Tiramisu Charlotte Cake
This Tiramisu Charlotte Cake is a stunning dessert and my go-to for birthdays and celebration events. It's made with homemade ladyfingers, coffee syrup, and mascarpone mousse.
Equipment
- Hand mixer or stand mixer (with whisk attachment)
- large bowl
- spatula
- Piping bag
- Round piping tip (12mm)
- 3 Half sheet baking trays
- Parchment paper
- Ruler
- Candy thermometer
- Serrated knife
- 8 inch (20 cm) cake ring
- 10 inch (25 cm) cake board
Ingredients
Ladyfingers
- 180g (1 1/2 cups) All purpose flour
- 120g Egg yolks (about 6 medium egg yolks)
- 180g Egg whites (about 6 medium egg whites)
- 180g (3/4 cup + 2 tbsp) Granulated sugar
- 50g (1/4 cup) Powdered sugar, for dusting
Coffee syrup
- 150g (2/3 cup) Black coffee (hot)
- 72g (1/3 cup) Granulated sugar
- 3g (1/2 tbsp) Instant espresso powder
- 4g (1 tsp) vanilla extract
Mascarpone mousse
- 80g Egg yolks (about 4 medium egg yolks)
- 120g (1/2 cup + tbsp) Granulated sugar
- 50g (1/4 cup) Water
- 300g (10.5 oz) Mascarpone
- 460g (2 cups) Heavy cream
Gelatin for the mousse
- 9g (2 1/2 tsp) Powdered gelatin (225 bloom)
- 54g (1/4 cup) Water
For dusting
- 30g (2 tbsp) cocoa powder
Instructions
Prep work (mise en place)
- Preheat the oven to 400F
- Draw the ladyfingers templates on parchment paper (see the post for diagrams): 1 half sheet tray with 2 rectangles measuring 10 cm x 30cm1 half sheet tray with 2 circles measuring 18cm in diameter1 half sheet tray with 1 circle measuring 18cm in diameter
- Separate your eggs and measure out your ingredients. Once your baking and assembling, things can move quickly so it's good to have the ingredients measured out beforehand.
- Prepare your piping bag with a 12 mm tip
Make the ladyfinger batter
- Place the egg whites in your mixing bowl, and mix on medium-high speed with the whisk attachment until soft peaks form. The whites will form small, dense bubbles, and the whisk will leave trails behind as it spins.
- While the mixer is going, add the sugar a little at a time. You will notice the bubbles start to smoothen and tighten up, taking on a glossier sheen
- Mix on high speed until stiff peaks form. At stiff peaks, the egg whites will look glossy and thick, and will hold their shape without sagging or drooping.
- With the mixer still running on high speed, add the egg yolks one at a time until they are fully incorporated. The result should be thick and fluffy, with a pale yellow color.
- Fold the flour into the eggs in 3 – 4 batches. Make sure that the flour is sifted
- Fold the egg whites with the flour until the flour is fully incorporated, without large dry pockets. When folding, be careful not to squash out the air and do not overmix. I move my spatula in a J motion, going down and then turning up and over. It helps to rotate the bowl as you fold.
- Fill the prepared piping bag with batter
Pipe and bake the ladyfingers
- For the outer ring of the Charlotte, pipe diagonal lines along your rectangular template. They should poke out a little over the edges of the rectangle. Make sure to leave a small amount of space between each ladyfinger, as they will spread and merge together in the oven.
- For the 3 circular layers, pipe in a spiral motion starting from the center of the circle and moving outwards
- Dust the tops of the ladyfingers with powdered sugar
- Bake each tray of ladyfingers at 400F for 9 - 10 min until browned and the sponge springs back when you lightly press it with your finger
Make the coffee syrup
- Mix together the hot coffee, granulated sugar, instant espresso powder, and vanilla extract until the sugar has completely dissolved
Trim the ladyfingers
- Prep your cake board and cake ring. The 8 inch cake ring should sit in the middle of the 10 inch cake board. The cake ring will help hold the Charlotte together as the filling sets
- For the rectangular pieces, use a serrated knife to slice off one of the scalloped edges of each of the pieces, so they can stand flat against the cake board
- Start lining the rectangular pieces along the inside of the cake ring. One piece should fit entirely, and the other piece will need to be trimmed
- Trim the excess ladyfingers off the second piece, making sure to cut along the diagonal so that it fits neatly against the first piece. If you’re not sure about the fit, it’s better to trim a little at a time and keep testing to see if the second piece will fit in the ring
- Place the two rectangular pieces inside the cake ring. They should fit snugly against each other. The side of the ladyfingers that was covered in powder sugar should be facing outwards
- Trim the circular ladyfinger sponges so that they fit snugly against the sides of the cake
- Place one of the sponges at the bottom of the cake. The side that was touching the parchment paper should be facing up, which will make it easier to absorb syrup. At this point, your cake should have the sides and bottom assembled. It’s now ready to be brushed with syrup and filled with mousse
Make the mascarpone mousse
- Combine the sugar and water in small sauce pan over medium heat and stir until the sugar dissolves. Bring to a boil and heat until a food thermometer registers 239F. Make sure the thermometer is not touching the bottom of the pan
- While the sugar is heating, beat the egg yolks with a hand mixer or stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment on low speed
- When the syrup is ready, pour it down the side of the bowl into the yolks and beat at high speed until the mixture cools to room temperature, about 10 minutes. When pouring the syrup, the mixer should still be running. The egg yolks will be pale and fluffy, and fall off the whisk in ribbons
- In a large bowl, whip the cream until it reaches stiff peaks
- Whisk the mascarpone in a large bowl until smooth. Add a third of the egg yolk mixture and beat until well incorporated. Add the remaining egg yolk mixture and beat until smooth
- Sprinkle the powdered gelatin on the water, and microwave until the gelatin is melted, about 20 - 30 seconds. Make sure there are not any gelatin clumps
- Add a little bit of the mascarpone to the melted gelatin and stir until smooth. Add this mixture to the remaining mascarpone and beat until well incorporated
- With a spatula, fold a third of the whipped cream into the mascarpone. Then fold in the remaining whipped cream. Be gentle so that you don't squash out too much air from the whipped cream
Assemble the Charlotte
- Generously brush the bottom layer of sponge with 1/3 of the coffee syrup. It should be a dark brown color and saturated with the syrup
- Place 1/3 of the mousse (about 320g) on top of the first layer of sponge
- Place the second sponge on top of the mousse. The side that was touching the parchment paper should be facing up. Brush with 1/3 of the coffee syrup.
- Place 1/3 of the mousse on top of the second layer of sponge
- Place the third and final sponge on top of the mousse. Brush with the remaining syrup
- Place the remainder of the mousse on top of the third sponge and smooth with a spatula. The tops of the ladyfingers should peak over the edge of the mousse
- Place in the fridge to set for at least 1 hour. Remove the ring once the cake is set. If you leave the ring on for too long, it will form condensation on the sides of the cake.
Serve
- Before serving, dust with cocoa powder. For clean edges, cut out an 18cm circle out of a sheet of parchment paper. Lay the parchment paper on the edges of the cake, and dust in the cut-out area for a circle with neat edges.
Notes
- I strongly recommend baking in grams, but have included imperial measurements for convenience. Please note that all recipe testing is done by weight.
- For egg measurements, I have included the grams for precision. However, I understand weighing eggs can be a hassle so I have included an approximation using medium eggs. The recipe is tested using the number of medium eggs provided.
- For gelatin, I use Knox powdered gelatin which has a 225 bloom
- Making ahead - this cake is great for making ahead, and will last up to 3 days in the fridge after assembling.
- Servings - I find this cake feeds 15 - 20 people