Chocolate Tiramisu
If you’re a fan of the classic Italian Tiramisu dessert, then you’re really going to love this unique take! With lots of rich chocolate subbing in for coffee and liquor, this is a creamy-dreamy dessert the whole family can enjoy! Whip up a pan to bring to your next potluck.
Hey how was your Mother’s Day weekend? I hope it was fun and special!
I’m so glad the weather finally brightened up, just in time for the holiday! For a while there I was worried it was going to be my first-ever dreary, rainy, gray Mother’s Day. I’ve been so lucky for the last 9 years of being a mom; all my Mother’s Days have always been sunny and gorgeous and this one turned out to be no exception. Hooray!
It was a very busy weekend for us. My sister-in-law and her beautiful family came in, so we all tried to make the most of it and spend as much time together as possible. Saturday, the husbands took the kids out for the day so that the women could have a little female-bonding. My SIL needed clothes so we had brunch and then hit the stores. It was so much fun we’ve decided to make it a yearly tradition!
After that we all met back up and had a casual dinner out. Then, Sunday morning was brunch with my mom and then a big barbecue get-together with all the cousins, Aunts, Uncles, grandparents and great-grandparents. Everybody had a blast and I brought a big pan of Chocolate Tiramisu for everyone to enjoy.
I’m so thrilled with this dessert recipe- it’s perfect for potlucks and barbecues. It’s totally make-ahead: the longer it sits, the better it gets. It makes a big pan so it can really feed a crowd. It’s good cold but it’s still great at room temp too. There’s no booze or coffee, so the whole family can enjoy. And, of course, it’s CHOCOLATE!! I mean, just so much goodness on every possible level, right?
If you really want to be a superstar you can make it with homemade ladyfingers, but I did this one with the store-bought kind. If your supermarket has an Italian foods section, you’re likely to find them there. They’re often labelled as “savoiardi.” (Here’s a link where you can mail-order, if need be.) They’re super-dry and crisp, but when you dunk them into the cocoa liquid they soften up really fast. And then, once they’ve really had a chance to meld with the mascarpone mixture, they become fluffy and cake-like. It ends up being a lot like an easy layer cake, but with lots and lots of creamy, rich, mousse-like frosting!
So, if you are a fan of tiramisu I highly recommend you give this unique take a try. I think it’s even better than the original!
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Chocolate Tiramisu
Ingredients
- 4 large egg yolks
- 1/2 cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- 16 ounces (453.59 g) mascarpone cheese, (2 1/2 cups)
- 8 ounces (226.8 g) semi sweet chocolate,, melted and slightly cooled
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) kosher salt
- 1 cup (238 ml) heavy cream,, cold
- 2 cups (500 ml) hot water
- 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder,, plus more for garnish
- 48 ladyfingers, or savoiardi
Optional
- sweetened whipped cream, for garnish
- shaved chocolate*, for garnish
Instructions
- Place the egg yolks and sugar in a large metal mixing bowl, and set it over a pot of simmering water.
- Cook, whisking, until the mixture is pale, thick, and doubled in volume (about 5 minutes).
- Remove from the heat, and whisk in the mascarpone, melted chocolate, vanilla, and salt.
- Whip the cream until it holds stiff peaks.
- Fold the whipped cream into the chocolate mixture. Set the filling aside.
- Whisk the hot water and cocoa together in a small bowl. One at a time, dip the ladyfingers into the cocoa mixture and place in a 9-inch by 13-inch pan. Line the ladyfingers up in two straight rows of twelve.
- Spread half the filling over the ladyfingers, and repeat.
- Spread the rest of the filling on top and refrigerate until ready to serve.
- Optional: just before serving, dust the tiramisu with cocoa powder. Top with whipped cream and chocolate shavings.
Hi. I am designing a 6-layered chocolate GF cake.The whole vision of it is varying textures, densities and dimensions of chocolate flavors in each layer. I am wanting one filling layer to be a chocokate flavored tiramusu-like texture.
So here is my question for you and your particular recipe:
would your custard portion lend itself to be divided into 2 bowls?
1st bowl to be mixture after your 1st step BEFORE cream folded in. Spread that over 1st cake layer. Top with 2nd cake layer. Fold whipoed cream into reserved 2nd bowl(creating a lighter, fluffier texture that 1st bowl) Then spread that over 2nd cake layer.
Do you think the cream-free layer would still set up without said cream? Do you even think that it would have enough texture/density difference to make it notably distinct from other to make it worth it?
Hey there! Honestly the only way to really know if this would give you the result you’re after is to try it. That said, I do think the mixture would firm up without the cream. I think the mascarpone and the melted chocolate would harden up a lot once cold. Good luck, I really hope this works for you!
Absolutely delicious..not too sweet. Great take on Tiramisu for those that don’t like coffee or that boozy taste in desserts. Was a big hit. I made it 2 days before I served it and it was perfect. Not mushy at all. I am making it again for Mother’;s Day!!
Hi,
Can you substitute the heavy cream with whipped egg whites?
I have not tried that, but feel free to experiment!
It looks wonderful! I am planning to make it for my son’s birthday. Does it do well in the fridge for 24 hours before serving? I am planning the make it the night before.
Thank you!
Yes! This is one of those recipes that gets better the longer it sits. Good luck and happy birthday to your son!
Just found this site. I like trying out new recipes. Will try out the tarasimu chocolate cake variation
Hope you enjoy!
This looks amazing. Considering you have mentioned the cream in cup size, I did some quick math and it translates to 6.4 ounces of heavy cream. Is that the right quantity? I’m preparing this for my cousin’s baby shower and am so excited to be finally making a tiramisu. Thanks for the beautiful recipe.
Very happy that you like it Prakriti! You can just toggle the “metric” button just below the list of ingredients if you’re looking for an alternative form of measurement.