Tiramisu Charlotte

Tiramisu, an Italian cake and dessert. literally means "pick me up".     It is made of ladyfingers (Italian: Savoiardi) dipped in coffee, layered with a whipped mixture of egg yolks and mascarpone, and flavored with liqueur and cocoa.  Tiramisu is usually made in deep dish or casserole but i have decided to make it into a Charlotte.  As this is going to be served to children, I am not in favor of raw egg yolks and have also left out the liqueur.  This is a big sacrifice but if this is going to be an adult cake, please do not leave these out, the egg yolks are ok to be left out but the liqueur bring this Charlotte to another level.

Ingredient

Ladyfingers
Dark Bittersweet Chocolate

Filling:

1 pouch /2 1/2 teaspoons (7g) unflavoured gelatine
1/4 cup water
90 gram/3/4 cup/3 ozs confectioners' sugar - sieved
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 tbsp Amaretto/kahlua/Tia Maria (optional)
225 gram /8 oz mascarpone cheese
200 gram /7 fl oz, heavy cream

Topping:

Cocoa powder

For the espresso syrup:

2 tbsp expresso coffee powder
1 cup boiling water
1 tbsp sugar

To make the Espresso Syrup:

Dissolve instant espresso coffee powder, sugar in boiling water. Leave to cool. Set aside

To make the Filling:

In a mixing bowl, with a manual whisk, whisk mascarpone cheese with confectioners' sugar, vanilla extract, liqueur (if using) until blended.

With an electric mixer whisk the whipping cream until soft peak (do not over whip).

With a spatula, fold in 1/3 of the whipped cream to the mascarpone mixture. Fold in the remaining whipped cream to the mascarpone mixture.

In a glass measuring cup, sprinkle 1 pouch unflavoured Gelatine over 1/4 cup (50mL) cold liquid. Let stand for 1 minute.

Microwave on High (100%) for 30 - 40 seconds; stir once and
add it in to the mascarpone cheese and heavy cream mixture.


To assemble the cake:

Cut off one end of the ladyfingers so that each one is about 3" in length and line them around the sides of a 7" round springform pan.or an Adjustable Cake Mold (do not dip them in the espresso syrup). You will need about 17 ladyfingers (depending on the type/brand or how even your homemade ones are). If the last ladyfinger cannot fit in nicely, trim away part of it to fit it in or just adjust the cake mould to fit..

Gently dip (do not soak) ladyfingers. one at a time, in the espresso syrup and use them to line the base of the prepared pan.Trim the ladyfingers to fit if necessary. Use the ltrimmings to fill the gaps.

Spoon over half of the filling. Using an small oiffset spatula, spread evenly.

Grate the dark bittersweet chocolates over the filling.

Repeat with another layer of ladyfingers and spoon over the remaining filling. Spread and smooth the top.

Cover with cling wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, best left overnight.

Just before serving, unmold the cake and dust the top with cocoa powder.