May 10th, 2015
Hope everyone is have a great Mother’s Day weekend! We celebrated with our moms yesterday and today I am making up for a late post on these wonderful individual tiramisu cakes I made about two weeks ago. Tiramisu has been on my to-bake list for some time now and I’m glad I got around to them. I don’t order tiramisu for dessert at restaurants or buy them often, but when I do have the opportunity to eat them, I am reminded of how much I actually enjoy them. The combination of the rum-coffee soaked ladyfingers and the light Mascarpone filling makes it a delectable treat. I’m a big fan of coffee flavored desserts, so it also explains why I like tiramisu.
I didn’t look too hard to find lady fingers in the stores. I only checked Trader Joe’s and was told ladyfingers are a seasonal item, around Thanksgiving and Christmas. People did tell me that Whole Foods might have them, but I didn’t bother checking and decided to make them instead. The recipe I used yielded softer ladyfingers, almost like a sponge cake. I found a Mascarpone filling recipe from Pretty.Simple.Sweet blog, which called for cooked egg yolks. Most recipes use raw egg yolks, but I preferred to use a recipe with cooked egg yolks.
Ladyfingers, recipe from The Fundamental Techniques of Classic Pastry Arts book
3 egg whites
75 g powdered sugar
3 egg yolks
¼ tsp vanilla extract
75 g cake flour
Y= Twenty-nine 4-inch ladyfingers; this is enough for four 4-inch round individual tiramisu cakes.
Directions:
- In a mixer bowl with a whisk attachment, beat egg whites until slightly foamy.
- Add powdered sugar and continue to whisk until meringue reaches stiff peaks.
- In a separate bowl, combine the egg yolks and vanilla. Carefully fold the egg yolk mixture into the meringue using a spatula.
- Add the flour into the mixture in 3 additions, folding after each addition.
- Line sheet pans with parchment paper. Lightly coat parchment paper with non-stick spray.
- Using a round Ateco 805 tip, pipe 4 inch ladyfingers so that each ladyfinger touches the adjacent ladyfinger. Make 2 strips of batter along the length of the sheet pan.
- Optional: lightly dust piped batter with powdered sugar.
- Bake at 350F 10-13 minutes, or until ladyfingers spring back from touch.
Baked ladyfingers
Tiramisu Recipe, adapted from Pretty.Simple.Sweet blog
Coffee Rum Syrup
1 C hot water
2 T instant coffee
2 T sugar
2 T dark rum
Y= this is more than enough to soak the ladyfingers. You can reduce the recipe in half.
Directions
- Combine the hot water with the instant coffee, sugar and dark rum.
- Stir to combine and allow the mixture to cool.
Mascarpone Filling
3 egg yolks
70 g sugar
2 T dark rum
¾ C heavy cream
8 oz Mascarpone cheese, room temperature
Y= enough filling to make four 4-inch round individual tiramisu cakes
Directions
- Combine egg yolks, sugar and dark rum in a heat-proof bowl.
- Place bowl over a pot of water, simmering on low heat. Cook the mixture while constantly whisking until it becomes thick and foamy.
- Remove from heat and allow the egg mixture to cool.
- In a mixer bowl, whisk the heavy cream until stiff peaks.
- Add the room temperature Mascarpone cheese to the cooled yolk mixture. Gently whisk to combine.
- Fold the whipped cream into the yolk-Mascarpone mixture. Continue to fold until mixture is smooth in consistency.
To Assemble
- Line cake rings with acetate strips.
- Line the bottom of the cake ring with lady fingers. You will need to trim off any excess to fit the round bottom of the rings.
- Since the ladyfingers are soft, I used a pastry brush to soak them with the coffee-rum syrup.
- Pipe some of the Mascarpone filling over the ladyfingers. (I prefer to pipe the filling to avoid major air bubbles; otherwise you can spoon the filling in).
- Repeat with another layer of ladyfingers, coffee syrup and filling. Smooth out the top layer of the Mascarpone filling.
- Allow the tiramisu to set in the refrigerator overnight before unmolding.
- Carefully unmold on the next day. Dust with cocoa powder and serve cold.
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