Tiramisu Cake (TWD)

I was so happy to see that Megan of My Baking Adventures selected Tiramisu Cake for this week's Tuesdays With Dorie recipe. For a while, tiramisu was considered THE dessert, and it was included on almost every restaurant menu. Trendy or not, tiramisu has always been one of my favorite desserts.

In BFMHTY, Dorie Greenspan developed a twist to the traditional recipe, transforming the trifle-like dessert into a layer cake. Instead of making a whole cake, I reduced the recipe in half, and made individual layer cakes.

My recipe notes and adjustments are as follows (for the full recipe, please visit Megan's blog):

- I used one 9" round pan to bake the cake, and used 3 inch ring molds to cut out individual cakes. I also cut the cake rounds crosswise to get thinner layers. This yielded enough to make 4 triple layer mini cakes.

- Instead of figuring out how to halve 3 eggs and 1 yolk, I went ahead and used 2 whole eggs. The cake turned out just fine.

- I brushed a mixture of 1 tbsp espresso syrup and 1/4 C sweet marsala wine on the cake layers.
- Chopped bittersweet chocolate was nestled between the layers

- For me, the mascarpone filling is the best part of any tiramisu, so I made a full batch. I used about 2/3 of the batch for this recipe. The remaining filling will not go to waste; I'll use it as a delicious topping for some gorgeous strawberries that I picked up over the weekend.

- Definitely serve the dessert at room temperature. Chilling the cake will change the texture of the mascapone filling.

I had some leftover cake and mascarpone filling, and just for fun I created one traditional style tiramisu in a small trifle dish:

Regardless of the presentation, Dorie Greenspan's riff on this classic dessert is fantastic! The layer cake version was easy to make and assemble, and even more a treat to eat.

The yellow cake was nice and dense like a pound cake, and the layers kept its shape after a healthy brushing (i.e. soaking) with the espresso/marsala syrup.

The mascarpone filling / frosting was different from the zabaglione filling that I'm familiar with. I would give the the traditional filling a slight edge in terms of texture and flavor, but I wholeheartly welcomed this no cook version.Thanks Megan for this great 90's flashback! Make sure check out the TWD blogroll to see the handiwork of some amazing bakers.