Chocolate Tiramisu

April 24, 2014June 4, 2020 - Sadia Mohamed

Heyy all! I know, its been an incredibly long time since my last post. Actually i had taken a month break intentionally as i was very busy with other stuff. Now that i am back, hopefully i will be posting again regularly with full enthusiasm, lots of different recipes for you guys. So stay tuned.

I am making my come back with the very famous, and absolutely delicious ‘Tiramisu’. Not the normal type, but with a little twist. Chocolate fans will cheer this twist on tiramisu: It has ladyfingers infused with hot chocolate instead of espresso and an ethereal filling of thick chocolate ganache and mascarpone cheese. One bite and you’ll be transported to your favorite cafe. 😊

For all those who are not familiar with tiramisu, It is a popular coffee-flavoured Italian dessert. It is made of ladyfingers (Savoiardi) dipped in coffee, layered with a whipped mixture of egg yolks, egg whites, sugar and mascarpone cheese, flavoured with cocoa. But as i am not a fan of coffee flavoured desserts, i decided to make my tiramisu this way with chocolate.

Tiramisu means “pick me up” in Italian, and even though these don’t have the caffeine in it, a spoon full of cookies, cream and chocolate always picks me up. 🙂 You can either make these in individual glasses or in a 9×13 pan. Do try making these, you all will love it.

I am taking these beauties to Angie’s fun filled Fiesta Friday 13. Hope i am not late. 🙂

Serves 6

For hot chocolate:
1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
3 tablespoons white sugar
1/4 pinch salt
1 tablespoon boiling water
3/4 cup milk
1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract

Custard recipe courtesy : chef John of foodwishes.com

30-35 ladyfinger cookies
1 cup hot chocolate for dipping cookies
6 large egg yolks
6-8 tablespoons white sugar (depending on how sweet you want it)
1/2 tsp vanilla
pinch of salt
500 g mascarpone cheese at room temperature
6 large egg whites
cocoa for dusting
dark chocolate for shaving

For ganache:
1 cup heavy whipping cream
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
283 g milk chocolate, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
57 g bittersweet chocolate, cut into 1/4-inch pieces

Hot chocolate:
1. Combine the cocoa, sugar and pinch of salt in a saucepan. Blend in the boiling water. Bring this mixture to an easy boil while you stir. Simmer and stir for about 2 minutes. Watch that it doesn’t scorch.
2. Stir in milk and heat until very hot, but do not boil!
3. Remove from heat and add vanilla.

For the mascarpone mixture:
1. Take the yolks in a bowl and to it add some white sugar. Whisk it a little bit. Then whisk it further for about 5-8 minutes over a lightly simmering water till it turns nicely pale and thick. (Double boiler)

Once the egg mixture gets all thick remove from stove and to it add in the mascarpone cheese along with some vanilla and a pinch of salt. Whisk it well till smooth.

In a clean new bowl whisk the egg whites till you get nice stiff peaks.
Add the half of the egg whites into the mascarpone mixture and do a half mix and a half fold. You don’t want to mix it vigorously to knock off all the air at the same time you don’t have to fold it so carefully that it is super airy. You want a super light, soufflé like mixture. That is, give a semi gentle stir. Then add the rest of the egg whites and combine.

Chocolate ganache:
1. Add butter to the cream and bring to a boil over low heat.
2. Remove from heat and add chocolates. Shake pan to submerge chocolate and allow to stand 5 minutes.
3. Whisk smooth, then cool to room temperature. Ganache will thicken to spreading consistency.

Assembly:
1. Dip the cookies in hot chocolate. Do not dip it for a long time. Just dip it and turn it around and take it out. Do not over soak.
2. Place this on the pan. Spoon a thick layer of the mascarpone cream over the ladyfingers—you may find that it’s easier to put the cream into a pastry bag with a round tip, or a plastic bag with the corner snipped off.
3. Once all of it have a layer of mascarpone, spoon a thin layer of chocolate on top. Repeat the layers, adding more ladyfingers, mascarpone, and chocolate, until you reach the top of your container. Make sure that you end with a layer of mascarpone cheese. Finish the tiramisus with a topping of shaved chocolate, unsweetened cocoa powder, or a big rosette of whipped cream. Refrigerate for at least 6-7 hours, or better overnight and serve!

Notes:

✔️ When separating the eggs, its always okay if you get a little bit of whites to the yolks but never okay if you get yolks to the whites. Otherwise it will be very hard to whip in the peaks.
✔️ When double boiling the egg yolks make sure that you don’t scramble the eggs. Stir constantly and don’t let the water boil.
✔️ Tiramisu keeps very well, and this dessert can be made up to five days ahead of time and kept, well-wrapped, in the refrigerator until ready to serve.