I have to tell you. Despite the fact that I came up with this recipe myself. And despite the fact that I’ve never made this cake before. And despite the fact that I haven’t cut it yet. I have to tell you, this cake is awesome!!! It looks rustic, and screams ‘eat me, eat me now’. It really does. It’s calling my name. It wants to be eaten SO badly. I know I have to be patient, but I really, truly, don’t want to be!

So in the last post I told you, my faithful readers (all 3 of you, or are there more?) that I baked the cake. I proceeded to let it cool while getting my groceries. Stuff I needed for the tiramisu-cream for the filling. I actually managed to cut the 2 layers perfectly, so that was good.

I transferred the cake halves to two separate plates and drizzled coffee and amaretto over them. I made the tiramisu cream and then used my newfangled pastry bags and decorative tips and filled the cake.

Now I surely didn’t need a decorative tip to fill it. Heck, I didn’t even really need the pastry bag, but I’d just gotten them, so I wanted to try them out.

I also forgot to mention that I got my ‘beater blade‘ as well, which works wonders with the already wonderful Anne-Sophie. Love it.

So back to the cake. After filling it, it was time to put the top half of the cake on again. And here’s where my inexperience with cake building comes in. I had sprinkled the coffee over the top half already, so it was nice and soggy and thus broke while trying to put it on the bottom layer. I cursed. And then looked very sad. Then cursed some more while looking sad and trying to salvage the cake. L was very helpful in not teasing me and even holding on to some stuff for me. (Instead of – for instance – filming me or taking pictures of my mess.)

I did manage to mostly salvage the cake and I figured, for doing this for the first time, it isn’t all bad. And since I had to cut a tiny little bit off to make it fit, I already know it tastes amazing! Can’t wait to have a BIG slice tomorrow. Yummm!

[print_this]Tiramisu cake

• 200 grams self raising flour
• 200 grams unsalted butter
• 185 grams castor sugar + 15 grams home-made vanilla sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 very strong espresso + a little pour of Amaretto.
• about 80 grams of dark chocolate, grated
• 1 amount tiramisu cream
• 2 more espresso’s plus a generous pour of Amaretto.

Cream sugar and butter until fully blended, add the eggs and the first coffee and amaretto, mix well. Add the self raising flour bit by bit while you keep mixing at the slowest possible setting.
Coat a spring form or other cake form with butter and flour. Place a flower nail (if you have one) in the middle of the pan to prevent a hump from forming in the middle of your cake. Bake it on a low-ish heat (150 – 175 degrees C) for about 45 minutes to 1 hour, depending on the size of your pan (the thickness of the cake). Test for doneness with a skewer. When done, remove from pan and let it cool.
While the cake is cooling off, prepare the tiramisu cream. When the cake is cooled off, slice the cake in two. Move to separate plates. Sprinkle the bottom half with half of the second amaretto/coffee mixture. Then sprinkle some grated chocolate over it. Spread slightly more than a third of the tiramisu cream over the bottom half and sprinkle some more chocolate over it.
Place the top half of the cake over the bottom. Sprinkle the rest of the coffee/amaretto mixture over the cake. Sprinkle some chocolate over the cake. Spread the rest of the tiramisu cream over the cake (don’t forget the sides) and sprinkle the rest of the chocolate over the cake. Refrigerate for a minimum of 6 hours, preferably overnight (the taste gets better the longer it sits). Enjoy!!!!

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