The easiest tiramisu in the world

This is a riff on Beth Le Manach’s foolproof tiramisu recipe. I made some minor adjustments and skipped making the cake, opting for the Savoiardi lady fingers instead. I recommend you make this tiramisu a full day before you want to serve it. The coffee will soak through the lady fingers and it will get extra delicious.

It takes about 20-30 minutes, plus the overnight chill, and makes about 10 servings.

You’ll need a deep, oven-proof casserole dish, a couple of bowls, and a stand or handheld mixer.

For the filling:

• 1 tbsp (15 ml) vanilla

• 1 ½ (350 ml) cups heavy cream

• ¾ cup (150 g) powdered sugar

• 5 egg yolks

• ¼ cup (50 g) granulated sugar

• 8 oz (230 g)mascarpone cheese

• a generous pinch of salt

The coffee soak

• 4 shots of barista coffee (or 1/2 cup of very strong coffee), cooled.

• Frangelico or Amaretto to tast

• a pinch of sugar

• 1 tbsp of water (or to taste)

To put it together

• 400 g of sponge cake lady fingers (which is about one bag)

• 4 tbsp of grated dark chocolate

• 25 g of cocoa power (the fanciest you can get!)

Let’s get started!

1. Prep the coffee soak: combine the coffee and sugar.

2. Add the liquor (if you are using it) one tablespoon at a time to taste. If you go too far, balance it out with the water until you reach a flavour you are happy with. Set aside.

3. Make the filling: In a large bowl, whip the heavy cream, the power sugar, the vanilla and salt until you can see firm peaks. If you can hold the bowl over your head without the mixture falling out, that’s a good sign you’re done!

4. Beat the eggs and granulated sugar in a stand mixer or a handheld mixer on high for about 7-8 minutes. They will double in volume and become very fluffy.

5. Scoop the mascarpone (this is easier if the cheese is at room temperature) into another bowl and fold in the whipped cream slowly.

6. Next, fold in the egg mixture. Make sure you are very gentle as to not deflate the whipped cream too much when adding the egg.

7. Assembling the tiramisu: On your casserole dish, place a generous dollop of filling and spread it lightly.

8. Pour the coffee soak into a shallow dish. This will help control how much you soak the lady fingers. You want to avoid saturating them too much or they will become soggy!

9. One by one, roll each lady finger in the coffee soak until all sides are covered. Immediately place them on along the bottom of the casserole dish until the dish is covered. They don’t have to be tightly squished together. In fact, you want some space between the lady fingers for the filling to squeeze through.

10. Add about a third of your filling and spread it over the lady finger layer.

11. Shake a thin layer of cocoa powder over the filling.

12. Start the layer process again - you should have 2 or 3 layers, depending on how long or deep your casserole is.

13. Finish with the cocoa powder and chill overnight.

14. To serve, grate the chocolate over the cocoa powder and serve with a chocolate-covered coffee bean.

15. Bon appetit!

The famous Greek Saganaki recipe

Last weekend we farewelled to of our dearest friends so the occasion had to be marked by one of my favourite dishes to make: a prawn saganaki! It's fresh yet hearty. It's also deceitfully easy to make. I got a few requests for the recipe so I decided to pop it up here. 

The base for the recipe is very simple but I've added a few little twists like substituting the white wine for red (for an extra hearty kick) and cutting the chilli potion in half and adding some chilli jam instead. If you are not as intimidated by spice as I am, double the chilli. This dish really allows you to have fun and be creative. 

A saganaki is a wonderful dish to share with guests as it's so easy to make and can also be prepared a full day ahead. Just toss in the prawns and the fetta in and pop in the oven! People will think you spent the day in the kitchen. 

The prep time is about 20 minutes - depending on how quickly you can chop! 

Materials: large saucepan, chopping block, sharp knife, wooden spoon, oven-ready serving dish. 

To serve 4 people, you'll need: 

• Olive oil, salt and pepper. 
• Half a cup of red wine. 
• 2 brown onions
• 2 fennels 
• 2 garlic cloves
• Optional: a squeeze of garlic paste (should you like things extra garlicky)  and/or ginger paste
• 2 red long chillis (and/or a full tablespoon of chilli jam) 
• a bunch of fresh parsley 
• 2 tins of diced tomatoes (I find the Italian versions are the best for this recipe)
• A punnet of cherry tomatoes (cut in half) or 3 roma tomatoes (chopped into quarters)
• 1  big block of Greek-style fetta cheese (as crumbly as you can get it) 
• 400gr of fresh prawns (peeled and deveined)
• Crusty bread to serve 

How to make it: 

1. Prep the ingredients: Slice the onion and the fennel. Prep your tomatoes (chop or half them, depending on the size). Chop and crush the garlic. Chop the parsley. and the chilli. Crumble the fetta. 
2. Pre-heat the oven at 220 degrees. 
3. Heat a large saucepan over medium-high heat, pour in 2 tsp of olive oil (garlic and ginger paste, if you choose to use them) and sauté the onion, fennel, garlic and chilli for 5 minutes or until the onion softens.
4. Add all the tomatoes and cook for another 5 minutes. 
5. Add the wine and season with salt and pepper. Mix in the chilli jam. 
6. Leave it to simmer for 8 to 10 minutes, until the liquid reduces and the sauce thickens. 
7. Transfer the sauce to your oven-ready serving dish. If you are making the dish ahead of time, wait until the sauce cools down, wrap the dish in cling wrap and store in the fridge. It will keep for up to 2 days. 
8. Push the prawns into the mixture and crumble all the fetta over them. 
9. Bake the dish in the oven for about 10 to 15 minutes, or until the prawns are no longer translucent and have turned pinkish white. The fetta should be slightly golden over the mixture. 
10. While the dish is baking, cut up the crusty bread into thick slices and place in a baking tray. Pop the baking tray into the oven for the last 3-5 minutes to crisp up the slices even further. 
11. Take the dish and bread out of the oven and sprinkle the parsley over the fetta to serve. 

Enjoy! 

Love - xClaudia 

The Brigadeiro Recipe | sweet party favours!

Homemade brigadeiros

Brigadeiros are my favourite homemade treat. They are super fun - and oddly relaxing - to make. You can whip up a batch of around 50 or so in less than half an hour and they keep in the fridge for up to 5 days.

Ingredients: 

• a can of sweetened condensed milk 
• your favourite cocoa powder. (I like Vittoria Chocochino drinking chocolate)
• 2 tbsp of butter 
• pinch of salt 
• sprinkles or your favourite nuts (crushed)
• olive olive spray (optional) 

What's you'll need: 

• a medium sauce pan (preferably non-stick)
• a wooden spoon or spatula 
• baking paper
• a medium bowl 
• mini cupcake liners (optional)

How to make them: 

1. Melt the butter in the sauce pan over medium heat.
2. Pour in the condensed milk over the butter, mixing it gently using a wooden spoon. 
3. Keep stirring until it is completely combined. 
4. Pour in the powder chocolate in small batches. You'll have to do this to taste. I like my brigadeiros very chocolatey and creamy, so I end up pouring in half the container! 
5. Keep stirring for about 10 to fifteen minutes. You'll know when it's one once the mixture has reduced to about 2/3 of its original mass and it has semi-solidfied. The secret is to keep stirring until you can see a clean surface under the mixture as you stir. It's completely normal for the mixture to bubble a bit as you stir. 
6. Line a bowl with baking paper and spray olive oil on it. If you are in the hurry, prep two bowls!
7. Pour the hot mixture on the bowl slowly, making sure nothing spills over. It should be shiny and gooey, but not overly runny.
8. If you have prepped two bowls, split the mixture over both of them. This will help cool the mixture faster! 
9. Wait 5 minutes, or until the mixture is cool enough to touch. Transfer to the freezer for another 10 minutes. 
10. Once the mixture is cool enough, you can start rolling! Bring out the cupcake liners and the sprinkles! Using your hands, form 1 cm (or about half a tsp) balls and roll them over the sprinkles. To avoid getting sticky hands, use the olive oil spray between balls! 

And that's it! You can pop them in the cupcake liners if you're feeling super fancy or you can just pop them on a nice plate to serve. The more you make them, the easier they get to make! 

Happy baking !

-xClaudia