Black Diamond

Assalamualaikum

The break is over! NOOO! Back to reality baby! No more waking up late. No more brunches and dinners and gossips. Oh no!

One of the highlights of my break..or wait..one of the highlights of 2013 is…. I did it! I told you I’m going to challenge myself to ski down the Black Diamond slope..and that’s what I did! Alhamdulillah. It was crazy! Surprisingly it wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be. My nerves got to me the first time around as I somersaulted, slided, rolled in different ways down. The second time however, it was better! Last year I was scared of the height and speed. 

Alhamdulillah, I overcame those fears and REALLY REALLY enjoyed skiing. I was thinking of joining another trip to the slopes to which my mum was like..”op..op..dah dah la tu”. My mum was just worried. The day after the trip every inch of my body hurts. The next day I got myself a massage and yeap..my back was bruised. It was crazy and is much fun. 

So.. Bungee Jumping next? We’ll see…

Take care and stay safe!

Wasalam.

Till then, Love.Sofhan Hasni

Tiramisu Charlotte Cake

Assalamualaikum.

The girls and I decided to have an all girls lunch/dinner/gossip/bonding session last Wednesday. We feasted on Nasi Lemak, Rendang, Fruit Tart , Chocolate Cake, Tiramisu and bottles and bottles of Barbicans. It was a fun day to let loose. Sit around and just chat like nobody’s business.

I wanted to make Tiramisu for awhile now. The last time I made it was a year ago. That time I made a Tiramisu trifle so this time I decided to my hands on a Tiramisu cake. It wasn't a complete success but wasn't a complete disaster either. My friends liked it. But it wasn't as coffee-ish as I would like it to be. But then again, they are not coffee crazy like I am. If it is a coffee flavored cake…it BETTER taste like coffee. So next time, I’ll be sure to drench my vanilla sponge cakes in coffee. DRENCH DRIPPING COFFEE GOODNESS NEXT TIME!

Making Tiramisu is not hard AT ALL. You could simply make an easier version buy substituting the vanilla sponge cakes to ladyfingers or savoiardi which is not even expensive. Mine was a  dollar for a humongous packet of cookies. Also, Mascarpone can be quite pricey especially in Malaysia. So for this recipe, I usually use cream cheese. It’s cheaper and STILL delicious. It’s easy, its delicious and its pretty. What could go wrong?

original recipe from: here

Vanilla Sponge Cake

2 cups cake flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/8 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

2/3 cup butter at room temperature

1 cup sugar

3 eggs

1 egg yolk

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

3/4 cup buttermilk

1. Preheat oven to 350 degree F
2. Sift the dry ingredient i.e. cake flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside
3. In a big bowl, beat the butter and sugar until light and well combined.
4. Beat in the egg yolk, eggs and vanilla into the butter mixture, one at a time.
5. Add the dry ingredients and buttermilk into the butter mixture alternately. Starting and ending with the dry ingredients.
6. Divide cake batter in two 9-inch lined and oiled springforms.
7. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean after being inserted in the middle of the cake.

Coffee mixture

1 cup of hot water

1 teaspoon of instant coffee powder

2 tablespoon of sugar

1. Mix everything together and set aside

Filling and frosting

1 cup of cream cheese

2 cups of heavy cream

¾ cup of icing sugar

1. In a bowl, beat the cream cheese and sugar together until light and well mixed. Set aside
2. In another bowl, whip the heavy cream until stiff peaks form.
3. Using a spatula slowly fold in the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture.

Tiramisu Charlotte Cake

2 Vanilla cakes

Filling and frosting

Coffee mixture

Ladyfingers or savoiardi

1. Place one of the vanilla sponge cakes on a serving plate.
2. Using a knife, stab and make holes in the cake.
3. Using a spoon, slowly pour coffee on the top of the cake. Use as much as you need.
4. Cover the top of the cake with half of the filling and frosting mixture.
5. Repeat the same steps with the other cake layer. However, save some of the filling and frosting mixture to cover the sides of the cake.
6. Once the sides of the cake is iced, cut (if needed) about 1 cm-2 cm of the ladyfingers and arrange them on the side of the cake.
7. Refrigerate overnight to let the cakes and ladyfingers to soak in the flavors.
8. Cover the top of the Tiramisu cake with chocolate powder or shaved chocolate.

 

 tie a ribbon around it and sprinkle some chocolate powder :)

The ladyfingers-around-the-cake makes this Tiramisu cake a Charlotte cake. It’s a “decorating” technique where cakes/pudding/tarts are surrounded with a wall of ladyfingers or breads. It’s easy to do and works perfectly as a gift. Just tie a ribbon around it! No hassle and PUFF, a sophisticated and decent looking cake is created.

There are a few changes that I would make next time.

First, THE COFFEE FLAVOR  I need more of it! I’ll definitely take my time to make sure every inch of my cakes is filled with coffee. Also, I’d add some coffee mixture on the filling and frosting mixture as well. Oh wait..maybe I could put some coffee powder in my cake too? Ehehehe.

Second thing is, I need a better ribbon and learn a better way to tie a proper ribbon.

Third thing that I may or perhaps YOU may want to change is the ratio of the cream cheese and heavy cream.  I used more cream in this recipe, it is a lot lighter and less cream cheese concentrated. If you want a heavier and cheesier taste, feel free to switch the ratios of the two.

Since kak Isma’s birthday is next week , we decided to use this cake as her birthday cake. Yeay!

Thank you for being a great kakak to all of us here! HUGS!

Okay I need to make dinner and continue studying. Meehun Sup for dinner. Yeay! 

Take care! Wasalam.

Till then, 

Love,

Sofhan Hasni