Tiramisu

In my previous Tiramisu post, the photo was butt ugly. It was taken at 6:00am and it is very hard to photograph something brown. That was the frustration that I had when snapping pics of chocolate cakes. Until I discovered a particular spot in my house with natural light. That's where I shoot my photos now, even if it means ferrying my cakes upstairs and downstairs. LOL!

I felt like having another round of Tiramisu with step by step photos. Hopefully I would get a more decent shot of this lovely dessert. What's great about Tiramisu is that no baking is involved. It is a cold dessert which you assemble and then chill in the fridge.

The ingredients you will need are sponge fingers, cream cheese, sugar, chocolate (optional), whipping cream and eggs.

Sponge fingers/Lady fingers. I bought from Cold Storage.

Now, the recipe that I follow uses raw egg yolks but if you are not comfortable with that, you could leave it out. I use pasteurized eggs and so far I have not had any problem with these eggs.

So, let's get started shall we? First, line an 8" removable bottom square pan with baking paper. 

Then make the coffee. Or make the coffee first so that it has time to cool. It's just hot water, instant coffee powder, sugar and rum. Use a container that is big enough for you to dip the sponge fingers in.

If there is any leftover, just drink it!

Next, whip the whipping cream to stiff peaks. How do you know it is stiff? Do what Jamie Oliver likes to do on TV. Tip the bowl over your head and if it doesn't spill on your head, it's stiff hah..hah... I just tip the bowl and if the cream doesn't move, then it is stiff. Then I turn the bowl over (but not over my head) just for the fun of it. 

Whip the cream till stiff peaks and then set aside in the fridge.

Then, cream the cream cheese with sugar and then add the egg yolks. The cream cheese must be at room temperature so that it can cream or else it will be lumpy.

Beat the cream cheese, add sugar and beat some more and
then add egg yolks. You can also add some rum if you like :)

This is how it looks like.

Then fold the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture.

Cream cheese and whipped cream folded.

Now we are ready to assemble the Tiramisu. Oh, I forgot! If you are using chocolate, grate the chocolate beforehand. Sorry, I did not snap a pic of the grated chocolate but this ingredient is optional. Classic Tiramisu does not contain chocolate, does it?

Dip the sponge fingers in the coffee. Do not linger too long. These sponge fingers are not called sponge fingers for nothing. They soak up the coffee quite well and if you dip too long, the sponge finger will become very soggy. Dip for just a second and arrange them at the bottom of the pan.

The biscuits did not fit exactly and was a bit tight. I sort of forced them to fit.

It's quite easy to fit them because they become soft after dipping in coffee.

Once the bottom of the pan is covered, spread half the cream cheese mixture over them.

After that, scatter the grated chocolate over the cream cheese layer. You can omit the chocolate, no problem.

Then repeat dipping and layering the sponge fingers. Once done, pour the remaining cream cheese on top. Then sift cocoa powder over the cream cheese.

That's it! You are done. If you have a container large enough to house the cake pan, that's great. You can put the cake pan into it and then store the whole thing in the fridge. If not, wrap the pan with cling wrap or aluminum foil and chill in the fridge overnight.

The next day, you are ready to unveil your awesome Tiramisu. Carefully remove the Tiramisu from the pan. Scatter more cocoa powder if necessary. Then slice with a sharp knife. I used a knife dipped in hot water to get clean cuts. This is not necessary. I was just being a fussy old pot, as always.

Tadaah!

Now I have to confess. If you noticed that the cream cheese layer is a bit thin, you are right. Not enough cream cheese. I thought that I could get away with only 250g cream cheese and I was wrong. 

I used half recipe but still, this Tiramisu turned out very well. Of course it would be better is there was more cream cheese.

This Tiramisu is a wonderful dessert to make for family gatherings and you can make it a day ahead. Another good news is that it can also be frozen and thawed in the fridge overnight.

So here is the full recipe below which I adapted from Ms Su Chan's recipe for Tiramisu Cake. 

Tiramisu
Recipe source : Adapted from Ms Su Chan's Tiramisu Cake here.
This recipe fits one 8" square pan.

Ingredients :

Filling :
- 500g cream cheese, at room temperature
- 200g castor (superfine) sugar
- 6 eggs yolks (please use pasteurized eggs for your safety)
- 2 tbsp rum
- 400ml double (heavy) cream, whipped
- 200g chocolate shavings
- Cocoa powder for dusting

Coffee Syrup
- 1.5 tbsp instant coffee granules
- 1 tbsp castor (superfine) sugar
- 300ml hot water
- 1 tbsp rum

Ladyfingers
- I used 28 Sponge Fingers (14 per layer)

Method :

For Filling
- Beat cream cheese and sugar in a mixing bowl until light.
- Add egg yolks one by one.
- Add rum and fold in whipped heavy cream.

For Coffee Syrup
- Dissolve coffee granules and sugar in water.
- Cool, then add sherry and set aside.

To assemble the Tiramisu :
- Dip each  sponge finger briefly in coffee syrup (don't dip for too long)
- Arrange the  sponge fingers in a single layer in the pan.
- Top the  sponge fingers with 1/2 of the filling.
- Sprinkle with chocolate shavings to cover the top of the filling.
- Continue dipping  sponge fingers in coffee syrup and arrange in a single layer on top of the filling.
- Top the  sponge fingers with the the remaining filling.
- Dust with cocoa powder to completely cover the surface of the topping. 
- Cover pan with cling film/aluminium foil and chill in the fridge overnight.

To serve :
- Take the pan out of the fridge and slice the Tiramisu with a hot knife

This post is linked to the event, Little Thumbs Up organised by Zoe of Bake for Happy Kids and Doreen of My Little Favourite DIY and hosted by Grace of Life Can Be Simple