Tiramisu … Heaven on your taste buds …

And I am back with my first post of this year and yes, I am starting the new year with yet another cake recipe.

Tiramisu is a well known Italian dessert which is loved and adored by people all over the world. This is a layered dessert, which has alternate layers of coffee dipped sponge fingers and a cheese- cream- egg mixture and finally dusted with cocoa powder.
The sponge fingers soaked in coffee gets even spongier the next day. So if you are thinking of making tiramisu for some party or so just make this the day before serving so that there is ample time for all the flavors to glue well.

First time I heard about this from my brothers, who usually tell about all the delectable desserts that they tried and loved. Later I ate this at my friend’s place and the taste was amazing. Then I decided, whatever it is, I must find the ingredients and should make this on my own. But the ingredients were difficult to get. After doing lots of research I came up with this and trust me the taste was same as what we get from any cake shop.

Ingredients:

1. Eggs- 2nos
2. Mascarpone Cheese- 1 ½ cups(see below how to make this at home)
3. Heavy Cream- 1cup
4. Cake Fingers (Basic cake cut into pieces)- 10 pieces
5. Sugar- 1 ½ cups
6. Strong Coffee- 1cup
7. Vanilla essence- 1tsp
8. Cocoa Powder- for decorating

Method:

1. Separate egg whites and yolks. In a glass bowl, pour the egg yolks and sugar together and beat them well till fluffy and creamy.
2. Heat water in another vessel on a low flame.Place the bowl containing egg yolk and sugar over the simmering water and whisk well till the mixture turns thick. To this add vanilla essence and keep this aside to cool. (The bowl containing the mixture of egg yolks and sugar, should not come in contact with the water underneath, since this egg mixture will curdle. We should take care that, we should not use a metal bowl for the egg mixture, since the vessel gets heated up quickly and the mixture will curdle).
3. Whip the cream until peaks are formed. In this,mix the mascarpone cheese and keep it aside.
4. In the above cream mixture add the cooled egg mixture and stir well until no lumps appear.
5. Whip the egg whites till peaks and fold this to the above cream mixture to keep it light and airy.
6. Prepare coffee by adding boiling water to 2tsp of coffee and required amount of sugar.
7. Take a dish in which you want to make tiramisu. Dip the sponge cake fingers in coffee and layer them side by side until the bottom of the dish is covered. Don’t keep the sponge fingers in coffee for too long or else the cake will become soggy.
8. Pour half of the above made cheese- cream mixture over these sponge fingers and set it well.
9. Again layer another layer of coffee dipped sponge fingers and pour over this the remaining cheese- cream mixture and level the surface with the back of a spoon.
10. Cover and refrigerate for minimum 3- 4 hours.
11. Dust the surface with cocoa powder and decorate as you wish and serve the yummy tiramisu.

Note:

• Usually for the base we use lady’s finger, but as I didn’t get that, I made the cake of jam squares and I cut pieces.
• As I didn’t get the mascarpone cheese, I made it at home and its easy to make too.
• Don’t serve right away. Chill at least for 8hours before serving.

Homemade mascarpone cheese (adapted from cakes and more)
Ingredients:
Amul cream- 2cups
Lemon Juice- 1tbsp
Method:

1. Heat the amul cream in a double boiler (Boil water in a vessel. Pour the amul cream in a bowl and place this inside the boiling water) for about 15- 20 min, stirring often.
2. After 15 min add the lemon juice and continue heating the mixture stirring gently till the mixture curdles. While it curdles it will be thick, it wont look like milk curdle.
3. The whipping cream will become thick and it will stick to the back of the wooden spoon thickly.
4. After that remove the bowl from water and let it cool completely and sieve through a cheese cloth. Do not squeeze the cheese in the cheese cloth or press on its surface.
5. I kept this in the refrigerator over night, it was firm in the morning and can be used. Don’t get surprised by seeing little water after refrigerating over night.

I am linking this to ABC series: DESSERTS