Before I get on with being an incompetent baker of Jewish food, I feel like my post last week needs some closure.
(And I need to redeem my cooking skills.)
I brought the kugel to the BBQ potluck I went to on the 4th, as promised, and it turned out totally fine. (I.e. Someone actually saw it and recognized it as Yerushalmi kugel.)
Unfortunately, I accidentally forgot my pan there when I left (ohhh rats), and when I came back it was all gone. I’m going to choose to believe that it got eaten and that it wasn’t just thrown out.
This week I decided to make something that definitely wouldn’t be potentially thrown out – Tiramisu.
Seriously. Throw these out and die.
To be entirely honest, I don’t think I’ve ever legitimately eaten Tiramisu. … Not even when I was in Italy last year.
I know! I’m the worst. I was just too busy consuming Gelato and being in one nonstop food coma to stop and try Tiramisu.
Well, no longer!
A few weeks back, my friend Katie tried Tiramisu for the first time as well, and fell in love.
Katie: Journalism student, coffee lover, currently in Italy
She challenged me to make Tiramisu for my blog, and like a true How I Met Your Mother Fan, I said – CHALLENGE ACCEPTED.
Ingredients:
I definitely nibbled on the scraps while making the cakes.
- 1 cup strong coffee (1 tablespoon instant coffee dissolved in 1 cup boiling water)
- 1 teaspoon cocoa powder, for dusting
- 1 ounce semisweet chocolate
Pound Cake
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 cups flour
- 1 cup oil
- 6 eggs
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
Cheese Mixture
- 1 1/2 cream cheese bars, brought to room temperature (8 ounces each)
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Directions:
- To prepare the pound cake, first preheat the oven to 350˚F.
- Line a 12 x 17 1/2 inch baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- Combine the sugar, flour, oil, eggs, vanilla extract, and baking powder in a large mixing bowl. Mix until very well combined. This can easily be done by hand, or in a mixer.
- Spoon the batter onto the lined baking sheet. Gently even out the batter over the surface of the baking sheet with a spatula.
- Bake for 35-40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. (To use this recipe to make a classic pound cake, pour the batter into a greased bundt pan, and bake at 350˚F for 45 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the cake comes out clean. Cool completely before inverting onto cake platter.)
- To assemble the tiramisu, pour coffee onto a clean baking sheet and set aside to cool.In a blender, food processor, or mixer, combine the cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla extract, and process until uniform, but do not over mix. Set aside.
- Use a 3” round cookie cutter to cut out 16 rounds of pound cake. (You should be able to get 16 circles, but might only get 15.) Working very quickly, dip the cake pieces into the coffee, turning over immediately to just about coat. –(I used an upturned wine glass, which gave me smaller cakes, but more of them.)
- Arrange the coffee dipped cake rounds on a platter. Evenly spread a slightly rounded tablespoon of cheese mixture over each piece. Top each one with another coffee dipped cake circle, and then another rounded tablespoon of cheese mixture. Dust tiramisu with a light coating of cocoa.
- Run a vegetable peeler down the edge of the chocolate bar to make chocolate curls for garnish.
Refrigerate the Tiramisu for 2 hours before serving.
Yield: 7-8 servings
This recipe can also be made in a 10” springform pan.
The Shik-down
I was pleasantly surprised with how easily this recipe came together. The pound cake baked just long enough for me to prepare the filling and coffee, and gather the platters. It was very smooth.
Taste: A sweet but heavy coffee flavored cake, with a hint of chocolate.
Texture: Heavy. Depending on how long you dip the cake, almost spongy.
Final Verdict: I will definitely make this again. It was easy, and all of my taste-testers gave their stamp of approval.
I want to send a big thanks to Jamie Geller on the Joy of Kosher website for this recipe! I adapted my Tiramisu from that site.
