The Italian “Dessert” the Tiramisu
Italian cuisine has conquered the whole world with recipes and dishes that please everyone. Who doesn’t enjoy a good pasta dish or a delicious pizza cooked in a wood-fired oven? And speaking of pasta and pizzas, what to say about Parmesan cheese and mozzarella. Perhaps two of the best known and most consumed cheeses in the world. Italian cuisine has given rise to dishes that have captivated the entire planet. Did you know that ice cream as we know it today was an Italian invention? What would the world do without ice cream!
And speaking of Italian cuisine, if there is a famous Italian dessert, known and liked all over the world, that is tiramisu, perhaps the most famous dessert of all Italian recipes. A soft sponge cake soaked in coffee and liqueur, topped with a delicate cream and sprinkled with pure cocoa. Perfectly simple; simply perfect.
The tiramisu in depth history and where does this dessert come from?
As we said, tiramisu is composed of a base of soft egg biscuits soaked in coffee and liqueur. This liqueur can be amaretto, marsala wine (a sweet wine produced in Sicily) or even a coffee liqueur. If you want this dessert to be enjoyed by children and minors, you can avoid alcohol by not adding any liqueur or by “burning” the alcohol in the liqueur you use by boiling it in a saucepan over a fire.
Soletilla type sponge cakes (or savoiardi in Italy) are usually used, although we can use any egg sponge cake that is fluffy and soft, as in this case, the Genoese sponge cake. These sponge cakes are literally soaked with the coffee and liqueur mixture and covered with a layer of mascarpone cheese cream, which is usually made from egg yolk and whipped cream. Usually two or more layers of sponge cake and cream are sandwiched together, and finally, pure cocoa powder is sprinkled over the entire surface.
Tiramisu is a dessert low in sugar, light and not at all cloying. The palate is creamy, smooth and unctuous. The coffee and cocoa give it just the right touch of bitterness that goes perfectly with the subtle mascarpone cream cheese. For all these reasons, this dessert is loved by everyone, from those with a sweet tooth to those who do not have a sweet tooth.
If you want to know how to make a tiramisu that rigorously fulfills all these premises and also surprises everyone by its originality and aesthetics when serving it, continue reading because we are going to teach you how to make some amazing mini cakes of the smoothest and creamiest tiramisu, with which you will present this dessert in an aesthetic and attractive way.
In addition, we leave you a video where we show you in detail how to make these mini tiramisu cakes, with the recipe step by step of all the elaborations. Don’t miss it!
Ingredients to make 8 mini tiramisu cakes:
For the cake:
- 4 Eggs
- 100 gr of flour
- 100 gr of sugar
- a pinch of salt
For the mascarpone cheese cream:
- 2 Egg Yolks
- 250 gr Mascarpone cheese
- 200 ml of cream 35%.
- 80 gr Sugar
In addition:
- 100 ml of Espresso Coffee
- 20 ml of Amaretto
- c/s of pure cocoa powder
How to make mini tiramisu cakes, step by step:
This dessert is very simple and easy to make. And if you follow the steps below, you will be guaranteed success. It consists of two preparations, a slab of Genoese sponge cake and the mascarpone cheese cream, which we will alternate between them. The sponge cake will be soaked with coffee and amaretto and finally we will put cocoa powder and chocolate shavings on top. Let’s get to it!
To make the Genoese sponge cake:
- Separate the yolks from the egg whites, being very careful that the whites are completely clean, without any yolk, shell or dirt in the bowl, otherwise we could have problems when whipping them.
- Beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt at medium speed until they begin to foam. It will always be more convenient if we use a fixed, orbital mixer. Although we can do it perfectly well with the electric rods of hand.
- Once they start to froth, add half of the sugar (50 grams) little by little in the form of rain.
- Increase the speed of the machine and beat until the egg whites are stiff peaks.
- On the other hand, beat the egg yolks with the remaining sugar (50 grams) until the mixture triples in volume. We will see how the yolks begin to turn a paler color and a creamier texture.
- Once the egg whites are whipped and the egg yolks are beaten, add some of the stiffly whipped egg whites to the egg yolk and sugar mixture and mix with a silicone spatula in a gentle, encircling motion to prevent the dough from drooping and losing volume and air. When we have homogenized the first part of the egg whites, add the rest and continue mixing until it is completely homogeneous.
- Add the sifted flour in small parts. We mix always with enveloping movements, when we have incorporated the first part of flour, we add another little bit and mix. Add the flour in four or five batches.
- Once the mixture is completely homogeneous, fill a piping bag and pour the dough on a metal tray lined with baking paper. Smooth the surface with a spatula.
- Bake in a preheated oven at 180º Celsius for 12 minutes, with heat up and down and the fan off.
To make the mascarpone cheese cream:
- Mix the egg yolks and sugar and beat with a whisk on a double boiler until the mixture reaches 62º. It will take about 2 or 3 minutes.
- Lightly beat the mascarpone cheese at room temperature.
- Add the egg yolk and sugar mixture to the mascarpone cheese and beat lightly until blended.
- Separately, semi whip the cream into soft peaks. Add one part of the semi-whipped cream to the egg yolk and mascarpone mixture. Now with a spatula or silicone tongue, we integrate the two creams in a smooth and enveloping movements, to prevent the creams from “going down”, making them much smoother and creamier.
- Finish integrating all the semi-whipped cream and fill a piping bag with a smooth and fine nozzle. We reserve.
Cake assembly and decoration:
- Before assembling the mini cakes, prepare a small bottle or pitcher with a mixture of espresso and amaretto.
- Cut discs of the Genoese sponge cake sheet of the same diameter as the molds where we are going to assemble it, in my case a silicone cylinder mold of 7 centimeters in diameter by 4.5 centimeters in height. If you do not have one like this, you can use another one or use metal rings lined with a strip of acetate paper or greaseproof paper, or you can even assemble the cakes in glass cups.
- Place a disk of Genoese sponge cake in the base of the mold and soak it in the coffee and amaretto mixture.
- Cover with a layer of mascarpone cream, trying to make it as thick as the sponge cake.
- Place another disc of sponge cake on top of the cream and soak it generously with our coffee and liqueur mixture.
- Intersperse as many layers as we want or as the mold or glass where we assemble the cakes allows.
- If you have used a silicone mold, you will have to freeze the mini cakes before unmolding them. If you have used the metal ring or mounted them in glass cups, you can skip this step.
- Finally, just sprinkle a good amount of pure cocoa powder and let the rest do its magic, 3 or 4 hours will be enough for the moisture to spread and the flavors to settle. We can also sprinkle some chocolate shavings before serving and tasting.
And just like that, the tiramisu would be ready to enjoy!
If you have not tried it before, you will be amazed at how smooth and creamy this tiramisu is, it is sure to become one of your favorite desserts.
