Cafe Latte Tiramisu

Tiramisu is delicious and easy and not at all intimidating when you realize it is simply an Italian version of an icebox cake. It is perfect for a romantic dinner because it must be made a day ahead of time. This means no extra dishes to clean up after your romantic dinner. My version of tiramisu is simpler than the authentic Italian or even Americanized versions of tiramisu. These changes make it easy to make, even if you have never cooked before. In fact, there is no actual “cooking” involved in this recipe. To eliminate cooking, I’ve eliminated the eggs from the authentic Italian preparation. Eliminating the eggs also eliminates the possibility of getting salmonella poisoning from undercooked eggs or unpleasant lumps in your tiramisu cream from overcooked eggs. I tested both an “egg” and an “eggless” version on family and all preferred the lighter flavor and texture of the “eggless” version.

Tiramisu is a combination of lady fingers and mascarpone cheese, flavored with coffee, rum or marsala wine and a touch of cocoa powder. It is fairly easy to assemble, but small mistakes can lead to a big soggy disaster. Soaking the lady fingers for too long will cause them to disintegrate in the final product, resulting in a dish of oddly textured, unpleasant pudding. Not soaking the lady fingers long enough will prevent their miraculous overnight transformation into soft cake. This will lead to a disappointing dessert, that combines the silkiness of mascarpone cream with the staleness of leathery cookies. The desire for more coffee flavor is what usually motivates that disastrously long soak of the lady fingers. Instead of risking this, I bumped up the coffee flavor by adding the coffee to the cream itself and topping the whole thing with a coffee flavored ganache.

About that ganache: I’ve already talked about avoiding chocolate due to the unethical and cruel practices in its production in a previous post (see here). The down side to this is that,“Fair Trade” and ethically sourced chocolate is more expensive. This means that you have to learn to use chocolate wisely. While you will need a small amount for the cocoa powder in this recipe, you can save your pennies when it comes to the ganache. Use Ghirardelli or Nestle “White Chocolate” chips instead of genuine white chocolate made of cocoa butter. Cocoa Butter has a very delicate flavor that is easily overpowered. Because we are adding coffee powder to this ganache, any natural flavor from actual cocoa butter would be completely overwhelmed and that would be a total waste of an expensive ingredient.

All together this adorable and delicious version of tiramisu manages to be both light in texture, as well as deep and rich in flavor. It also appears way more complicated than it actually is. Your sweetheart is sure to be impressed and delighted. Complete the illusion by presenting the mugs with my Cherry Almond Biscotti on the side!

Click here to watch the video version of this recipe!

Directions:

In a shallow bowl, combine hot water, rum and 1 Tbsp coffee powder. Set aside to cool.
Pour heavy cream into medium mixing bowl. Add 2 tsp instant coffee powder, stir. Cover and set aside in refrigerator for at least 10 minutes to allow coffee to dissolve.
Place mascarpone in medium mixing bowl. Add Sugar, Salt, Vanilla, and Rum (if using). Mix with silicone spatula until all ingredients are fully incorporated and mascarpone is smooth. Cover and set aside in refrigerator.
Get heavy cream and coffee mixture from the refrigerator. Stir gently to make sure coffee is dissolved. Whip with whisk or hand held mixer with whisk attachment until stiff peaks form. Do not over mix or you will have coffee butter!
Get mascarpone mixture from the refrigerator. Sugar should be completely dissolved and mixture should be smooth. Add all of coffee whipped cream to mascarpone mixture and gently fold in, until the color is even. Do not over mix and deflate the cream!
Place 2 Tbsp of cocoa powder in a small sieve and set aside on a saucer.

Assembly:

Select at least two 12 oz. capacity coffee mugs. (Use whatever containers you like really. If you want a greater number of smaller tiramisu, use smaller teacups. You may need additional lady fingers.)
Spoon two rounded tablespoon of the Coffee Cream into each mug. Briefly dip just one side of 2 lady finger halves in the coffee soak. (Just for ½ second. The cut end soaks up liquid quickly and any longer will result in the cookie disintegrating.)
Place the two halves, dipped side up, in the bottom of one of the coffee mugs. Repeat with the second mug.
Gently dust a little cocoa powder on top of the lady fingers. Add another two generous tablespoon of coffee cream on top of the cocoa powder dusted lady fingers making sure they are fully covered. Repeat adding more soaked lady fingers, cocoa powder and coffee cream until you have at least 4 layers of lady fingers. Finish with coffee cream, being sure to leave ¼ inch (½ cm) room at the top of each mug.
Press plastic wrap onto the surface of the cream in each mug and refrigerate overnight or for at least 8 hours to allow the lady fingers to fully soften and the tiramisu to set.*Make a “mini-misu” with any leftover ingredients.
After at least 8 hours in the refrigerator prepare the coffee ganache topping.

Coffee Ganache:

Place 60 ml (¼ cup) heavy cream into heat proof bowl and microwave until hot. Microwave times will vary. Try 30 seconds at a time until cream is steaming.
Add ¾ tsp of coffee powder to hot cream and stir to dissolve. Add “white chocolate” chips while the cream is still hot and let sit for 5 minutes. Stir carefully with a spoon or spatula (not a whisk) until ganache is smooth and evenly colored. If needed, microwave in 10 second increments to aid melting. Let cool to room temperature before use.

Presentation:

Remove tiramisu from refrigerator. Remove plastic wrap. Spoon two tablespoons of ganache over the top of each tiramisu. Gently swirl to create an even smooth surface.
Place uncovered back in fridge until ready to eat. This can be done a few hours in advance. Serve with a biscotti on the side to complete the illusion!

(Serves 4)

Ingredients:

Coffee Cream

224 grams (8 oz) Mascarpone cheese
120 grams (4 oz) Heavy Cream
2 tsp Instant Coffee Powder (I use Mt. Haagen Organic Fair Trade Decaffeinated Coffee.)
1 ½ Tbsp Dark Rum (Optional)
⅛ tsp Salt
½ tsp vanilla bean paste or extract
90 grams sugar (About ½ cup minus 1 Tbsp)

Cake

8 dry lady fingers, scored and broken in half.
1 ½ Tbsp “Fair Trade” Dutch Processed Cocoa Powder (I use Equal Exchange.)

Coffee Soak

6 Tbsp boiling water
1 Tbsp dark rum
1 Tbsp Instant Coffee Powder

Coffee Ganache

60 grams (¼ cup) Heavy Cream
60 grams “white chocolate” chips. (Do not use actual white chocolate made with cocoa butter, use the “white chocolate” flavored chips.)
¾ tsp Instant Coffee Powder

Tiramisu is delicious and easy and not at all intimidating when you realize it is simply an Italian version of an icebox cake. It is perfect for a romantic dinner because it must be made a day ahead of time. This means no extra dishes to clean up after your romantic dinner. My version of tiramisu is simpler than the authentic Italian or even Americanized versions of tiramisu. These changes make it easy to make, even if you have never cooked before. In fact, there is no actual “cooking” involved in this recipe. To eliminate cooking, I’ve eliminated the eggs from the authentic Italian preparation. Eliminating the eggs also eliminates the possibility of getting salmonella poisoning from undercooked eggs or unpleasant lumps in your tiramisu cream from overcooked eggs. I tested both an “egg” and an “eggless” version on family and all preferred the lighter flavor and texture of the “eggless” version.

Tiramisu is a combination of lady fingers and mascarpone cheese, flavored with coffee, rum or marsala wine and a touch of cocoa powder. It is fairly easy to assemble, but small mistakes can lead to a big soggy disaster. Soaking the lady fingers for too long will cause them to disintegrate in the final product, resulting in a dish of oddly textured, unpleasant pudding. Not soaking the lady fingers long enough will prevent their miraculous overnight transformation into soft cake. This will lead to a disappointing dessert, that combines the silkiness of mascarpone cream with the staleness of leathery cookies. The desire for more coffee flavor is what usually motivates that disastrously long soak of the lady fingers. Instead of risking this, I bumped up the coffee flavor by adding the coffee to the cream itself and topping the whole thing with a coffee flavored ganache.

About that ganache: I’ve already talked about avoiding chocolate due to the unethical and cruel practices in its production in a previous post (see here). The down side to this is that,“Fair Trade” and ethically sourced chocolate is more expensive. This means that you have to learn to use chocolate wisely. While you will need a small amount for the cocoa powder in this recipe, you can save your pennies when it comes to the ganache. Use Ghirardelli or Nestle “White Chocolate” chips instead of genuine white chocolate made of cocoa butter. Cocoa Butter has a very delicate flavor that is easily overpowered. Because we are adding coffee powder to this ganache, any natural flavor from actual cocoa butter would be completely overwhelmed and that would be a total waste of an expensive ingredient.

All together this adorable and delicious version of tiramisu manages to be both light in texture, as well as deep and rich in flavor. It also appears way more complicated than it actually is. Your sweetheart is sure to be impressed and delighted. Complete the illusion by presenting the mugs with my Cherry Almond Biscotti on the side!

Click here to watch the video version of this recipe!

Simmer & Stir