Rich, intensely chocolaty and creamy, this chocolate tiramisu is for chocolate addicts and tiramisuaholics! This chocolate tiramisu cake has a base of chocolate biscuits, layers of chocolate mascarpone cream, savioardi sponge fingers dipped in homemade chocolate liqueur, and a final cap of whipped cream and chocolate shavings! If you like chocolate and you like tiramisu, then this is an incisive recipe. Dear reader!
Tiramisu without raw eggs or coffee: Sometimes I get people asking me for a tiramisu without raw eggs or coffee because of their allergies or pregnancy. I always feel for people who must miss things but with this chocolate tiramisu they won’t miss anything! This tiramisu cake is like a cross between a chocolate mousse cake and a tiramisu but with a cheesecake base instead of a dacquoise because cheesecake bases are much easier to make than dacquoise ( the cheesecake base also makes the whole thing a no-bake cake) .
My basic cheesecake tip: I always add a few tablespoons of raw sugar into the base to give the biscuit/cookie base some crunch. Believe me, it makes it TOO good!
Homemade chocolate liqueur: One of my favorite parts is the easy homemade chocolate liqueur which tastes like super rich hot chocolate with a splash of Baileys (or Kahlua or Vodka if you like). And of course, if you like coffee, it goes without saying that you can add coffee to the chocolate liqueur. You can also prepare a large quantity of chocolate liqueur and serve it with the tiramisu.
Don’t want to bake a cake? Prepare them in individual glasses! If you don’t want to make a whole cake, you can make this chocolate tiramisu in individual cups and you can omit the gelatin if you do because the gelatin is there so the cake can stand up on its own and slice cleanly , which you won’t need if served in a glass.
I gave this cake to Valentina and she ended up serving it to her son Will for his birthday. She asked me for this recipe because she really liked it, especially the crispy base. I also love that her family honestly criticizes me – when Valentina’s daughter Katie tried it she told me it could have been made with a little more coffee, but she didn’t know that. was a tiramisu without coffee.
We love going to dinner at Valentina’s because there is always good food and good company. One Saturday night she invited us over and as always her dog Cooper and Katie’s dog Nox (she was a sitting dog Nox) greeted us at the door. Both dogs are rescues and get along quite well – Cooper is a senior mixed breed dog and a real darling who is somewhat tolerant of the rambunctious 3-year-old American Staffy Nox. Nox is huge and is almost as tall as me and nearly knocked me down with a salute as he stood up to his full height and put his paws on my shoulder. Other than Nox, I’ve never met American staff and am a little wary of big dogs, but Nox seems quite gentle and has the most expressive human eyes I’ve seen in a dog. We have yet to introduce Nox to Teddy who was staying home that night, even though he was great with a neighbor’s chihuahua.
That night, Valentina had invited another couple, Penny and Jeff, and everyone got along great. The conversation flowed and everyone was interesting and interested, which is the perfect combo. Nox was dozing on the couch, but suddenly he started making this weird noise like he was choking or swallowing. Everyone got up worried. I’m usually absolutely useless in a fit (see the story of Nox pausing) but I recognized it as a reverse sneeze because it was something Mochi used to do. It’s actually harmless (the dog sucks air into his nose instead of pushing it out like a sneeze) but Nox seemed really confused by what was going on and the poor guy looked at us his eyes showing signs of panic.
Nox – just look at those eyes!
To stop a dog from sneezing upside down, you put your hand over his nose and then he stops pretty much within seconds. Wasn’t sure if putting my hand on a member of staff’s muzzle was a good idea – he had apparently never sneezed upside down before and looked panicked and sometimes the dogs would go wild if they panicked . But Nox didn’t bite, his reverse sneezes stopped and he was so relieved. Then he followed me everywhere that night and when I sat down on the couch he sat down and put his head and paws on my lap and looked at me with such a look of affection . I think I have a new boyfriend. Me and Nox: what an unexpected team!
So tell me dear reader, do you like the idea of chocolate tiramisu? Would you do it in cups or as a cake?
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Chocolate tiramisu
An original recipe by Lorraine Elliott
Preparation time: 40 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes
For: 8 people
For the base:
- 175g/6oz. plain chocolate cookies
- 3 tablespoons raw sugar
- 80g/2.8oz melted butter
- 250 g savioardi sponge biscuits
For the chocolate liquor:
- 1/2 cup/125 ml/4 floz. hot milk
- 50g/1.7oz. dark chocolate, finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons of Bailey, Kahlua, Amarula or vodka
For filling:
- 1 tablespoon gelatin powder
- 3 tablespoons of water
- 150g/5oz sugar
- 200g/7oz. dark chocolate
- 500g mascarpone, room temperature
- 200ml/7floz. cream
- 1/2 cup/125 ml/4 floz chocolate liqueur (see recipe below)
For garnish :
- 1 tablespoon of chocolate shavings
Step 1 – Line the bottom and sides of a 20cm springform pan. Process the chocolate cookies in a food processor until you get very fine crumbs, then empty them into a bowl. Add raw sugar and melted butter and mix until it becomes a wet sand texture. Press into bottom of springform pan and press to flatten. Cut the savioardi biscuits to fit just above the pan (reserve any leftovers as they can fill in the corners of the cake). Place them along the outside of the cake with the sugar side out – you can gently press them into the base to stay in place. Place in the refrigerator until use.
2nd step – Prepare the chocolate liquor as you want it to cool. Melt the chocolate in the hot milk and stir in the Baileys. Let cool.
Gelatin swells before heating
Step 3 – Put the water in a bowl and sprinkle the gelatin over it and wait a few minutes for it to swell and set. Heat in the microwave for 20 to 30 seconds or until it becomes runny, then let cool slightly to room temperature while you prepare the rest of the filling.
Step 4 – Place the dark chocolate in a double boiler or in the microwave and melt until the chocolate is smooth. In a mixer with a whisk, whip the cream until you get soft peaks and set aside in another bowl. Then switch to a mixer attachment and beat the sugar and mascarpone until smooth on medium speed and while it is beating, add the still runny but warm gelatin mixture. Stir in melted chocolate and whipped cream and mix until smooth and chocolate is distributed and there are no streaks.
Step 5 – Take the cake tin out of the fridge. Pour one-third of the chocolate mixture into the pan and smooth with an angled spatula. Dip the biscuit biscuits very briefly in the chocolate liqueur then let the excess liqueur drip off. Line the base with these dipped cookies and repeat until you have used the sausages and mascarpone mixture and are almost at the end of the sausages.
Step 6 – Whip remaining cream and icing sugar until soft peaks form. Drop a spoonful on top of the cake, then refrigerate for 4-6 hours or overnight. Sprinkle with cocoa powder and chocolate shavings and serve.