Tiramisu Slices
While I do get that quick and easy recipes and desserts are nice to make when you are short on time or have something like young kids to worry about, I personally enjoy splurging a bit with a more elaborate and fancy recipe just to give me something fun to do that will hopefully lead to delicious results.
Today’s recipe comes from Giuseppe, Italian baker and Season 12 winner of The Great British Baking Show, and is a much more decadent and elaborate version of the beloved Italian dessert, tiramisu.
The dessert features even, thin layers of an almond and coffee sponge cake lightly soaked with a coffee syrup topped with a classic tiramisu mascarpone cream set with gelatin and the addition of some stewed sultanas or golden raisins for a sweet, tangy bite.
Join me as I attempt to recreate this stunning dessert and see if it comes out good. Not to sound overconfident but I think I will be able to nail it.
Makes 12 servings
Difficulty: Intermediate
Time: 2 hours plus chilling
For the Almond and Coffee Sponge:
5 1/2oz of almond paste
2 whole eggs
6 eggs, separated
1/2 cup of powdered sugar
5 teaspoons of coffee extract
3 tablespoons of sugar
1/8 teaspoon of cream of tartar
A pinch of salt
2 tablespoons of 00 flour, or regular flour, sifted
4 tablespoons of cornstarch
For the Stewed Raisins:
4 teaspoons of powdered gelatin (or 4 gelatin leaves)
18 oz/2 1/4 cups of sultanas (golden raisins)
1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon
1 tablespoon of Marsala
For the Coffee Syrup:
1/4 cup of hot brewed espresso
1 1/2 tablespoons of sugar
1 tablespoon of coffee liquor
For the Tiramisu Cream:
4 teaspoons of powdered gelatin (or 4 gelatin leaves)
5 egg yolks
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon of sugar
1 pound (2 8-ounce containers) of mascarpone cheese
1 1/2 cups of heavy cream
3 tablespoons of Marsala
For Decoration:
5 oz of 70% dark chocolate
2 tablespoons of cocoa powder
Step 1: Make the Almond and Coffee Sponge
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees then grease and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
Whisk the almond paste, whole eggs and egg yolks in a stand mixer with a whisk attachment until smooth. Add the powdered sugar, then whisk for 3-5 minutes, or until the mixture is light and pale. Whisk in the coffee extract to combine.
In a separate bowl with an electric beater, beat the egg whites with the cream of tartar and salt until they form stiff peaks. Fold one-third of the egg whites into the almond mixture until smooth, followed by the flour and cornstarch and the remaining meringue.
Divide the batter evenly among the two pans and spread into an even layer with an offset spatula. Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until the sponge is golden on the edges and dry in the center. Let the cakes cool while you move on with the other components.
Step 2: Make the Stewed Raisins
Sprinkle the gelatin powder onto a bit of cold water and let that sit so the gelatin can bloom and activate.
Dump the golden raisins into a large saucepan along with the cinnamon and 1 2/3 cup of water. Bring the liquid to a boil, then simmer for about 10 minutes, or until the raisins are plump and soft. Remove the pan from the heat then use a stick blender to blitz until smooth.
Return the pureed raisins to a low heat, then simmer for 15-20 minutes, or until the puree is thick and creamy, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking. Remove from heat then stir in the bloomed gelatin and Marsala until the gelatin has dissolved. Leave the mixture to cool to room temp.
Step 3: Make the Coffee syrup
Combine the hot brewed espresso with the sugar and coffee liquor, then stir until the sugar has dissolved. Leave that to cool.
Step 4: Make the Tiramisu Cream
Edit: I was worried about having too much cream because I’ve made tiramisu recipes where I ended up with way more cream than I needed, so ended up making half the quantity of the cream. Boy, was that a mistake. There was enough to cover the layers that I wanted to, but I definitely would’ve liked to have more.
This is a strong case of do as I say and not as I do. :)
Bloom the gelatin like we just did for the raisins.
Place the egg yolks into the bowl of a stand mixer, cleaned after making the sponge batter, then beat with a whisk attachment until the yolks have tripled in volume.
place the sugar and 1/4 cup of water into a small saucepan and heat over low heat. Once the sugar has dissolved, increase the heat to a boil and cook until the sugar reaches 240 degrees on a sugar thermometer. Remove from the heat then, with the mixer running, slowly pour the hot syrup into the egg yolks.
Continue whisking until the sides of the bowl are cool to the touch and the eggs have turned very pale.
in a separate bowl, beat the mascarpone and whipping cream with an electric beater to soft peaks. Set aside.
Warm the Marsala in a small pan over low heat, it doesn’t need to boil, then stir in the bloomed gelatin until smooth. Let that cool for a minute before stirring into the egg yolk mixture.
Add one third of the mascarpone mixture to the egg mixture, then gently fold to combine, repeat with the remaining 2/3s of the cream. Transfer the mixture to a piping bag fitted with a round tip.
Step 5: Assemble
Line a 9x13 baking pan with parchment paper, making sure there’s at least 2 inches of overhang on the wider sides.
Lay one of the sponge layers on the bottom of the pan and brush it with some of the coffee syrup.
Spoon the stewed raisin puree on top of the cake layer, and spread into an even layer. Pipe an even layer of the tiramisu cream on top of the raisins, followed by another layer of sponge, syrup, and more of the cream. Set any remaining cream mixture aside for decorating, then chill for at least 2 hours to set, overnight would be better.
Step 6: Make the Chocolate Decorations
Edit: Yeah, I must have overheated the chocolate when I did this because it had a bunch of white streaks that suggested blooming and did not have the snap that properly tempered chocolate has, so…do better than I did.
Melt 2/3 of the chocolate in a heatproof bowl in the microwave at 15-second intervals, stirring between each interval, until fully melted. It’ll take about 2-3 minutes total. Add the remaining chocolate, then stir until melted.
Dip a fork into the chocolate, then, working in a zigzag pattern, create 12 chocolate triangles of relatively even size and shape onto a sheet of parchment paper, then let it cool so the chocolate can set. Don’t worry too much if they don’t all end up looking triangular, they’ll still taste great.
Step 7: Slice and decorate
Once set, carefully use the parchment paper to lift the tiramisu out of the pan. Trim the edges, that can be your snack, dust the entire top of the tiramisu with the cocoa powder, then cut the slice into 12 even slices, cleaning your knife between each slice.
Break off shards of your chocolate and jab them into each slice before serving.
For as much work that went into these tiramisu slices, they sure were worth it.
You have the nutty, ultra-soft sponge cake at the bottom beautifully soaked with the espresso, the stewed golden raisins give a nice pop of sweetness, texture, and a hint of spice from that cinnamon, and that creamy set tiramisu cream ended up tying the whole dessert together.
