Tag: recipe

It’s January – who doesn’t need a bit of a pick-me-up? Last weekend I made one of our favourite desserts to take to a party. Italian trifle made with decadent whipped mascarpone, with sponge fingers dipped in coffee and rum.

To make tiramisu you can get gluten free savoiardi (sponge finger) biscuits from Schar, although I’ve never come across any. A supermarket with an extensive free from aisle would be a good bet, or order online. However, I’ve stopped looking really, as it turns out they’re not too difficult to make at home. You need a piping bag with a 1.5-2cm round nozzle.

Last time I made this, I tested out a couple of different recipes for the biscuits (only because the first wasn’t any good) but eventually settled on this. It’s pretty much the same as a regular recipe, but it works using GF flour as the biscuits’ structure comes from the whipped egg whites.

These quantities make about 45 biscuits about 2 x 8cm. Enough for a big 12 person, party size tiramisu. It can easily be halved but, well, just make a big one. 🙂

Savoiardi
4 eggs
100g caster sugar
126g gluten free plain flour
60g icing sugar

• Separate the eggs. Whisk the whites until they form stiff peaks.
• Add the caster sugar and beat until they turn stiff and glossy.
• Whisk the yolks and fold in to the whites.
• Sift the flour and fold into the egg until just combined.
• Pipe using a 2cm nozzle onto 2 baking trays lined with baking paper. This doesn’t need to be particularly neat, as you won’t see the biscuits once they’re in the trifle.
• Dust half the icing sugar onto the biscuits, then after a few minutes, dust on the rest.
• Bake the biscuits for 15 mins at 175C, until they are light brown and puffed up, then turn down the oven to 120C for a further 10-20 minutes to make them crisp.
• Leave to cool on a wire rack while you make the tiramisu.

For the tiramisu:
6 large egg yolks
4 large egg whites
100g caster sugar
500g mascarpone
45 savoiardi biscuits
300ml espresso
6tbsp dark rum
2 tbsp coffee liqueur (Tia Maria / Kahlua)
100g dark chocolate (GF – I use 70% Green & Black’s)

• Whisk the egg yolks and sugar for roughly 3 minutes, until they have become a pale, light mousse.
• In a separate bowl, stir the mascarpone to loosen it, then gradually beat in the egg yolk mix.
• In another bowl, whisk the egg whites to soft peaks, then fold those carefully into the mascarpone mix. It’s easiest if you fold in a third of the egg whites first, then add the rest.
• Combine the (cooled) coffee, rum and coffee liqueur in a bowl. Dip the biscuits into the liquid and use them to make the first layer of the cake in the bottom of your serving dish. (I used two glass dishes, as I didn’t have one big enough.) Next, pour in half the mascarpone mix, then sprinkle on half the grated chocolate.
• Repeat with the remaining biscuits, mascarpone and chocolate to make a second layer.
• Leave to set in the fridge for a couple of hours. It maybe tastes better on day 2.