Tiramisu Cake

Two yellow cakes soaked in espresso syrup, layered together with a coffee-flavored marscapone filling, studded with bittersweet chocolate, and frosted with more coffee-flavored marscapone. Absolute heaven.  So if you, like me, have a special affinity for coffee-soaked cake, please do try this version of the Tiramisu. 

While I had prepared the Tiramisu sans liquer and light on the caffeine, I highly recommend that you go for the fully loaded version.  My reason was simply because I had expected young children to eat the cake, and the vision of Little Missy (or any little ones for that matter) bouncing off beds until the wee hours of the morning did not look very pretty.

The final appearance of my Tiramisu really did not do justice to the cake.  Before I started decorating the cake, I had big creative ideas -  I wanted to create some chocolate impressions for the sides, but alas, my cake looked like something the cat had dragged in.  I guess my creative jus (or the lack of it) and my dexterity (which is definitely lacking) do not go hand in hand.  Luckily the taste of the cake was more than compensating. 

This recipe is adapted from Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan.  I seem to be baking a lot of treats from her books lately.  Like Beranbaum, Greenspan is another baking fairy godmother that I truly adore.



You will need:

Cake layers
2 cups cake flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
140 g unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup castor sugar
3 large eggs
1 large egg yolk
1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup buttermilk

Espresso extract
2 tbsp instant espresso powder (I used 1 tbsp)
2 tbsp boiling water (I used 1 tbsp)

Espresso syrup
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup sugar
1 tbsp amaretto, Kahlua, or brandy (I omitted this)

Filling and frosting
225 g mascarpone
1/2 cup icing sugar, sifted
1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 tbsp amaretto, Kahlua, or brandy (I omitted this)
1 cup cold heavy cream
70 g bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped

Decoration (I omitted this and used chocolate shavings instead)
Chocolate-covered espresso beans, for decoration (optional)
Cocoa powder, for dusting


Preparation:
Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 180 deg C. 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 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, unmold them, 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 – use 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 tbsp of the remaining espresso extract into the remaining mascarpone filling. Taste the frosting as you go to decide how much extract you want to add. If the frosting looks as if it might be a little too soft to spread over the cake, press a piece of plastic wrap against its surface and refrigerate it for 15 minutes or so. Refrigerate the cake too.

With a long metal icing spatula, smooth the frosting around the sides of the cake and over the top.

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

Just before serving, dust the top of the cake lightly with cocoa powder.  This cake is best served cool, and not cold, so give it about 20 minutes room temperature before serving.