Tiramisu Cake

Late March was my youngest sister's birthday. I volunteered to make a Tiramisu Cake for her since I've never attempted one before. I've always like to eat tiramisu. However, I couldn't find the courage to make one... until recently. I didn't want to buy the sponge fingers, though it will be simpler, nor did I want to make a sponge cake base. So I ended up making the sponge  fingers instead. Then I realised that I have piped my sponge fingers too small. I was afraid that my tiramisu will turned out to be very short since the sponge fingers were mini.


Fortunately, my tiramisu turned out to be of reasonable height. Overall, the comment was that the taste of the coffee and the coffee liquor was not strong enough! Fortunately, the texture of the cake was good. For the recipe below, I've adjusted the coffee syrup.

I'm submitting this to  Aspiring Bakers #18: Layers of Love (April 2012) hosted by  Sam of Sweet Samsations.

Recipe for Tiramisu, adapted from Yochana.


Ingredients:
Sponge Fingers:

4 Egg yolks
40g Castor sugar
3 Egg white
80g Castor sugar
120g Plain flour

Tiramisu:

2 Egg yolks
1 Egg
60g Castor sugar
5 pcs Gelatine leaves (or 10g gelatine powder) (soak in tap water)
2tbsp Water
250g Mascarpone cheese
250g Whipped Cream 
2tbsp Kahlua

Coffee syrup:

25g Ground coffee (should use Nescafe instant coffee powder)
250g Hot water
2tbsp Kahlua

Method:

1. For sponge finger: Whisk egg yolks with sugar till fluffy.
2. Whisk egg white with 80g sugar till stiff. Then fold in egg yolk mixture and flour.
3. Fill the batter into a piping bag fitted with a plain nozzle. Pipe fingers onto tray and bake at 175C for about 10 mins. or till golden brown.
4. For tiramisu: Beat egg yolk, egg and sugar over a pot of simmering water. Make sure that pot is not sitting directly onto the water.
5. Use a small pot, the mixing bowl slightly bigger and then sit on the rim of the pot. Whisk till egg yolk is yellowish. Cool to room temperature.
6. Add in mascarpone cheese and mix lightly. Don't overmix otherwise the cheese will turn coarse.
7. Soak gelatine with water and then microwave for about 20- 25 secs.
8. Fold in whipped cream, kahlua and gelatine mixture.
9. To assemble: Use a 8" sq. tray (or a 7" sq. tray to be higher.)
10. Soak sponge fingers into the coffee syrup, lay a layer into the tray and then top up with some tiramisu filling. 
11. Continue the same process till all the sponge fingers and tiramisu fillings are used up.
12. Chill in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours for the gelatine to set.
13. Sieve cocoa powder on top of the cake and decorate as desired. (I decorated mine with the remaining sponge fingers, and some cake sponge).