Tiramisu is an Italian dessert which combines my two loves: coffee and cheesecake. It's my family's go-to Christmas dessert and as we love it so much, we make it in tubs. This is a quick recipe that allows for quick assembly and is always a hit at parties.
Ingredients:
2 egg yolks
3 tbs caster sugar
500g mascarpone cheese
4 double shot espressos or 240ml strong coffee
1 tsp vanilla extract
500g pack of sponge fingers or savoiardi
Chocolate cocoa powder
Method:
1. Beat the egg yolks and sugar together until it turns into a pale yellow colour. The mixture will become thick and creamy. A handheld beater or electric mixing machine is recommended.
2. Add the mascarpone and vanilla to the mixture and beat until well combined. Place aside.
3. Line the bottom and sides of a 8" cake tin with plastic cling wrap and place a cardboard round down. This will allow you to lift the cake out later. Alternately, use a springform pan and use the base to serve the cake on or use a glass serving dish with high sides.
4. Dip the sponge biscuit into the coffee, turning it quickly to soak through. The liquid will absorb quickly, so only dip it for one second on each side. Shake off any excess and lay it into the serving dish or cake tin. The biscuit should be soaked but not dripping. Repeat the process until the entire bottom of the tin is lined. Fill any gaps using scraps of the wet biscuit.
5. Spread half the cheese over the top and smooth it out. Sprinkle chocolate powder over the top.
6. Repeat the sponge layering process and finish the top with the remaining cheese. Dust the top with some cocoa powder and refrigerate overnight.
My family churns through this so quickly, so I often double the recipe and make it in a convenient giant tupperware container. The total weight of this is 1.7kg.
Notes:
1. You can easily scale this recipe depending on how many servings you desire. It's a creamy, rich dessert, so I mostly keep serving sizes small.
2. Traditionally alcohol is added to the cake. Add 2-4tbs of an alcohol such as a coffee liqueur like kahlua, amaretto or marsala to the sponge base if you like. I usually make this around the holiday season and with so many people driving, I keep it alcohol-free.
3. If you would like to decorate or present this, reserve a small amount of the mascarpone mixture and buy extra sponge biscuits to adhere to the perimetre of the cake.
4. Keep the cake refrigerated until you want to serve it. Sprinkle fresh chocolate powder over the top if you wish.
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