It’s Friday guys, weekend time…So who's looking forward to the weekend? Well, I for one am. With the COVID-19 situation ongoing and self isolation being the norm, both I and Z have decided on two weekend projects so far (a) re-painting our daughter, Alia-Noor’s (A) nursery and (b) a movie date night planned at home. For the date night dessert course, we’ll have leftover tiramisu cake. I usually make this for Z as he loves anything with coffee. Give him anything with caffeine and he's one happy camper.
Nevertheless, the very first time I made a tiramisu cake was back in London, England for my best friend Priya's (P) baby shower. She was craving tiramisu cake topped with lots of whipped mascarpone frosting. It so happened that I ended up making a tray every month for part of her pregnancy. Each tray lasted her days as she could only have 1 slice per day to control caffeine intake. This was in 2013 and while this was a year filled with memories to cherish, it was also a profoundly sad year for me as it marked the year when P passed away in an accident. P was like family to me and every time I make tiramisu cake, it brings back a flood of memories - I choose to remember the best in P and carry that with me as her legacy. Fast forward to today, I’ve found another tiramisu lover in Z so I make this occasionally for him, well more like when he's been veryyyyyy nice to me, ha ha :)
So, getting back to the basics - whenever I work on a recipe, I usually look at several characteristics. The major ones are taste, simplified ingredients and pantry staples. I usually find a lot of tiramisu recipes quite intimidating and complicated. So this is my take on a simplified version of a not so traditional tiramisu. Being a cake artist, I have used this recipe in so many different ways and loving how versatile this tiramisu cake can be. This recipe can be made either as a one pan sheet cake and served straight out of the pan (my preference) or you can glam it up by layering the sponges into a tall cake and decorating with edible sparkle, sprinkles and flowers for a more exotic look. Trust me, if you love a combination of cake and coffee, you’ll surely love this one as it’s not only easy to make but ooooo that delectable mascarpone icing is the metaphoric cherry on top :)
Tiramisu Cake
Easy to make and very decadent, perfect for lunch/dinner parties
Serves: 20 portions | Calories*: 249 kcal
I will explain this recipe in three parts:
Recipe for the one bowl coffee sponge
Recipe for the Mascarpone frosting
Assembling the cake
Recipe for the one bowl coffee sponge
Ingredients:
1 tsp cornstarch
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
120 g all purpose flour
270 g granulated sugar
75 ml unsalted melted butter
130 ml strong brewed coffee
1 tsp vanilla or coffee liqueur (optional)
140 ml milk
2 eggs
Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 325 F. Either line a rectangular baking tray with parchment paper or coat the tray with butter so that the cake is easy to remove once cooled and decorated.
In a medium mixing bowl sieve all the dry ingredients (i.e., cornstarch, baking soda, baking powder, salt, flour and sugar). Mix on low speed.
Stir in all the wet ingredients (i.e, melted butter, eggs, vanilla or coffee liqueur, brewed coffee and milk) then mix on medium speed for 2 minutes.
Spread the resulting batter in a rectangular baking pan and transfer to the preheated oven. Bake for 35 minutes or until the cake is done. You can check this in one of two ways: (a) by inserting a thin wooden skewer. The skewer should be clean when you remove it, (b) by checking the sponge elasticity. Here, when touching the sponge, you should see it bounce back soon as you release the touch.
Let it cool and set it in the fridge for 3 hours or overnight making sure the cake pan is covered with cellophane wrap tightly to retain moisture.
Recipe for the Mascarpone frosting
Ingredients:
200 g unsalted butter, softened
220 g icing sugar
300 g mascarpone
1 tbsp Instant Coffee powder (strong)
Instructions:
Mix the butter, icing sugar and coffee powder on medium speed until fluffy.
Add the mascarpone and mix on medium speed for 1 minute or until it has softened and incorporated to a smooth consistency (similar to the consistency of a facial moisturizer...smooth and velvety) and keep aside.
Assembling the cake
Ingredients:
120 ml brewed coffee
1 wooden skewer stick
1 piping bag
Cocoa powder for dusting
Instructions:
Take the cake out of the fridge and poke lots of holes using a thin wooden skewer.
Using a spoon, evenly pour the brewed coffee onto the cake making sure the cake sponge has soaked up the liquid.
Let it chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Now, using a piping bag, pipe the mascarpone frosting onto the coffee sponge (I used the Wilton piping tip #22). You can get as creative as you like. I just preferred keeping it simple.
Lastly, I dusted cocoa powder for a more Tiramisu like appeal.
Tips on Variations:
Replace all the coffee elements with masala chai if you’re making it for a chai lover, they’ll absolutely love it.
While assembling the cake instead of brewed coffee you can spread a thin layer of homemade or store bought raspberry jam and also add finely chopped raspberries onto the cake for added texture and flavour. It will complement the coffee sponge and mascarpone really nicely.
*Please note that the nutritional information on this site is only an approximate.
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