tiramisu cake

I have never in my life not known where I will be in two weeks and onwards. Never.

Within the next few days, J and I will find out where in the expansive Northwest Territories we will be living and what jobs we will have for the next 3 to 4 years. This, I tell you, is not easy! Especially for one who finds total satisfaction in organisation, structure and lists. This is an agonising waiting game. I have all the time in the world right now, in beautiful Vancouver, to be buying household items. I have trawled the local shops eyeing up exactly which sheet set we would like in our future bedroom, which fluffy towels for the bathroom, vintage baking pans from thrift stores to restart my baking collection, and the arctic gear we will die without (I’m not even kidding). Yet it all has to wait until we know what our near future holds, what our housing arrangement will be and what arctic gear will be provided by the workplace. And finding this out all stems on J finishing his license conversion, job being offered, job being accepted, bags being repacked and one way flight tickets being booked.

And you know what is strange? Despite all this uncertainty, we are still remarkably at peace. And all the dots continue to join.

Much like baking. When I started out on this Tiramisu Cake, I really had no idea where it was going or how it would turn out. But as always with following recipes, take one little step at a time and something beautiful results.





Think homemade vanilla cake, doused in a Kahlua coffee syrup, smothered in tangy mascarpone and topped with crushed chocolate covered coffee beans. Perfect for a dinner party, a celebration cake, or (if you’re anything like me) just for the heck of it.

If you want my advice, well regardless of whether you want it or not, I suggest you make more syrup. In fact double it! The vanilla cake, while being soft, is definitely strong enough to absorb a lot more than I poured into it before it gets anywhere near sodden. As you can see in the photo it only soaked the top and bottom surfaces. Also. Don’t make this when you have food poisoning. Trust me, even writing a post about it 2 days after being debilitatingly ill makes me cringe. Nevertheless, enjoy!

Tiramisu Cake
Recipe from Smitten Kitchen, original from “Baking: From My Home to Yours” by Dorie Greenspan

For the cake layers:
2 cups cake/pastry flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
140g butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1 large egg yolk
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup buttermilk (alternatively make your own buttermilk)

For the espresso extract:
2 tablespoons instant espresso powder
2 tablespoons boiling water

For the espresso syrup:
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon Kahlua (can substitute for amaretto or brandy)

For the filling and frosting:
230g mascarpone
1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 tablespoon Kahlua (again, can substitute as desired)
1 cup cold whipping cream
70g bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped

Chocolate-covered espresso beans, for decoration, or
Cocoa powder, for dusting

Getting ready:
Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter two 9×2 inch round cake pans, dust the insides with flour, tap out the excess, and line the bottoms of the pans with parchment or wax paper. Put the pans on a baking sheet.

To make the cake:
Sift together the cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter on medium speed until soft and creamy. Add the sugar and beat for another 3 minutes. Add the eggs one by one, and then the yolk, beating for 1 minute after each addition. Beat in the vanilla; don’t be concerned if the mixture looks curdled. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients alternately with the buttermilk, adding the dry ingredients in 3 additions and the milk in 2 (begin and end with the dry ingredients); scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed and mix only until the ingredients disappear into the batter. Divide the batter evenly between the two pans and smooth the tops with a rubber spatula.

Bake for 28 to 30 minutes, rotating the pans at the midway point. When fully baked, the cakes will be golden and springy to the touch and a thin knife inserted into the centers will come out clean. Transfer the cakes to a rack and cool for about 5 minutes, then run a knife around the sides of the cakes, turn them out and peel off the paper liners. Invert and cool to room temperature right-side up.

To make the extract:
Stir the espresso powder and boiling water together in a small cup until blended. Set aside.

To make the syrup:
Stir the water and sugar together in a small saucepan and bring just to a boil. Pour the syrup into a small heatproof bowl and stir in 1 tablespoon of the espresso extract and the liqueur or brandy; set aside.

To make the filling and frosting:
Put the mascarpone, sugar, vanilla, and liqueur in a large bowl and whisk just until blended and smooth.

Working with the stand mixer with the whisk attachment or with a hand mixer, whip the heavy cream until it holds firm peaks. Switch to a rubber spatula and stir about one quarter of the whipped cream into the mascarpone. Fold in the rest of the whipped cream with a light touch.

To assemble the cake:
If the tops of the cake layers have crowned, use a long serrated knife and a gentle sawing motion to even them. Place one layer right-side up on a cardboard round or a cake plate protected with strips of wax or parchment paper. Using a pastry brush or a small spoon, soak the layer with about one third of the espresso syrup. Smooth some of the mascarpone cream over the layer – user about 1 1/4 cups – and gently press the chopped chocolate into the filling. Put the second cake layer on the counter and soak the top of it with half the remaining espresso syrup, then turn the layer over and position it, soaked side down, over the filling. Soak the top of the cake with the remaining syrup.

For the frosting, whisk 1 to 1 1/2 tablespoons of the remaining espresso extract into the remaining mascarpone filling.

With a long metal icing spatula, smooth the frosting around the sides of the cake and over the top. Crumble over crushed chocolate-covered espresso beans, or alternatively sift over cocoa just before serving.

Refrigerate the cake for at least 3 hours (or for up to 1 day) before serving allowing time for the elements to meld.

7 thoughts

  1. Pingback: Friday’s Favourite Five | Time for a Little Something

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