Tiramisu is an Italian version of a trifle… I think every culture has their own version. Here in Australia, it usually consists of some sort of cake soaked in an alcoholic beverage or juice, custard, jelly, cream and tinned fruit. Personally I’m not really a fan of the old Aussie trifle, but I do like some of the very delicious looking chefy variations that I am seeing in some magazines.

“Tiramisu” means “pick me up” or “lift me up” and that is because it usually has coffee in it, so for Italians it is another chance to get some coffee into their veins. I know it is hard to believe, but there are some people who don’t like coffee, so I have come up with some alternatives for this yummy dessert. You can do hot chocolate and Kahlua or just the chocolate if it is for kiddies and then there is raspberry. You could do mixed berries, but I love the colour of the raspberries when they are whipped up and combined with the Tiramisu cream, it is just a delicious combination.

You have to make this a day or two before hand otherwise it won’t be as good, as it needs time for all the flavours to soak together! Consequently this is a fantastic dessert to complete 1 – 2 days before Christmas celebrations or one less thing to do before you have people over for dinner.

To be honest, it is a bit fiddly and requires a few bowls, but once all the elements are done, it goes together very quickly and easily and as I said, you can do it days before. There is a fantastic Italian restaurant in Sydney (I can’t remember the name of it, I never booked) at the rocks and they always made their Tiramisu every Wednesday for the busy weekend (so that is 3-4 days ahead). Many times on at Saturday night it would be sold out already, so I would order the Tiramisu before I sat down to make sure I got one and sometimes even then, they had already sold out! I remember taking a photo on my phone about 8 years ago and I looked back and found it!

This is not a budget dessert, but it does feed about 20-30 people, so when you divide it up like that, it is quite ok… I buy my mascarpone from Aldi as there is nothing wrong with it and it is half the price! Yes you can halve it, but I always make this much because it only gets better as the week goes on! As you can see by the pictures I keep mine in a large square decor container (6 litre), it isn’t pretty, but it is fantastic for transporting it around and the sealable lid means every night I can just dive right in with a spoon (just like Nigella) and have a yummy mouthful before bed!

Ingredients
750g of Italian Sponge Biscuits
750g Mascarpone (normally 3 containers)
600ml Bottle Thickened Cream
4 Eggs
150g Icing Sugar
200g White Chocolate
1kg of Raspberries
1/2 cup Raspberry Liquor (Optional) or Barcardi or any other alcohol that you like.

Method – Cream
1. Separate eggs into whites and yolks and beat whites until they are stiff peaks.
2. In a separate bowl beat egg yolks and sugar until light and fluffy.
3. In another bowl, beat cream until stiff peaks form as well.
4. Mix mascarpone and egg yolk mixture together, then add whipped cream and mix until well combined
5. Lastly, gently fold the stiff egg whites into the mixture.

Method – Raspberry
1. In a food processor, blitz up raspberries until they become a puree (if using frozen, they must be thawed out first.
2. Strain liquid through a fine strainer to remove the seeds (this is a bit fiddly, but very important as the seeds don’t taste nice in the smooth mixture).
3. Place strained raspberry liquid in to a flat bottom container with liquor(if using).

Refer to assembly method below! 

THERMOMIX METHOD

Method – Cream
1. Place egg whites and pinch of cream of tartar into the mixing bowl, Insert Butterfly, then Beat 5 minutes/37°/speed 4. Set aside egg whites in a clean bowl.

2.  Place icing sugar and egg yolks into the mixing bowl, Insert Butterfly and mix 2 minutes/speed 4. Set aside egg mixture in a bowl different from the egg whites.

3. Add Cream to mixing bowl (no need to clean from last step), Insert Butterfly and mix 50 seconds/speed 4.
4. Add Egg Yolk and sugar mixture back into the mixing bowl (butterfly still inserted) and mix 30 seconds/speed 3.
5. Then add egg white, mascarpone cheese and mix (butterfly still inserted) 30 seconds/speed 3.

6. Place cream mixture into the fridge while you get the raspberry ready.
7. Clean and dry bowl completely and grate white chocolate 10- 20 seconds/speed 8 (if your chocolate is cold it will grate better) and set aside.

Method – Raspberry
1. Place 1kg of thawed frozen raspberries into the mixing bowl and blend 1 minute/speed 9, then cook raspberries 4 minutes/Varoma/speed 2.
2. Strain liquid through a fine strainer to remove the seeds (this is a bit fiddly, but very important as the seeds don’t taste nice in the smooth mixture).

3. Place strained raspberry liquid in to a flat bottom container with liquor.

PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER – Assembly

1. Soak biscuits in the raspberry liquid until the biscuits are red both sides and place a layer of soaked biscuits in the bottom of your presentation container.

2. Pour a third of the cream mixture over the top of the first layer of biscuits then sprinkle grated chocolate over the top of the cream.
3. Repeat step 2 and 3 another 2 times, until all biscuits and cream are used and your top layer is covered in grated white chocolate (as you can see by the pictures, I sometimes pour a little of the raspberry over the top so it doesn’t look so white).

Leave in the fridge covered for 1, 2 or even 3 days then eat, it just gets better!

Have a go at this fabulous dessert, you will be glad you did and I think the red and white are just such yummy colours for Christmas! 🙂 You can put a bit of sugar in with the raspberry syrup if you wish, but the store bough biscuits have sugar on the outside of them and I find that having the tartness of the raspberries is delicious with the richness of the cream.

Thank you for supporting my Blog this year… Happy Cooking!

Enjoy Irresponsibly!

Love Liz xx

PS, this post has been up for a while, I just updated it with the new photos… and you can now download it for free in one of my eBooks that are available free with subscription.

Elizabeth Connolly

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I have been cooking since I can remember. I am a Thermomix consultant, so now (whenever possible) try to give you Conventional AND Thermomix methods for the recipes. I like to share tips on how to save money and how making food from scratch isn't really that hard (especially with a Thermomix). If you have any questions about the Thermomix or cooking/food in general please email me as I'm happy to chat.
Liz xx
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