Chocolate Tiramisu - The Second Attempt

After being terribly disappointed with the tiramisu I made before, I decided to give it another try and bring it to our friend’s birthday party. I made a lot of mistakes on my first attempt that I decided to make only half this time. Good thing I still have enough chocolates, mascarpone cheese and Savoiardi. I just need to buy eggs and cream again.

Was the second attempt a success? Oh yes!


Pardon the plastic container I used... I know it's not presentable. :)

I won't call the chocolate layer as crème chocolat. Instead, I'll call it Chocolate Zabaglione. I made the chocolate zabaglione Friday morning. I watched and stirred it well this time. Placed it in the fridge to let it chill, so I can make the tiramisu that evening. The image on the left is the chilled chocolate zabaglione.

That evening, the first thing I did is to make the coffee that will be used for dipping the ladyfingers.

While waiting for the coffee to get cold, I started making the mascarpone cream. This time instead of using raw eggs, I used whipping cream. The first try didn't get creamed... turned lumpy/grainy because I overbeat the cream, and I used normal white sugar. So I made another batch again using icing sugar (good thing I have some). After just two minutes, the whipping cream with mascarpone cheese looked like whipping cream!

I then started layering the tiramisu. Instead of making just one set of 3 layers (coffee-soaked ladyfingers, chocolate zabaglione & mascarpone cream), I made two sets.

I let it chill in the fridge. I was so tempted to try it out already!


The next day, I added some powdered cocoa on top as garnish, and brought it to Cheche's party. As soon as they served it, I tried it immediately. It turned out great!

You might be expecting the recipe I used... unfortunately I can't! Well, the only recipe I can't share is the chocolate zabaglione recipe I used, which is the crème chocolat recipe from the Ultimate Chocolate Treats I class from Shermay's Cooking School. The coffee is just coffee, I found the mascarpone cream recipe online. BUT... I saw recipes online that are almost the same as the chocolate zabaglione I did.

I won't include the measurements... just the list of ingredients, and the links to the recipes I found.

Chocolate Tiramisu

Ingredients

• Italian savoiardi or ladyfinger biscuits
• Whipping cream/Heavy cream
• Semi-sweet chocolate chips
• Mascarpone cream
• Egg yolks
• Super-fine sugar like Caster sugar/Confectioner's sugar
• Cocoa powder (for garnish)
• Strong coffee

Directions

1. Prepare the chocolate zabaglione and let it chill in the refrigerator for at least 6 hours.
   Chocolate Zabaglione: Follow the Chocolate Zabaglione recipe for the Chocolate Tiramisu by Giada De Laurentiis. The only change I made is I didn't add the dry Marsala and the salt.
2. Prepare the mascarpone cream.
   Mascarpone Cream: I used the tiramisu recipe I found in allrecipes.com. It's called Emily's Famous Tiramisu. I just followed the directions for making the filling without the dark rum.
3. Dip the ladyfinger biscuits into the coffee and place them at the bottom of the prepared pan.
4. Spoon the cream chocolate mixture on top of the ladyfinger biscuits and spread evenly so that the sides are completely covered.
5. Spoon the mascarpone cream mixture on top of the Chocolate Zabaglione layer and spread evenly.
6. Repeat the layering (steps 3-5).
7. Cover with plastic and refrigerate for at least 8 hours.
8. Sift cocoa powder over the surface before serving.

Notes

• The Chocolate Zabaglione should be chilled to at least lukewarm temperature, therefore needs to be prepared ahead of time. The mascarpone cream should be prepared before you are ready to assemble the tiramisu.
• Easier version with chocolate zabaglione & mascarpone cream mixed together: use Giada De Laurentiis' Chocolate Tiramisu recipe found in FoodNetwork.com.
• Another chocolate tiramisu recipe easy to follow recipe: from The Barefoot Kitchen Witch. The recipe has images for each ingredients and for the directions, so it's easier to follow.

Lessons Learned

1. Never oversoak the ladyfingers! The extra coffee it soaked will just spread around the bowl. And it breaks easily before even putting the soaked ladyfingers in the bowl. By the end of the day, the bottom of the bowl is all-liquid.
2. Do not overcook the egg & cream mixture (for the chocolate zabaglione). Before I mixed the chocolate to the boiled cream mixture, I realized that I've overcooked the eggs because lumps were forming at the bottom of the pan.
3. For the mascarpone cream, better to use whipping cream, rather than use raw eggs to make the cream. I think this happened because I beat the egg whites for too long and I didn't beat the egg yolks long enough.
4. Better to use finer sugar like caster sugar.