Tiramisu with many twists

Some of you will think that I’m being a hypocrite for posting a blog about a Tiramisu I made today when my previous post was about my struggle with body weight loss. I’m going round a friend’s house tonight with my parents and we generally make a dessert for whoever is cooking dinner. Dieters are allowed to treat themselves now and again, so tonight I’ll be treating myself to some Tiramisu with many twists.

This version of my Tiramisu is different to a traditional one, as it doesn’t have coffee. Instead I used cocoa powder to make a chocolate flavoured sponge base. Rather than using shop bought sponge fingers for the base, I made my own by making a Victoria Sponge, using Delia Smith’s recipe. I also used Jamie Oliver’s recipe for Tiramisu but altered it by using cocoa powder and not pouring sherry into the mascarpone mix. Also Oliver uses orange in his Tiramisu, which worked well when I made it in the past.

Good old Delia and Jamie

Firstly I made the Victoria Sponge base, by whipping 6oz caster sugar 6oz baking butter until soft. I then gradually poured in 3 beaten eggs into the sugar and butter mixture, mixing until combined. After stirring in a few drops of vanilla extract, I added 6oz of sifted self-raising flour and combined gently with a metal spoon until there was a smooth cake mixture. I added a tablespoon of hot water to make a smoother consistency, then divided the mixture into two cake tins. The Victoria Sponge went into the oven at gas mark 3 for 30 minutes.

Before…

… and after!

When the Victoria Sponge had cooled down, I took both halves out of the tins and cut the circular edges off to make two squares, like so below.

I then cut the squares into 5 fingers and placed into a rectangular dish. I used some of the circular cuttings from the cake but there were some left over, so I ate those!

Snug as a rug

In a jug I poured 3/4 pint of boiling water with 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder and 1 tablespoon of sugar. I stirred it altogether and then attempted to evenly distribute the hot chocolate over the sponge fingers. I think I did a pretty good job!

Chocolately fingers

For the mixture which lathered the sponge base, I whisked 2 tablespoons of sugar into 750g of mascarpone and a few drops of vanilla extract. I then poured in juice freshly squeezed from 1 1/2 oranges and combined well until there was a smooth shiny consistency. The other 1/2 of the orange juice was poured over the chocolate infused sponge fingers.

Mascarpone goodness

I carefully smothered the fingers with the mascarpone filling so that it was evenly distributed in the dish. To finish off I sprinkled grated zest from one of the oranges and 2 crumbled Cadbury’s Flakes.

Tiramisu with many twists

I’m looking forward to trying out some of this Tiramisu later. It’s been a long time since I last made it, and I’m hoping that it’s worked out well. I’ll find out the verdict tonight!

 

Happy reading and blogging!

Many thanks,

Clare Bear