Daring Baker March 08 - Party Cake gone Tiramisu

I have to confess I got a little heads up on this cake before I made it. Being friends with other food bloggers , who are also Daring Baker members, we get together for dinner from time to time and I had a chance to try the cake. Once I had tried it and knew what some of the issues were with the cake and some discussion preparation my head started to wonder and it stopped on the idea of coffee. Hummmm yes coffee, maybe Tiramisu, yes. I love tiramisu; however, I have never tried to make it before so here was my chance. I chose to base the cream off of Mario Batali's recipe; however, I had read so many recipes that I could not follow it and added yes added more fat and cream, I just could not help myself. First DD and I made the cake: 

For the Cake 2 1/4 cups cake flour 1 tablespoon baking powder ½ teaspoon salt 1 ¼ cups whole milk or buttermilk (I prefer buttermilk with the lemon) 4 large egg whites 1 ½ cups sugar 2 teaspoons grated lemon zest 1 stick (8 tablespoons or 4 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature ½ teaspoon pure lemon extract Plus I added 4 oz of chopped dark chocolate to the batter. 

  To Make the Cake Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. 

Whisk together the milk and egg whites in a medium bowl. Put the sugar and lemon zest in a mixer bowl or another large bowl and rub them together with your fingers until the sugar is moist and fragrant. Add the butter and working with the paddle or whisk attachment, or with a hand mixer, beat at medium speed for a full 3 minutes, until the butter and sugar are very light. Beat in the extract, then add one third of the flour mixture, still beating on medium speed. Beat in half of the milk-egg mixture, then beat in half of the remaining dry ingredients until incorporated. Add the rest of the milk and eggs beating until the batter is homogeneous, then add the last of the dry ingredients. Finally, give the batter a good 2- minute beating to ensure that it is thoroughly mixed and well aerated. Divide the batter between the two pans and smooth the tops with a rubber spatula. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the cakes are well risen and springy to the touch – a thin knife inserted into the centers should come out clean Transfer the cakes to cooling racks and cool for about 5 minutes, then run a knife around the sides of the cakes, unfold them and peel off the paper liners. Invert and cool to room temperature, right side up (the cooled cake layers can be wrapped airtight and stored at room temperature overnight or frozen for up to two months).

• 4 ounces Espresso
• Kahlua, 2 ounces
• 4 egg yolks
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 egg whites
• 2 packages cream cheese
• 2 cups heavy cream

Directions

1. Mix coffee and Kahlua together and set aside.
2. Over low heat, beat egg yolks and sugar until mixture lightens in color and forms ribbons (i.e. halfway to zabaglione). Allow to cool 5 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, beat egg whites to stiff peaks and the heavy cream to stiff peaks in separate bowls.
4. beat cream cheese until soft and smooth
5. Fold cream cheese into egg yolk mixture one quarter at a time.
6. Fold cream cheese mixture into egg whites and and then into whipped cream and set aside.
7. Using a pastry brush, and paint the cake layers with the espresso/Kahlua mixture.
8. layer coffee soaked cake and cream mixture
9. chill for 2 hours to set up and then clean up edge with an offset spatula.
10. dust with cocoa just before serving

Because this was a very large cake I took it to my daughter's preschool in her beautiful hat box (it fit perfectly) and shared it and it was a hit. I also had enough to freeze about 1/4th of it too. this was very rich and a thin slice was about all one could eat at once. Thank you Morvan for hosting this month