So a friend and I attempted to make tiramisu the other day... and didn't do too great. How did we spend all that time on it, yet we didn't get the results that we had hoped for?
It could be any one or combination of;
1. Over-whipped whipping cream
2. Over-whipped egg yolks
How can I have enough experience, yet we made such a drastic mistake? I can admit that I used to produce it in mass quantities when I was an intern at Sugar Butter Flour, so you'd think that I would have it perfected. I think our downfall was the fact that we were trying to do 3 things at once, and I was sort of trying to rush it. Anyway... long story short; we got the taste down, but the texture was nowhere near what it should have been.
It was because of this that I was super determined to do a green tea version and make it perfect. I used a recipe that I adapted from a favorite blog of mine, House of Annie. Annie had meant for it to be easy and for use with store bought ladyfingers, but I opted to make my own out of eggs, sugar, flour, and baking powder to get more oohs and aahs from the fact that I made the entire thing from scratch.
I don't know if I've ever been more proud than I have today. I'm overjoyed with the results of this cake, and I plan on making this again some time in the near future. The one thing I'd like to do different, though, is the whipping of the egg yolks for the cream mixture - I believe I slightly under-mixed that, so the cream was a bit soft. Either way, perfect dessert! Not too sweet and quite refreshing...
Ladyfingers
I used a recipe from allrecipes.com, but will possibly try one that uses almond powder the next time.
Beat egg whites until soft peaks form. Add 4 tsp of sugar, 1 tsp at a time, until stiff peaks form.
Beat yolks and remaining sugar together until pale yellow in color. Add to egg whites and gently fold in.
Blend together flour and powder. Fold into egg mixture, a third at a time, until well incorporated.
Evenly spread batter over 3 cookie pans covered in parchment (you can make them as actual ladyfingers, but I find it is easier and less work to just bake in sheets). I spread them enough so that when baked, they would be close to fitting a 9x13 pan.
Bake each sheet for 6-8 minutes in a preheated oven of 400 degrees. Let cool completely.
Teamisu mixture from house of annie
I doubled the recipe for the amount of cream I needed, and I also made a couple of slight changes that, for now, will be kept secret ;)
3 yolks
1 cups heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract (I used vanilla bean paste)
1 tsp orange liqueur (optional)
1/2 lb marscapone
2 tsp matcha powder
Beat yolks and sugar until pale yellow and double in size. If desired, do this while over a double boiler to cook the yolks a bit (when you're done, place in an ice bath to cool it).
Beat marscapone until smooth. Add matcha, 1 tsp at a time, until well incorporated. Don't forget to scrape the bowl! Fold into yolk mixture.
Beat heavy whipping cream with extract and liqueur until stiff peaks form. Add matcha mixture and fold in.
For the assembly, you need 1-1/3 cups strongly brewed green tea (cooled)
Assembly
Cover pan in foil. Cut the ladyfinger sheets to fit in pan, and set first layer in. My pan was only able to fit two, which means I should bake another set to have enough for TWO pans of teamisu!!
Pour 2/3 of the cooled tea over the ladyfingers. If desired, add a tsp of the orange liqueur to the tea prior to pouring.
Spread half of the matcha mixture over cake. Repeat the process.
Cool overnight. Cut into clean, even squares and sprinkle some matcha powder over prior to serving. ENJOY!!