Tiramisu Cake ~ for the coffee lover in me!!!

I celebrated my birthday two weeks back, yeah one year older and I don't want to talk about that. So lets jump to the only thing that I love about (my)birthdays. Yes, thats right baby ~ CAKES!!! Rich frosting clad beauties that will put a smile on anyone's face. So this year when I was thinking about what would be the "surprise cake" that the huss would get for me, he came up with the idea of "why don't you bake a cake for your birthday? Its been a long time right!!!". And I was like "whaaaaaat"... I came up with excuses, by the loads like the weather is dull, I don't feel like baking a cake or I am out of flour ~ but say what he just didn't cringe.

I needed a reason to bake and baking for my own day didn't fall in that criteria. And then I remembered, I had to bake for the kid too, it was time and since I had missed his 1.5 years milestone with a cake, I thought why not now. I had neither the piping bags nor the tips to complete a cake and so all that I was looking for was a cake with minimal decorations and this cake fitted the bill just right. How could one go wrong with dusting cocoa powder and call that decorating!!!

i.love.coffee. period. And this cake is the one if you are a coffee lover like me. Its soft, its silky smooth and its filled with coffee flavor with every bite. One Two words ~ COFFEE HEAVEN. A rich buttery sponge soaked in strong espresso syrup sandwiched with a smooth coffee mascarpone filling and frosted with a double shot coffee mascarpone frosting. Count the coffee in that line and you will know that this is one kick-a** coffee cake. And that chocolate lace border finishes the cake with such elegance. This is the first time that I tried a chocolate lace border and I am super duper happy with how it has turned out. But you could go simple and slather chocolate shavings down the sides. Anyway its your call.

~*What U Need*~ (Adapted from Dorie Greenspan’s From Home To Your’s) For the cake: Cake flour - 2 1/4 cups* Baking powder - 2 tsp Baking soda - 1/4 tsp Salt - 1/4 tsp Butter - 12 tbsp, softened Sugar - 1 cup Eggs - 2, room temperature Vanilla extract - 1 tsp Buttermilk - 1 cup** For the espresso syrup: Instant coffee powder - 2 tbsp Water - 1/2 cup Sugar - 1/3 cup For the filling and frosting: Mascarpone cheese - 8 oz, 1 1/4 cups, I used homemade Icing sugar - 1/3 cup, sifted Vanilla extract - 1 tsp Heavy whipping cream - 1 cup Grated chocolate - 1/2 cup, I used Lindt 75% Cocoa powder - for dusting Melted chocolate to make the lace border How I Made it: First prepare your cake tins. Grease two 8" round cake pans with butter and line it with parchment paper. Sift together cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a bowl. Beat the butter and sugar in another bowl till creamy say 3-4 mins. Add the eggs, beating well after each addition and then beat in the vanilla. Now add the dry ingredients in three additions, adding the buttermilk after each addition (be sure that you end with the dry ingredients). Beat at medium speed, scraping down the sides into the bowl, till mixed. Divide the batter evenly between the two cake tins. Smooth the tops gently with a spatula. Bake the cakes at 180C (350F) for about 30 minutes till they’re golden and a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. Let the cakes cool in the tins for about 5 minutes. Then unmould them, peel off the paper from the bases and let them cool completely on wire racks. Then make the espresso syrup. Put the water and sugar into a small saucepan, stirring to dissolve the sugar, and bring it just to a boil. Turn off the heat and add the coffee powder and mix well till it dissolves. Pour it into a heatproof bowl and keep aside till needed. Take the mascarpone, sugar and vanilla in a large bowl and whisk just until blended and smooth. In another bowl, using a hand held mixer, whip the cold cream until it forms stiff peaks. Stir about 1/3 rd of this into the mascarpone and then lightly fold in the remaining cream. Cool the cakes completely and even the cakes with a serrated knife. Place one cake cut side up and using a toothpick poke a few holes in your cake. Now generously brush the cake with about half the espresso syrup. Place a little less than half of the filling over the cake and smoothen it out. Sprinkle the grate chocolate over it. Put the second cake layer on the counter and once again, poke a few holes and soak the top of it with most of the remaining espresso syrup, leaving about 5 tbsp of the syrup in the bowl. Turn this second cake over and align it over the first cake with the soaked side facing down. Brush some of the espresso syrup over the top of the cake, leaving about 2 tbsp in the bowl. To make the frosting, whisk in the remaining espresso syrup into the remaining mascarpone filling and decorate the cake as desired. I made a chocolate lace border with some dark chocolate and stuck this onto the sides. Refrigerate the cake overnight.

Slice and serve!!!

** My Notes:
* To make cake flour at home, for every 1 cup of all purpose flour remove 2 tbsp of flour and replace it with 2 tbsps of corn flour. Sieve it thoroughly atleast five times.
** To make buttermilk at home add 1 tsp of vinegar for every cup of milk and let stand for 5 mins.

So thats it Folks...
With Love,

Signs off!!!