Since St. Patrick's Day is unfortunately such a nonstarter here in Germany, I come to you without cabbage, corned beef and my goodness, there’s no Guinness!
I miss prepping green Leprechaun pee in the loo, making a bit of a mess here and there and laying out chocolate coins for the kids to find, like we did in New Jersey. But since neither the hubs nor I have a smidgeon of Irish blood in our veins, it seems a bit contrived to get our shamrock on. But I did recently make a Matcha Tiramisù that I’ve been dying to share with you guys and I’m digging the green right now, so here ya go: The best dessert I've had in a long time!
Three layers of cloudlike, delicately flavored vanilla and matcha cake, interspersed with classic layers of mascarpone whipped with egg yolks and sugar. Top the whole shebang off with shards of matcha flavored white chocolate and a dusting of matcha powder and you have got yourself one heck of a dessert! This recipe makes a half sheet pan of Tiramisù, so 18 by 13 inches (46 x 33 cm), which might seem excessive, but I would recommend doing as I did: faceplant into one third, give one third to lovely neighbors and freeze the last third for a rainy day.
And even though matcha obviously has nothing to do with St. Patrick's Day, I still want to leave you with my favorite blessing, which just so happens to be Irish:
May the road rise to meet you,
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
The rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of his hand.
xoxo Donata
Ingredients
Cake
1 1/4 cups cake flour (you can also use regular flour, works just fine!)
3/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup neutral oil such as canola
1/3 cup milk (whole or low fat, but avoid fat free)
1/3 cup crème fraîche
4 tsp good quality matcha powder plus more as garnish
cooking or baking spray
Mascarpone cream
4 egg yolks
4 tbsp sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 3/4 cups (750 g) mascarpone
Matcha Chocolate Shards
200 g white chocolate, chopped
2 tsp good quality matcha powder
To make the matcha chocolate shards, melt the chopped white chocolate in a water bath. Add the matcha powder and still until fully incorporated.
Prepare a sheet pan with parchment paper. Pour the matcha chocolate onto the sheet pan and spread it out thinly and evenly with a spatula or a palette knife. Freeze until hardened.
Preheat oven to 350 F (180 C).
Line a half sheet pan (or two or three if you have that many!) with parchment paper and lightly spray with baking spray. If you don’t have a half sheet pan, I would recommend lining half of a regular sheet pan with heavy duty aluminum foil and folding up the sides to form a makeshift half sheet pan. We’re going for a measurement of 18 by 13 inches (46 x 33 cm) and you’re going to need three of them. Just as you would with a regular sheet pan, line the foil with parchment paper and lightly spray with baking spray.
In a medium bowl, add cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and matcha powder. Stir together with whisk, and set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, add eggs and beat 10-20 seconds. Add sugar and continue to beat on medium speed about 30 seconds. Add vanilla and oil, beat.
Reduce mixer speed to low and slowly add about half of the flour mixture. Add the milk, then the rest of the flour mixture and the crème fraîche. Beat until just combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
Measure or weigh the batter into thirds. Pour a third of the batter into a prepared sheet pan. If you have two half sheet pans or two regular sized sheet pans with the makeshift foil, you can bake two batches at a time.
Bake for 10 to 11 minutes or until lightly golden. Repeat with the remaining two (or one) batches of batter.
Let the cakes cool completely before beginning with assembly.
In a large mixing bowl, using a handheld mixer or a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat egg yolks and sugar on medium-high speed until white and creamy and the sugar is completely dissolved, for about 2-3 minutes.
With the mixer on low speed, add the vanilla extract and then the mascarpone one heaped tablespoon at a time and mix until full incorporated.
Fill the mascarpone mixture into a large piping bag and set aside until ready to use.
When the cakes are completely cooled down, lay the first cake down on a serving platter. Snip an inch of the piping bag and pipe a third of the mascarpone mixture onto the cake. Spread it out evenly all the way up to the edges. Gently lay the second cake on top of the mascarpone layer. Repeat with another third of the mascarpone mixture and the third layer of the cake. Pipe and spread the remaining mascarpone on top.
Remove the matcha chocolate from the freezer and gently break into small shards.
Use a fine mesh strainer to dust some matcha powder over the tiramisù. Sprinkle the matcha chocolate shards all over the top.
Dust with more matcha powder before serving.
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