Tiramisu Sponge Cake

This recipe was contributed by Dr Kripa who loves to cook. From Indian to Italian she can cook a storm in her kitchen. She tried this recipe from another website and this is how it came out!

Ingredients

For the sponge (Genoise) cake
3 whole eggs
3 Tbsp granulated sugar
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup plain flour, sifted
2 Tbsp butter, melted

For the coffee mixture
2/3 cup of strong Espresso coffee
1 Tbsp granulated sugar
1/4 cup Marsala wine or brandy

For the Mascarpone cream
1/2 pound Mascarpone cheese
1/2 cup superfine (icing) sugar
2 large egg yolks
3 Tbsp Marsala wine, Cognac or Brandy

For the whipped cream
1 pint heavy whipping cream
1 Tbsp powdered (icing) sugar
1 Tbsp vanilla extract

1 ounce chilled dark chocolate, finely chopped (you can use a food processor)

Directions

To make the Genoise cake
Preheat oven to 350° F. Spray a 9 inch diameter round cake pan or 8 inch by 8 inch rectangular cake pan with vegetable oil and lightly dust with cake flour. Beat the eggs and 1/3 cup of sugar at medium speed in a double boiler over very hot water, until the mixture is smooth and pale yellow in color. Add the remaining 3 Tbsp of sugar and beat at high speed until the mixture reaches a consistency that forms ribbons when poured. Remove from the heat, stir in the vanilla extract, and slowly fold in the cake flour. Fold in the melted butter. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and bake at 350° F for 30 to 40 minutes

Remove from the oven and immediately turn the cake out of the pan onto a wire rack to cool.

To make the coffee mixture
Mix the sugar into the coffee. Evaporate down (by boiling) the coffee-sugar mixture until only 1/3 cup remains. Add the Marsala wine or brandy and stir.

To make the Mascarpone cream
In a bowl, beat the sugar into the Mascarpone cheese until well blended. Add the 2 egg yolks and Marsala, Cognac or brandy and beat more, until the mixture is smooth.

To prepare the whipped cream
In a bowl add the whipping cream, sugar and vanilla essence and stir until ingredients are blended. Beat the mixture with an electric mixer until glossy and stiff.

Tiramisu Assembly
Slice the Genoise cake in half, to make two cakes of half the original height.

Place the first slice of the Genoise cake at the bottom of a serving bowl or pan and sprinkle half of the coffee mixture over it. Spread half of the Mascarpone creme on the cake, using a spatula. Spread half of the whipped cream over the Mascarpone cream and sprinkle half of the chocolate gratings over the whipped cream.

Put the second slice of the Genoise cake on top and repeat the above procedure with the coffee mixture, Mascarpone, whipped cream and chocolate gratings to finish the Tiramisu.

Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 6 hours.

We liked and Shared: Pink Almond Spekulatius Barfi

We liked and Shared are posts from other blogs that we found very innovative and wanted to share with you all so for this week we pick: a unique recipe taken from the Blog: Whats For Lunch Honey by Mowie.

Pink Almond Spekulatius Barfi

Ingredients

200ml sweetened condensed milk (you can make this yourself by boiling down 400ml of milk with 150g sugar for 30 minutes, stirring constantly, or you could just buy the ready made version)
100g butter
450g finely chopped almonds (you can also use pistachios or a combination of the two)
1tsp ground ginger
1tsp ground cinnamon
1tsp ground cardamom
[optional] 2tsps natural pink food colouring (for this recipe I used organic beetroot juice)

Method

1. Heat condensed milk in a large, deep pot on a medium to high heat, stirring constantly to make sure it doesn't burn. 
   
   
2. Add the butter, colouring and spices, and keep stirring. 
   
   
3. Add the almonds and stir until the mixture forms a ball in the pan. If the mixture is still too liquid or sticky, add more almonds. 
   
   
4. Plate the mixture into dessert dishes. 
   
   
5. Refrigerate and serve cold with sprinkled almonds or pistachios. The colder the burfi, the better it tastes!

Note: If using pistachios, you might want to consider leaving out the food colouring as the nuts will naturally turn the burfi green.