as I may not have tried this on my own with all the assembly and different components – but now that I’ve made it once for TWD, I’m already wanting to make it again.
Beautiful cake, Megan! Thanks for the great pick this week!
Your cake is so tall!! Gorgeous! Thanks for the fun pick this week!
Your cake looks perfect! Your frosting is perfect and how do you transfer it to the cake plate so neatly (is that parchment tucked under)? Thanks for the great pick!
I hope the braces go well!
I haven’t posted mine yet (coming…) but yours doesn’t even look like it came from the same recipe as mine. Mine – not so pretty. But very good. Great choice and enjoy your week in the spotlight!
Nice looking cake you made. How fun!
Loved this recipe! Great pick and a beautiful cake
Thank you for choosing this! if my turn every came around and it hadn’t been chosen, I would have! LOL DELISH!
THANK YOU so much for selecting this recipe. I really needed it this week. It is my favorite TWD recipe so far. It was incredible.
Your tiramisu looks wonderful! I love the cocoa powder on top.
A perfect choice for TWD! It was a lot of fun to take a traditional Tiramisu dessert and apply it to a cake. Loved it. Great post, too! Good luck with the braces.
Thanks for choosing this recipe! Yours came out beautifully!
Wow, that cake looks beautiful. I love following TWD, there are some awesome recipes! I’m glad I came across your blog, too, it looks like it’s I’ve got some great reading to catch up on!
God Bless You for choosing this recipe this week! I LOVE LOVE LOVE tiramisu, and have honestly never made it. I am holding out til this weekend to make it for a function I am going to! Your cake looks fabulous! Thank you!!!!
Your cake looks really fabulous! I found myself wishing for more syrup to soak the cake…
This was a very yummy recipe.
Thank you for picking this week.
Your cake looks great.
As for what we will do when we are through this book??? get another Dorie book!
Your cake looks beautiful!
Thank you for choosing the tiramisu.
I really enjoyed it!
What a great pick for this week! My friends thank you
Your cake looks wonderful! I love the step by step photos! Thanks for your pick this week! I’ve had tiramisu a few times and never liked it, but Dorie’s version was delicious
This was delicious! I wished I had planned ahead enough to make mascapone. I took a class a few months ago to learn how and have yet to try it. I did manage to get to a brew supply store to buy tartaric acid so at least I have what I need to give it a try.
That looks just amazing. I may have skipped the cake for this week, but it is certainly on my “to do” list. Great job!
Your tiramisu looks so good…very elegant.
So glad you liked the cake. I love the way it looks in that 6-inch size.
Thanks for hosting this week Megan! Your cake looks beautiful. Sorry to hear about your computer!! ugh! Thats just awful!
Yours looks awesome! Puts my little one to shame!
Thanks for hosting!
Good luck with the computer!
Your cake looks fab Megan – so light and fluffy. Great pick this week.
Great pic! I love all the creamy filling
I am so sad I had to miss this week – I’ve heard so many rave reviews. It’s at the top of my rewind list! Yours looks incredible!
I was so excited about this weeks pick because it was yours!! It was very good.
I am sorry to hear about your computer. That really sucks.
Hope Sabrina’s braces went good today. I remember them….not fun.
Your cake looks lovely! Thank you for a fun pick. I loved the cake recipe for sure, even if I did change the rest quite a bit. Next time I may try making a tiramisu with hot cocoa syrups or something to try it that way.
Great recipe choice! I just read about your computer! I am so sorry about that, but you are amazing to have back up’d everything. Your cake looks very tall and luscious. Thanks for choosing this dessert. It is a great one to know how to make!
Thanks for the best pick!! Actually, maybe I shouldn’t thank you because I ate so much of this cake..haha. I’m soo glad you chose this because i think I’m finally over my cake syrup aversion.
You did a wonderful step by step job. And, it came out beautiful. Nice job.
Great recipe and great pick. I can’t wait to make this exactly as called for – soon, I promise! Glad you got this up before the computer disaster, that would have been so sad. And, your cake looks Awesome.
It looks absolutely beautiful. Great pictures and a great choice. I used the same chocolate chips, so your middle picture looks almost identical to mine (good to know that I’m close to having the right cake).
Thanks for the pick!
It looks good but you lost me at the espresso syrup. We are not coffee fans at all here, bleh, hate the stuff. But the cake looks good.
You ARE the most popular one today. Congrats! Nice cake, sorry about your computer
Your cake came out so much bigger then mine I am jealous! It looks great! Thanks for this pick it was the best yet
So beautiful! Thanks for picking this one for us, it was super!
My goodness, this looks to die for!! Excuse me while I wipe the drool from my chin.
Thanks for the great pick!!
Your cake looks high and light and beautiful. I enjoyed this recipe as well. Thanks!
your cake looks amazing. thanks for such a great pick, we really liked this one!!
Megan, thanks for the great pick! (I was so done with tarts for awhile)
Love your blog, too. So fun to read and the pictures are awesome.
Excellent job with your cake. It looks like a complete SUCCESS!
Thank you for hosting! Your cake looks fantastic!
Your cake looks awesome!
Thank you so much for picking my second fav cake or desert wow the diet starts next week Haah You make the most beautiful cakes and you are such a beautiful lady You go girl and i hope you have a wonderful Mothers day. My best to you Cheers Love and Blessings to you and yours Cheyenne I live in Anthem in Henderson up on a high hill and when i bake or cook the coyotes get to smell the food we feed rabbits and now a little desert mouse yes they all stay out side but eat real well. My cats make sure they know there place but they do get to share the goodies All my best now to the cake Whooo Hoooo
Awesome pick! I absolutely love tiramisu, so this was just perfect. Yours looks like it turned out amazing!
Just looking at your photos makes me wish I still had some of this cake in the fridge. I really looked forward to my little evening pick-me-up!
I saw it in a portuguese blog and I couldn’t resist! After a lot of praises, I came here to see your cake. Looks fabulous! I loved the step-by-step!
Sounds like a great pick for this week! Looks beautiful…
Megan, your pictures look amazing!They make me want to just reach into the computer and grab what’s there! Amazing step by step too. Have you considered doing an on-line demo version maybe? I got the idea from another great Tiramisu Recipe that you might like use as inspiration for your own demo. Carry on the good work