Since I don’t care much for coffee, I have perhaps tried tiramisu once or twice in my life, although I am struggling to recall said occasion(s).
That being said, I was very interested in a “quick tiramisu” (here’s my archive) I saw being made on a “30-minute meal” TV show. The “easy shortcut” of using a store-bought loaf cake as well as the recipe in general completely captivated me, and I decided that I must make it. Of course, I sidestepped the defining shortcut of the recipe by realizing that “I know how to make a loaf cake!” (loaf cake recipe here). As such, I make my own loaf cake “in-house” for this recipe.
This last part being said, in this post I won’t show the making and baking of the loaf cake for two reasons:
- The recipe and this post are still predicated on the shortcut of using a loaf cake commonly available in many (although presumably hardly all) grocery stores’ baked goods department(s); and,
- The making and baking of my plain cake in loaf form has already been highlighted elsewhere on this site.
- Incidentally, I therefore recommend, such as in the case that you have your own favourite “plain” or “vanilla” loaf cake recipe or other favourite loaf cake, that you use the loaf cake that you like.
For the record: Yes, I indeed licked the utensils and the bowls used for the coffee cream and whipped cream. 👨🍳
Making the tiramisu cake:
First, I baked a plain vanilla loaf cake earlier in the day, and I let it cool:
Also, cream cheese was taken out soon after baking the cake so that the cream cheese could warm up to room temperature or thereabouts:
Later, when I was beginning to make the tiramisu layer cake, all the ingredients — loaf cake, cream cheese, milk, instant coffee crystals, icing sugar, whipping cream, and cocoa powder — were taken out:
Water was quickly drawn into a kettle to boil to make the strong coffee:
The kettle was plugged in and turned on, so as to boil the water:
While the water was boiling, instant coffee crystals and a measuring spoon were taken out:
Two teaspoons of instant coffee crystals were measured out:
The instant coffee crystals were transferred to a heat-proof measuring cup:
At this point, the kettle of boiling water was brought to the measuring cup, and water was transferred to the measuring cup:
I noticed that I poured out three ounces of boiling water instead of two ounces of water:
A bit of commentary: The thing to remember here is that in this case, a fixed amount of instant coffee was used instead of fresh espresso, so the water is doing two things: While the water is dissolving the instant coffee so that it distributes more evenly than the dry powder alone would, the coffee taste and intensity in the final product come from the fixed amount of two teaspoons of instant coffee in the recipe, and obviously not that the crystals were dissolved in three ounces of water instead of two). And, secondly, the water is also affecting the liquid balance in the recipe to smooth out the cream cheese in the mix; since a bit too much water was added to dissolve the otherwise fixed amount of instant coffee, the amount of milk added in the upcoming step was reduced. (Were fresh espresso be used instead, the liquid balance issue would remain; however, an even stronger coffee flavour would be brought to the dessert, which may be either a good or not so good thing, depending on your perspective and preference — or what you might want to do with the extra ounce, like top up your own cup of espresso! 🙂 )
The hot strong coffee was placed in the freezer to cool it down quickly:
The package of cream cheese was opened with a pair of scissors:
The cream cheese was transferred to a mixing bowl:
An electric beater was brought over in order to cream the cream cheese:
The cream cheese was creamed with the electric beater:
Milk and a measuring spoon were taken out:
As mentioned earlier, one less tablespoon than specified in the recipe (to compensate for the extra water added to the instant coffee crystals) was measured out:
… and the milk was transferred to the bowl with the creamed cream cheese:
The milk and cream cheese were briefly mixed with the electric beater:
Icing sugar and a measuring cup were taken out:
Icing sugar was measured out:
The icing sugar was transferred to the bowl with the cream cheese mixture:
The cream cheese mixture and the icing sugar were blended together with the electric beater:
The cooled coffee was taken out of the freezer:
The cooled coffee was transferred to the cream cheese mixture:
All the ingredients were mixed again with the electric beater, and a couple of spoons were used to scrape the edges of the bowl:
The cream cheese, milk, icing sugar, and coffee mixture was put aside for a few moments.
Another bowl and some whipping cream (237mL, about a cup) were taken out:
The carton of whipping cream was opened:
The whipping cream was transferred to the bowl:
The electric beater was brought to the bowl with the whipping cream:
The whipping cream was whipped using the electric beater …
… until I had stiff peaks in the whipped cream:
A bowl scraper / spatula was taken out, and the bowl of whipped cream brought over to the bowl with the cream cheese, milk, icing sugar, and coffee mixture:
The whipped cream was transferred to the bowl with the cream cheese, milk, icing sugar, and coffee mixture:
The whipped cream was gently folded into the cream cheese, milk, icing sugar, and coffee mixture, henceforth called the “coffee cream”:
The bowl of coffee cream was put aside again for a few moments.
At this point, the cooled loaf cake I baked earlier was taken out:
I sliced the loaf cake horizontally along its length with a sharp knife about an inch above its base:
The loaf cake was sliced horizontally along its length again with the sharp knife, creating three layers of cake:
The base slice was placed onto a removable tray for a poultry / meat transport container (see below):
A layer of coffee cream was transferred to the sliced cake:
The coffee cream was spread over the whole surface of the cake slice:
The middle slice of cake was placed on top of the coffee cream:
More coffee cream was transferred to the top of the middle slice of cake, and spread over the whole surface of the cake:
The top of the cake was placed on top of the coffee cream:
The rest of the coffee cream was transferred to the cake, and spread over all surfaces:
Here’s the empty bowl from the coffee cream:
Cocoa taken out:
Cocoa powder sprinkled onto the cake directly from the container of cocoa:
The cake and tray were lowered into the container:
The lid was placed on the container with the cake:
The cake was placed in the fridge to gel the coffee cream:
Later when the coffee cream had largely gelled in the fridge for a few hours, a couple of slices were cut off the cake, ready to be served for dessert!
Mom is over the moon with this cake, effectively having declared it her new favourite dessert!
(And, I’ve been asked to bring it to the next church potluck I attend, along with my pulled pork!)