Chocolate-Orange Tiramisu
This is my other tiramisu recipe. It also comes from Rome: Centuries in an Italian Kitchen. I’ve enjoyed this book quite a bit over the last year, and I’ve really enjoyed this recipe. It uses marmalade and chocolate custard, which works really well. This recipe has been altered from the original, which used 100ml water and 100 ml Grand Marnier in place in place of the coffee / Grand Marnier mix I mention below. Alternatively, they recommend using 200 ml of orange juice in case you want to make an alcohol-free version. I also use grated dark chocolate instead of cacao for dusting the tiramisu at the end. I picked up that trick from the Fabiolous Day cooking lesson RS and I did in Rome.
The first time RS and I tried it, she recommended that I pick the orange bits out of the marmalade, which I did the second time around. The added bonus with this recipe is that I’ve also learned to make custard and chocolate custard, which is simpler than I thought it would be.
Chocolate Orange Tiramisu | |
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Ingredients
Chocolate Custard
Mascarpone Cream
Start this recipe by preparing the custard since it’ll need time to cool. Place a bowl in the freezer to cool it. Heat the milk together with Vanilla in a medium saucepan until bubbles start forming at the surface. While waiting for the milk to heat, mix the cornflour with the egg yolks using a wooden until it’s smooth. Once the bubbles start forming, add half a ladle of the hot milk to the mixture and whisk immediately. Add another half-ladle while continuing to whisk. The mixture should be diluted and smooth. But, if it isn’t, it’s not the end of the world. It just means you’ll have some lumps in the custard, which can be fixed later. Add the mixture to the saucepan and bring to a gentle boil, stirring constantly. As soon as the custard thickens, remove from heat and stir in the chocolate until it melts into the custard. Transfer the custard, including the vanilla pod, into the cold bowl you’ve been keeping in the freezer. Cover it with cling wrap or damp baking parchment to prevent the custard forming a skin. Once the custard has cooled, remove the vanilla pod. The custard will need about 2 hours to cool, so after 90 minutes you can start preparing the rest of the tiramisu. If your marmalade has bits of orange peel, I recommend removing them. This is a bit of a pain, so think ahead and save some time by selecting a clear marmalade. Beat the egg yolks with sugar in a large bowl until they’re pale. Whisk in the mascarpone until the mixture is smooth without lumps. Using a hand blender, whip the egg whites until they form stiff peaks. Gently fold the egg whites into the mascarpone mixture and set aside. Mix the Grand Marnier with the espresso. Then soak the ladyfingers in the coffee one at a time for 2-3 seconds, hold it vertically over the coffee, gently squeeze out the excess liquid and place them on a plate. You’ll need at least 6 glass tumblers next. Break the ladyfinger up so that they fit into the tumblers. Now it’s time to start layering the ingredients, but there are a couple of things worth considering first. The marmalade layer should be thin, think of it as spreading over toast, but a little thinner. The second consideration is to make the custard layers and mascarpone layers thick enough, so you end up with mascarpone as your topmost layer before dusting it with the dark chocolate. Usually, I find I’ll have two biscuit layers. So with all that in mind, place a layer of biscuits along the bottom. Spread the marmalade over them. Next, add a layer of custard, followed by a layer of mascarpone. Repeat this layering. Finish by dusting the top layer of mascarpone with dark chocolate. Refrigerate for about an hour before serving. |