Honey tiramisu

Since we have moved to Raglan, we have developed a tiramisu obsession. It started when we started buying it from a local Italian cafe and then I revisited my recipe for it and have worked to adapt it to a honey version. The cream, honey and coffee combination is a dream. If you are prone to fizzing out when you drink coffee, you might want to eat this for breakfast so it doesn’t keep you awake at night.

1 egg

2 egg yolks

50g honey

1/2 teaspoon vanilla paste or seeds (not essence)

3/4 cup cream

250g mascarpone

4 shots of espresso coffee (or 2 cups of strong plunger coffee)

1/2 cup water (you don’t need this if you are using plunger coffee)

40ml coffee liqueur, or brandy (optional)

200g sponge fingers (the best I have found are Vittoria ‘biscotti’. They aren’t like normal biscotti biscuits but light, super dry sponge fingers. You can also use regular sponge fingers if you can’t get this brand it will just make your Tiramisu cakier)

cocoa powder

Combine your espresso, water and alcohol (if using) and set it aside in a bowl to cool.

The only difficult part of this recipe is making the sabayon mixture. Put the egg, yolks and honey in a bowl and place over a pot of water that is gently boiling on the stove. Whisk constantly until the mixture turns pale and thickens. You want to get it to ‘ribbon stage’ so when you pull the whisk up above the bowl and drizzle the mixture over itself, it should sit briefly like a ribbon on top of the bowl before disappearing back in. If you cook it too long it will turn into scrambled eggs, but if you don’t cook it for long enough it will make your cream mixture too runny. It took about 5 minutes for my sabayon to reach ribbon stage.

In a mixer (or with an egg beater) whip the cream until it is about 3/4 of the way to being normal whipped cream. It should still be quite soft. Add the mascarpone, vanilla paste and sabayon mix and continue whipping until the mixture is well combined and nice and thick.

To assemble your tiramisu, briefly submerge the sponge fingers in the coffee mixture so they are evenly coated. Lay the wet sponge fingers tightly packed to cover the bottom of your dish and then coat them with a layer of the cream mixture. If you are using a smaller dish, make another layer of sponge fingers and top with a layer of cream mixture, just like a lasagne.

Put in the fridge to chill and sprinkle the top with cocoa powder before serving.