LEMON TIRAMISU

The first lemon tiramisu.

I spotted a lemon tiramisu in a blog and decided it was such a delicious sounding idea that I just had to make one.  I adapted a recipe which was given to me by a friend about thirty years ago.  She got it from a German magazine when she was living there and when tiramisu was all the rage at dinner parties!

It makes a tiramisu that is more like a trifle than a cake.  In other words you serve it by the spoonful into bowls rather than by the slice on a plate, which is the kind of tiramisu I prefer. 

My second tiramisu, served in a lasagne dish which is not as pretty as the big bowl but probably more suitable for people to serve themselves.

I made the second one to take to a friend’s lunchtime BBQ party, having tweaked the recipe slightly again.  It was placed on the table with all the other desserts and looked nice.  I sampled a small spoonful and thought it tasted lovely.  When I went back for a second helping there was hardly any left and another guest who was poised over it said “you should get the last of this while you can, it’s delicious”.  I was very chuffed!

As always, it’s even better if you make it the day before you want to eat it, chilling it in the fridge overnight so that it becomes slightly firmer.

This month’s Alphabakes Challenge, organised by Caroline of Caroline Makes and Ros of The more than occasional baker, is the letter “Z”, and this tiramisu has quite a lot of lemon zest in it.

This month’s Simply Eggcellent Challenge, created by Dom of Bellau Kitchen, is “anything goes”, as long as it has eggs in it, which this lemon tiramisu certainly does!

Ingredients

For the syrup

The juice of two lemons

The finely grated zest of one lemon

2 tblsp caster sugar

4 tblsp Limoncello

For the cheese filling

1 pack (175g) boudoir biscuits + possibly a few extra from another pack, depending on the size and shape of your dish

4 egg yolks

3 egg whites

3 heaped tblsp caster sugar

350g mascarpone cheese (annoyingly packs are now 250g or 500g so you have to buy two small ones or one large one)

the coarsely grated strips of rind of one lemon for decoration (optional)

Method

Begin by zesting and juicing the lemons.  I used a lemon zester to get the ribbon-like strips for decoration (you could use a vegetable peeler) and a fine grater to get the finely grated rind for the syrup.  Once you have the zest and peel, cut the lemons in half and squeeze the juice.

For the syrup, mix together the lemon juice, Limoncello, fine zest and 2 tblsp caster sugar in a small bowl – but one big enough to dip in your boudoir biscuits.  Set aside.

Next, separate the eggs, putting 4 yolks in a large bowl with the 3 tblsp caster sugar.  Put 3 of the whites into a medium bowl.  (You can freeze the one remining egg white or add it to your scrambled eggs for breakfast.)

Whip the egg whites until stiff.  A hand held electric whisk makes the job easier but an ordinary whisk will do.  Set aside.

In the other bowl, whip the egg yolks and sugar until pale and thick.  This will take a few minutes.  Add the mascarpone cheese and beat it in until the mixture is smooth.

Fold the egg whites into the egg and cheese mixture.

To assemble the tiramisu, dip the boudoir biscuits one at a time into the syrup and create a single layer in the bottom of your dish.  You don't need to soak the biscuits, a quick dip on one side is enough.  Break up biscuits as necessary to fill any gaps.  

Add half the cheese mixture and spread evenly over the biscuits.

Dip the remaining biscuits in the syrup as before, making another single layer on top of the cheese mixture and opening a second packet of biscuits if needed according to the shape of your dish.  If it looks like you might run out of syrup stir in an extra splash of lemon juice or Limoncello.

Brush any remaining syrup over the second layer of biscuits.

Spread the rest of the cheese mixture over the biscuits, making sure you go right to the edge of the dish, leaving no gaps. 

Chill in the fridge for at least four hours and preferably overnight.  (Making this an ideal dessert for making ahead as it improves with overnight chilling.)

Serve chilled and sprinkle the reserved strips of lemon rind over the dessert before serving.

Serves 8.