Tiramisu Cake

The story behind this cake was that I had coffee liqueur that I was not using, and what best to use it for, but Tiramisu. I had thought about making the traditional tiramisu, but when I was looking up a recipe I found this cake recipe that had even more reviews than the traditional, plus I didn’t have to find a place that sold Lady Fingers in Ogden. This Tiramisu Layer Cake recipe can be found at Allrecipes.com by clicking here.

I used the same white cake recipe that I had made just a week before. The recipe calls for a cake mix, but I feel that’s cheating, so I made my own. I divided the batter into thirds, and added the instant coffee. A tip on instant coffee: I buy the boxes with the little packets, because those about a tablespoon. They are much cheaper than buying a bottle, and they are already pre-measured. Besides, who honestly wants to have a bunch of instant coffee granules anyway?

I baked my cakes the day before I assembled the cake. I wrapped each layer in plastic wrap to keep them moist.

The day of I put together the mascarpone cheese, sugar, and liqueur together. It was really thick, because the mascarpone was cold. I heated it in the microwave for a few seconds. DO NOT DO THIS! The liqueur curdles the mascarpone, rendering it unusable. So after ruining my $5 mascarpone cheese, I got a $1 cream cheese package and re-tried the filling recipe. I let the cream cheese warm up on it’s own before adding the rest of the ingredients, so there was no risk of anything curdling.

I then unwrapped my cake layers and started by poking the first layer with a fork all over and then spooned on the coffee and liqueur mixture on top. I spread on the filling. I did the same with the next 2 layers, except put the frosting on top at the last.

I covered the top with sifted cocoa powder and put chocolate curls along the bottom edge. It was gorgeous and yummy. I took it to a friends gathering that night and it was huge hit!
Make sure you keep it refrigerated though, if you don’t plan on eating it right away, so the whipped cream frosting doesn’t slide off.

**Also, it is now my new goal to take better pictures...these ones were awful - though the phone camera didn't help.