Amaretto Tiramisu Cake --- The Ultimate Celebration Cake !!

“ In love the paradox occurs that two beings become one and yet remain two.”-Erich Fromm

When you meet the person you want to spend the rest of your life with…you want the rest of your life to begin soon. Well this is what exactly happened when we met.

Its been two years since our wedding and am still amazed at how fast time flies.
I am madly in love, (more than ever) with the man I married two years back!!





I am the sort who loves both giving and receiving surprises….however small they may be. So had been preparing for the day excitedly…almost feverishly, for the entire month.
(That explains the silence at Zaayeka!)

And since we are out and out foodies….I had to quite literally whip up a storm, first in my head and subsequently in my kitchen.





Why in my head? Well, as you know by now, I love experimenting in my kitchen, pushing my limits and trying things I have never tried before. Barring a few delicacies, I try not to repeat a dish. (I have this personal desire to be able to make to as close to perfection, if not replicate, all the dishes of the world. Yeah I know quite a thought, but trust me I sometimes feel a life time is too short to try all the dishes existing on planet Earth.)

I love my man and as most of you will identify with; we blog-bakers want to show all our love with what we bake/cook in the kitchen. It was ‘our’ anniversary so had to bake a cake nothing short of gorgeous, both in taste and appearance.
Have baked quite a few cakes before (a few still unposted, rest in the archives) mostly using fruits as I love fruits in my cake. Hub however doesn’t care much about fruits in his desserts.

Black Forest Gateau was done last year, Red Velvet cake was for friendship day, Peach torte was for no good reason, Pineapple cheese-cake was just-like-that, Mango pastry went with a courtesy visit to a relative, Citrus cake for an in-law’s birthday……honestly my choices were getting limited in terms of cakes/tortes. Googled a lot and suggested recipes to the hub, each went into the recycle bin with a shake of the head.

(Did I forget to mention quite unlike me he gets picky when it comes to desserts and can gladly skip chocolate. Me on the other hand loves anything with chocolate.)
The cake had to satisfy all the criterions… have chocolate without being too chocolaty, have some sort of nut without being pronounced, no fruits, had to be a layer cake etc etc…S-I-G-H !!

Last week while I was lying wide awake in bed at night, it hit me that I have never made Tiramisu..yet! Then the next thought was can I make a Tiramisu cake?! Told hub excitedly next morning…..he was fine with that but was a little inhibhited about that much coffee in the cake.

Now, we ‘like’ coffee but do not ‘love’ it. An occasional frappe or something is fine, and when I use coffee to give depth to my chocolate cakes is admissible, but that is it. (We don’t take tea or coffee frequently. We are flavoured-milk children.) ;p

Back to square one….thought and thought and thought when luck struck! I was rummaging through the cupboard when I noticed this unopened bottle of Amaretto staring back at me. Tan-ta-ran!! My glee knew no bounds. Headed straight to the kitchen to live the dream I had just seen with wide-open eyes.

This cake was a real delight to make, spread over three days, plus two days to let the flavours set in and mingle before D-day arrived.

Instead of the lady fingers I made a regular genoise (yes with clarified butter/ghee). The crumb/texture of the genoise was light, tender and moist. Sliced it into two. Baked another layer of chocolate sponge, only this time with a little more coffee.

Was still apprehensive about the taste as I have never tasted an Amaretto Tiramisu ever. So to atleast make the cake look appealing decided on making a chocolate rose…yet another first!

** Will add a video-tutorial later,(without the use of corn syrup). In the mean time for those of you who cannot wait here is the link from wherein I got my inspiration.

Made it right after I made the sponges and was pleased with my artistry...more so this successful rose gave me the courage to go ahead with the rest of the recipe I had decided…kinda’ good omen. (fingers crossed!)

Enjoyed making mascarpone. Luxurious and indulgent. Touched up the mascarpone ganache with some semi-sweet chocolate chips and strong brewed coffee. Decided on a plain white amaretto-infused-mascarpone icing.

A day before D-day finished the icing et al, sans the chocolate rose. Wanted to surprise the hub, by placing it at the last minute.

Cut it at midnight and can’t express the feeling of this creamy heaven in the mouth. YUM!

Hub was delighted beyond words and kept admiring the rose while spooning the relish into his mouth…before the congratulatory calls inundate ‘the moment’…..lol.
As for me, I was glad he loved it, though he didn’t say it in words…his eyes said it all.
(My man is of few words….one of the reasons I fell in love with this man-boy, and still so in love with !) *blush*

Amaretto Tiramisu Cake

Ingredients-


For the Mascarpone Frosting-
1 lt. low-fat cream (25% pasteurized)/organic cream
1 1/2 tbsp fresh lime juice

aprrox. 7 tbsp confectioners' sugar

(frosting/icing)
1 tbsp amaretto liquer, plus extra for soaking the sponges

(filling/ganache)
1/2 tsp strong brewed coffee
1/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips,melted/microwaved on high for 30 secs.


For the Plain Genoise-
3 tbsp clarified butter/ghee
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
4 large eggs
2/3 cup fine granulated vanilla sugar/plain sugar


For the Chocolate sponge-
2 eggs
1/3 cup plain flour
3 tbsp unsweetened Dutch process cocoa powder
1 tbsp instant coffee powder
2 tbsp butter at room temperature
1/3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp corn starch
a pinch of salt
1/3 cup fine granulated sugar

Flaked almonds for decoration

Method-

First prepare the mascarpone.

Bring about 2 inches of water to a boil in a wide skillet. Reduce the heat to medium-low so the water is barely simmering.
Pour the cream into a medium heat-resistant bowl, then place the bowl into the skillet. A double boiler of sorts. Keep stirring on medium flame. About 15-20 mins of deliacte heating.
Add the lime juice and continue heating the mixture, stirring gently, until the cream curdles.
All that the whipping cream will do is become thicker, like a well-done crème anglaise. It will cover the back of your wooden spoon thickly. All you will see would be just a few clear whey streaks when you stir.
(It will not curdle the way milk curdles when you make cottage or ricotta cheeses.)

Remove the bowl from the water and let cool for about 20 minutes. Meanwhile, line a sieve with four-five layers of dampened cheesecloth and set it over a bowl. Transfer the mixture into the lined sieve. Do not squeeze the cheese in the cheesecloth or press on its surface, it will firm up on its own during the refrigeration time. Once cooled completely, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate (in the sieve) overnight or up to 24 hours.

Add the confec. sugar to this mascarpone cream and whisk by hand till combined.
Set one third of it aside.

To the remaining two-thirds, add the melted choco-chips and coffee brew. Mix together till you get a creamy texture. This is the filling.

To the one-third, add amaretto and hand-whisk till smooth. This is the outer frosting.


Next make the genoise.

Preheat the oven to 180 degress C. Line, grease and flour an 8 inch cake pan.
Sift the flour thrice.
Bring some water to a boil in a large pan/griddle & reduce to simmer. Place eggs & sugar in a large bowl, whisk constantly over the simmering water, heat the eggs to lukewarm.
Remove the bowl from the pan. With an electric mixer, beat the egg mixture at high speed until it has cooled, tripled in volume, and resembles softly whipped cream, about 5 minutes in a heavy-duty mixer or longer with a less powerful mixer.(I used elbow grease and it took me about 10 mins to get the desired result.)

Sift a third of the flour over the whipped egg mixture. Use a rubber spatula to fold in the mixture-quickly but gently-until combined. Fold in the rest of the flour too.
Then add melted ghee/clarified butter in a stream as you keep incorporating it into the batter. Add the vanilla extract at this point.

Pour the batter into the lined pan and bake at 180 degrees C for 35 minutes or so, till the edges of the cake shrink slightly and the top springs back on touch.
Cool and umould onto a wire rack.

Slice the cake into two once completely cooled or you will risk getting crumbly uneven slices. This genoise stays well if cling wrapped, for 3-4 days in the fridge or upto 2 months in the freezer.


Now for the chocolate sponge.

Seive all the dry items together three times.
Cream the butter and sugar together till pale. Add the eggs and beat well till fluffed up to double its volume.
Fold in the dry ingredients into the wet. Pour into a lined 8 inch cake pan.
Bake at 180 degrees C for 35 minutes app.
Cool on wire rack.



For the assembly----

Place one layer of the plain genoise on the cake serving platter.
Sprinkle with amaretto liquer.
Top with some of the filling. Place the chocolate sponge layer next.
Sprinkle this with amaretto liquer too.
Top with the filling. Place the final/top genoise layer.
Sprinkle with amaretto liquer.
Spread the mascarpone-amaretto frosting on top.
Spread the remaining filling on the sides of the cake.

Decorate the borders with almond shavings.
Adorn the cake with the chocolate rose and leaves.

Note: I did not use any simple syrup to soak the sponges as the Amaretto liquer is sweet. If you desire you can add sugar to the soaking syrup, for a sweeter cake.

Also, made....
Mexican Chicken Pizza

and Tandoori Paneer (Barbequed Cottage cheese) Pizza

alongwith some sun-dried tomato pesto layered garlic rolls

....for a truly wonderful brunch.
(Recipes coming-up!)

French Perigordine Choco-chip Walnut Pastry

"The kitchen is a country in which there are always discoveries to be made." Grimod de la Reyniere

I don't know how many of you out there want to cook/bake something when you are feeling bored or upset. Well I do. Only last Friday, in the afternoon I ranscaked my fridge and cupboards to see if I had something to make these delish pastries the recipe of which I had read in a book in the library a couple of weeks back (yes yes,I read cook-books in the library!). :D

Having found all the ingredients I put on my chefs' hat and began work. In no time I was tired yet happy,looking at the wonderful pastries I felt a certain warmth run through my veins. The experiences in the kitchen are very theraupatic.

This dessert is of french origin.

French Cuisine! France has blessed the world with a variety of gourmet goodies. French gourmet dinner cuisine is a touch of luxury and always leaves you satisfied. Through history the French have harnessed the essential ingredients and techniques passed down generations to culminate into harmonious blends of herbs and spices in order to create the most honored traditional gourmet cuisines that are enjoyed worldwide.Their desserts as we all know are internationally acclaimed.

French desserts are known worldwide. There are times that you eat a dessert not even knowing that it originated from a French kitchen many years ago. The word dessert comes from the French word “desservir” which means “to clear the table”.

Walnuts are famous from Perigord and are grown every over the south east area of France. So its obvious that the Walnut cake is the most popular of desserts that's eaten in the region.

And since walnuts are my favourite nut, I just had to make these. Another reason to have this pastry was the good news delivered to me by HoneyB that my baby ...my blog (Zaayeka) was featured on Jenn's Finest Foodies Friday, which is no less than an honour as I have been blogging only for three months now. :)

So after a lot of searching and researching...I adapted slightly the recipe and made these lovely dense, yet moist cakes.

French Perigordine Walnut Pastry

Ingredients-
1 1/2 cups shelled walnuts,finely ground ( leaving a few walnuts just coarsely chopped)
1 cup unsalted butter
2 cups brown sugar
4 eggs
4 tbsp plain flour
a pinch of baking powder
1/2 cup chocolate chips


Method-
In a bowl, separate the egg whites and whisk till they form soft white peaks.
In a different bowl, mix the other ingredients with the egg yolks.
Add a spoonful of eggwhite to the mix, now fold the entire egg-whites into the mix.
Bake for 40 minutes in the centre of your pre-heated oven.
Cool and serve with whipped cream.


Note: I sliced the cake first in half , layered it with whipped cream. Then for simplicity of serving I cut it into pastry size squares.




A simple yet very rewarding recipe! Its for keeps. Bake it once and you will make it again and again....

I don't decorate my cakes...not because I don't want to but because I don't have too many kitchen aids..no offset spatula but a butter knife...no piping cone or pastry bag. I am sure many out there also are in dire need of a baking set. So here's some good news. Rose (of All about Cakes) is giving away a 100 piece Betty Crocker Cake Decorating Kit to celebrate her 100 posts.Now thats' good news..ain't it! :)

Sweet Surrender--Nut 'n' Fruit Maalpua

"I prefer to regard a dessert as I would imagine the perfect woman: subtle, a little bittersweet, not blowsy and extrovert. Delicately made up, not highly rouged. Holding back, not exposing everything and, of course, with a flavor that lasts." ~Graham Kerr

Picture this, its 4.15 am here. I wake up just to drink water and end up writing this blog post (which incidentally I had decided would do tomorrow..err...today in the normal waking hours that is). Needless to say I am a blogoholic...but I ain't complaining.


I made this dessert yesterday. It was the result of visiting Jenn's blog sometime back,which had challenged bloggers to create a dish with the following three ingredients- bananas, rice, coconut (or coconut milk). This was for the Royal Foodie Joust, and the ingredients were given by Cynthia (of Tastes Like Home) who also is sponsoring the prize for this Iron Chef competition, her book My Caribbean Cookbook, Tastes Like Home.

How could I keep myself away from this challenge (especially because its my first one) !!








Indian cuisine is known throughout the World as a sweet cuisine because almost half of its dishes are either sweets or desserts. Actually, Indian sweets have made Indian food famous throughout history, and they have been accommodated to European and North American menus.



The 19th century renaissance in Bengal brought about a dramatic change in the lives of Bengalis in Calcutta. It is during this time that Calcuttans witnessed the birth of several sweetmeat shops.


And Calcuttans are notoriously known for their sweet tooth. Yours truly is a live example.

Food has always been a weakness for the Bengalis. Studying their food habits since the yester years you will be appalled to find the time and money they spent on food. They were never hesitant in throwing parties and if, for the sake of it, they had to exhaust all their wealth they never did mind. Not only in marriage ceremonies, any occasion to them was a party time (like almost all Indians) and in these parties lavish expenditure on food reduced many to a pauper.

Bengalis, like their brethrens from all parts of India, have been winners in all the delicacies they have presented to the world. Not just mutton, fish and vegetables but the variety of confections and array of fruit dishes have always overawed the gluttons of the world.

I present to you my version of the famous maalpua (luscious pancakes soaked in syrup).

Nut 'n' Fruit Maalpua

Ingredients-

For pancakes-

4 cups rice flour

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1 cup dessicated coconut

2 ripe bananas, mashed to pulpy form

10-12 black peppercorns-- ( to add a little heat to the otherwise sweet dish)

3 tbsp golden raisins
5 tbsp chopped blanched almonds
1 tbsp fennel seeds

1 cup broken jaggery pieces, finely chopped/broken/ground-- (can substitute this with sugar )
2 cups lukewarm milk

1/2 cup or less tepid warm water-- (the heat helps in dissolving the jaggery pieces)

oil for deep frying

For syrup-

3 cups sugar

3 cups water

1 tsp cardamom powder

Method-
In a big bowl, mix well with a wooden spoon, all the ingredients for the pancakes (except water).

Then slowly add the water(as per requirement) to form a thick batter of pouring consistency.

Note: The batter should not be too viscous, it should be slightly thinner than a cake batter, but not too thin.

Prepare the syrup by boiling together the sugar and water. Add the cardamom powder. Once the syrup is soft ball consistency (that is ek-taar or single thread consistency). Remove from heat.

In a deep bottomed pan, heat oil to smoking point. Reduce the heat to medium flame.

Now, using a ladle pour the batter carefully, one at a time into the hot oil.

Tip: I suggest use half full ladles to make small pancakes as they are easier to manage and don't take long to cook.

Deep fry. Once cooked/browned take out from the oil and dip straight into the syrup.

Repeat the process, till all the batter is used. Let soak in the syrup for a couple of minutes.

For serving- lift the pancakes out from the syrup carefully and place them on a plate. Garnish with flaked almonds. Serve while still warm for optimum taste.

The maalpua will be soft and spongy in the middle while crsip on the edges, with syrup oozing out each time you dig in with your spoon.

The bananas make it moist while the coconut and dried fruits add the nutty flavour. Ofcourse the peppercorns innundate the sweetness while the fennel enhances the aroma alongwith the cardamom.

A truly royal bengal treat! :p

A Request- If you guys liked this recipe, I would request you to vote for this dish, on the FoodieBlog Forum, once the voting starts for this month's January '09 Joust here.