Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Cake Project 4: Mission Tiramisu and a special day of a lifetime, 20/10/2010


You might be wondering whats with the date 20/10/2010. It marks my 26th birthday and the date conincidentally forms a unique number sequence, 20102010, which is rare to come by. For this very special occasion, I promised to treat myself to a luscious layer cake. Hmm.. sounds a bit weird huh? Poor Bakertan has to resort to baking his very own birthday cake. Well, I would prefer a home-made birthday cake anytime. Firstly, I get to customize the texture and flavour to my liking and secondly, its going to be another enjoyable experimental layer cake session/lesson/therapy at home.   

I scratched my head pretty hard trying to decide the flavour. Was wondering whether I should make a blackforest cake, a tiramisu or a durian mousse cake. After some considerations, I opted for the tiramisu. It has been quite a while since I helped myself to one and I was certainly looking forward to a nice turnout.

So last friday, I stepped forth and tried my hands at making tiramisu for the first time. Instead of using saviordi fingers (lady fingers), I decided to make it a tiramisu torte by using coffee sponge cake layers. The first attempt on making the tiramisu mousse was a complete disaster. The steps were tedious and there were plenty of room for errors.

The recipe had asked for warmed egg yolks (leave to cool) and beaten egg whites. I might have overwarmed the egg yolks slightly, scrambling it a little (straining it might help, which I didn't) and the beaten egg whites turned out dry and clumpy (I used Swiss meringue method instead of the Italian meringue method). After mixing the yolks, beaten whites, mascarporne cheese and whipped cream, the mixtue curdled real badly. It taste good though but it was not going to do the job for sure.

You can imagine my morale and spirits dipping to an all-time low at that instance. I almost fell into despair thinking that I will be going cakeless the next day when my family will be celebrating for me in advance. At the same time, I hated the fact that I wasted my precious mascarporne cheese, a good 300g of it. Arghh!


At that moment, I was faced with a tough decision. Should I carry on or abandon the mission? My coffee sponge layers were sitting aside and drying out with every minute that passed by. Thanks to the encouraging words from my mum, I decided to re-attempt the mousse a second time using a different recipe and my remaining 200g of mascarporne cheese, minus the yolks and whites which were way too troublesome for me to handle.

Thankfully, the second attempt was a successful one. I made some coffee syrup and brushed it over the sponge layers to moisten them. Making the mousse the second time round was a familiar sight to me. The mousse consists of gelatin solution, whipped cream, mascarporne cheese, a little of the coffee syrup and a small amount of kahlua. Gently folded these components and they came together to form a nice smooth mousse. With the help of my cake/mousse ring, I managed to get my desired tiramisu torte cake with ease. Now that I learnt my lesson the hard way, there will be no more tiramisu mousse containing eggs in future! I actually brought trouble to myself trying to figure out how to make the eggs as safe for consumption as possible in the first attempt.



It was'nt all that bad after all. Despite the disaster with the mousse curdling at first, the silver lining was that the tiramisu turned out decent on the second attempt. What I liked best about the tiramisu was the sponge layers were moist due to the coffee syrup and the mousse firmed up well without being gelatinous. I will be adding more kahlua to give it a little more kick, increase the amount of mascarporne cheese and add more sugar in future. Will be posting the complete recipe in future when I am done with the fine-tuning.


I received a book from a friend today much to my pleasant surprise. Its a book I wanted to get but do not have much luck finding it =] Yay! This would make a nice addition to my mini-library of books.


29 comments:

  1. Happy Birthday Bakertan! Enjoy yr day with yr loved ones with yr fantastic cake *^_^*

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  2. Happy Birthday ZY!!!

    A good attempt at Tiramisu and I am glad you didn't give up.

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  3. Actually, making mousse with eggs are still possible ... I don't remember every single detail, but on the other day, I saw a chef made authentic German black forest torte on TV ... Among the layers, there was this mousse that was made with only egg yolks I think. He piped it out instead. But, I myself have only tried making mousse almost the same way you did in your second attempt.

    Your mom and the rest of your family has been very encouraging. But hor, I don't think they would blame for having a cakeless birthday lar ... LOL! So, don't give yourself too much pressure. 加油!

    Nice cake and very lovely shots! The book is a good one. The person sure hopes you'll enjoy the book.

    HAPPY 26TH BIRTHDAY, ZY!!!

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  4. Happy Birthday ZY! And you did a wonderful job on the tirimisu, tempting me to make it :). And I got this cookbook too, my colleague helped me to buy back from Taiwan, kept flipping it today heeheehee...

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  5. Hey ZY Happy Blessed Birthday!! Wah lucky 20/10/2010

    Don't feel weird about baking your own cake hahaha it's actually gonna be much better than buying one cuz like you said, the process is enjoyable!

    SERIOUSLY, if you didn't talk about your first failure, I would have gorged that cake picture you posted. It looks so good. Hhaa I wanted to bake Tiramisu for the longest time ever since last year after I tried this very good one in Perth but hahaa didn't materialize..

    Now you just added one more to my to bake list ;) wheeee

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  6. Happy Birthday ZY! It was nice to meet you in person too. You are getting pro in cream cakes now. This tiramisu look so tempting to me, great job and well done!

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  7. Happy Birthday!

    Somehow, I will not bake my own birthday cake, and am hoping my better half will get me one, but he never does.
    Pei-Lin showed me this book the last time I met her, indeed the book is very interesting.
    I hope to see Swiss rolls in this blog from the book, recipes in English, hahaha!!!
    Cos that day, Swee San and I jested with PL that since both of us can't read Taiwanese Mandarin, we said to PL, which recipe we want, u do, blog about it, and then we can get the recipe liao, hahahah!!!

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  8. happy birthday Bakertan! gorgeous cake you have got there!

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  9. Happy Birthday! Your Tiramisu cake looks so pretty and classic. Good Job :)

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  10. Wow! Happy birthday to you! May you be blessed with never ending creativity in baking out awesome stuff ya!

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  11. HAppy birthday, ZY. The cake looks really amazing. I also have a book on Swiss roll but it is in Japanese. Looking forward to seeing Swiss roll in your coming blogs...

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  12. Hi !
    Happy birthday to u! =)
    Your tiramisu's looking great! u were brave to go for 2nd attempt..

    Coraine@ life is like a long journey

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  13. Happy birthday ZY! Wow, what a social date! Hope you have a memorial and happy birthday today. Warmest wishes yah. ;)) you did an excellent job, your tiramisu cake looks really good! Tiramisu is a cake I have yet try to bake...looks like have to ask you for pointers. :)

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  14. aww happy birthday!! ive always wanted to try baking a tiramisu cake but don't have the courage to =/

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  15. Happy birthday, Bakertan! Your tiramisu looks really good! I have been looking for one without eggs. Wait for you to post your recipe after you got it perfect! :)

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  16. Hi ZY, Happy Birthday! Tiramisu is my fav cake and yours look good! Enjoy you day!

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  17. Happy Birthday to you, Bakertan! It's so good to be making your own birthday cake! *pat* You deserved to have one for your 'never give up' effort. Well done. Btw, this is one cake I still have not tried making. Hehe...

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  18. This tiramisu cake looks perfect for me! I've not try out tiramisu made with eggs before. All these while I use the recipe without eggs which is the recipe from 西点学习大百科. Oh, that's a great recipe book for swissroll. I've tried out all the sponge methods and find the most wonderful method is 分蛋式海绵蛋糕. You will enjoy it!

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  19. Awww.... so sweet, making your own BD cake and a lovely one too! Happy Birthday and may you be blessed with lots of good baking years!

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  20. Happy Birthday!...I just came across ur blog last week...I like ur blog alot..keep up the good work...and ur bday cake looks sooo yummy...
    I still dun hav the guts to try out tiramisu..haha..maybe i shld start ;)

    Florz

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  21. Hey Cathy,

    Thanks for your wishes and the kind words =]

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    Hey Edith,

    thanks! Am glad I persevered =]

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    hey Pei-Lin

    I think even if I do attempt mousse with eggs, I will not choose recipes with egg whites. It doesnt add much to the taste and texture except lighten it, which can be done with the whipped cream. I do know egg yolks will make the mousse richer in taste.

    haha anyway no more pressure liao, the nightmare is over.. yeah the book is indeed a good one. I wish I can make swiss rolls weekly.. btw hor only the 3rd and 4th pics are nicer.. the rest all not really well taken..

    thanks a lot =]!!!

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    hey Jess,

    thanks for the wishes and the compliments =]. I love the book to bits.. very good and detailed. Hope my swiss rolls turn out nice..

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  22. Hi Sheryl,

    Thank you! I took it as an extra opportunity and a good excuse to make an elaborate cake.. haha.. you should try making one too. I have been disappointed too many a times by the tiramisu selling outside. The worst one has to be from breadtalk.. its tasteless! I have always wanted to try making a tiramisu too.. and now I finally made it =]

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    Hi Doris

    Thanks for the encouragement and wishes! Still got a long way to go and lots to learn from you and other fellow bakers before I become pro =]

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    Hey Wendy,

    thanks! I think I will continue baking my own birthday cakes in coming years.. Its quite fun actually haha

    I dont mind blogging the recipes, provided I have time for it. The swiss rolls are mouth-watering. Wish I can make them weekly or even more often.. heee

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    Hey Jess and Ann,

    thanks alot!

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  23. Hey Jenny,

    I wish I have tons of creative juices to spare. Thanks!

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    Hey Shirley,

    Thanks alot! this is my second book on swiss rolls and I think this is a really quite a gem. Lots of details and the recipes look workable. wow! I can't even read a tiny bit of japanese, but I do know japanese cookbooks are good stuff.

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    Hi coraine,

    thanks for the wishes and nice words!

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    Hey Bee Bee,

    thanks! I have alot to learn from you instead =]

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    Hi Jean,

    Thank you! you should try making a tiramisu, be it a torte cake or in a cup. Its fun and rewarding.

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  24. Hi SSB,

    thanks! I know corner cafe and happy home baking has recipes on tiramisu without eggs and gelatin. you might want to take a look =]

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    Hi Wendy,

    thanks! I love eating tiramisu and its one of my fav cakes too =]

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    Hey Jane,

    thanks for the encouragement and wishes. I was quite glad things went well the second time, if not I have to suffer disappointment a second time, haha.

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    hi hanushi,

    thanks!

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    Hey Grace,

    thanks! I love the book. All the recipes look good and the different methods are described in details.

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    Hi Judy,

    Thanks! I also hope for that too.. This is only the beginning part of my baking journey..

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  25. hey, happy belated birthday! your tiramisu looks great. wishing you a great year ahead, and more 'hao liao' from you on the blog!!

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  26. Happy belated birthday! Frankly I think you are almost there to creating cakes that are as good as those sold in bakeries. I can tell your cake base is good and your decorating and frosting is neat and professional. Great job! I must learn more from you. :)

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  27. hi,can u post the recipe of this delicious tiramisu?

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  28. hi sweetie yukari,

    i will post the recipe only when i have made further adjustments. it wont be so soon.

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