I want to precede this with the fact that I am in no way a professional baker - I am a beginner - so please take my advice and experience as tips from someone who is experimenting and making mistakes (I don't post my mistakes but I will write about what I've learned!)
I found a recipe online that looked yummy. As I have never made tiramisu I thought I would give it a try - I've always loved the dessert. This recipe creates the classic tiramisu taste using a box cake for the base (which I was hesitant about at first) but with the homemade filling and frosting and then soaking the cake in booze, it's hard to tell (if not impossible) that it came from a box (shhhh). The cake required a lot of steps and is a bit labor intensive, but so worth the time because it's not hard.
I made the 4 cake layers the night before in my new 6"cake pans - preparing 2 at a time. Follow the recipe on the box and separate the cake mix in half. I made the first two layers with the plain white cake mix and cooked those first. Then I added 3 packets of VIA instant coffee to the remaining batter and cooked the last 2 layers. So I had 2 white cake layers and 2 coffee flavored cake layers. If you don't want as many layers make 2 coffee layers and 1 plain layer for a 3 layer cake.
Ingredients: (as adapted from Tiramisu Layer Cake on Allrecipes.com)
Cake:
- 1 package moist white cake mix
- 3 packets of VIA Starbucks instant coffee (but any instant coffee would work, use 3 or 4 tbsp)
Coffee Mixture:
- 1 cup coffee (I used 3 shots of espresso and water)
- 4 tbsp coffee liqueur (I used Kahlua)
- 2 (8oz container) mascarpone cheese
- 1 cup confectioners sugar
- 4 tbsp coffee liqueur (I used Kahlua)
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 1/4 cup confectioners sugar
- 2 tbsp coffee liqueur
- 2 packets VIA Starbucks instant coffee (again, any instant coffee will work)
- dark chocolate chips
- cocoa powder
I wrapped the 4 layers of cake in plastic separately and refrigerated them overnight.
The next evening I got to work. I mixed together the ingredients for the coffee mixture and set aside.
To make the filling combine the mascarpone, 1 cup confectioners' sugar, and 4 tbsp of Kahlua in an electric mixer on low speed, beat just until smooth, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate.
Next make the frosting. Beat the cream, 1/4 cup confectioners' sugar, and 2 tbsp Kahlua in an electric mixer on medium to high speed until stiff (this takes about 5-8 mins)
Now get the filling back out of the fridge and fold 1 cup of the frosting into the filling mixture to make it a bit lighter.
Now comes the assembly!! Place first cake layer on a serving plate or cake stand (you can't move this cake once you start soaking it in coffee and booze - it's too mushy) Using a think skewer or a fork, poke a bunch of holes in cake. Pour one quarter of the coffee mixture over cake slowly (I just used a tablespoon and slowly drizzled onto cake). Now spread with one third of the filling mixture and top with next cake layer; poke holes in cake again. Pour another quarter of the coffee mixture over the second layer and spread with another one third of the filling mixture and top with third cake layer. Repeat this process on all layers. When you get to the top layer, poke holes in this cake too and pour remaining coffee mixture on top.
I returned the entire cake to the fridge and let it chill for a while so that it wouldn't be too mushy while I frosted it. While waiting for cake to chill I made chocolate tree garnishes for around the perimeter of the cake. These turned out super cute and were very easy to make. Just heat up 1 cup of dark chocolate chips in a double boiler (or if you don't have one like me, just put about an inch of water in a small sauce pan and put a large glass bowl on top making sure the water does not touch the bottom of the glass bowl and boil the water - the steam will heat up the bottom of the bowl and melt the chocolate without burning it). Stir the chocolate until completely melted. Now transfer chocolate into a pastry bag with a small tip - make sure chocolate has cooled a little bit so it doesn't melt the pastry bag. Lay out foil or parchment paper on a cookie sheet and proceed to "draw" the trees with chocolate. You can make any doodle into a cute chocolate garnish! I then popped the cookie sheet into the freezer so that the chocolate would harden.
And voila! Little trees!
Now frost the cake!
Get the cake and frosting out of the fridge and apply frosting to sides and top. I garnished the top of the cake with cocoa powder sifted through a sieve over a paper cutout of a moon I had put on the top of the cake. Remove the paper cutout to reveal design! I also cut 5 little bats out of black scrapbook paper and hot glued them to the back of a few wooden skewers.
Everyone raved over this cake and I was quite proud of how pretty it turned out as well! I can't wait to bake again.
Happy Halloween!!
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