Tiramisu Birthday Cake

A whole term has past since the last assessment but I didn't do any post on it. Reason is that there is nothing interesting to post. It was a full term on Occupational Health and Safety. Not that it is not important to learn OH&S, just don't understand why we need a whole term on it and zero practical days. 

So basically there were no hands on class at all for the whole term. That doesn't mean that I didn't bake at home. So today I will post on my birthday cake which was in August. Don't ask me why it took so long to do a post. 

To talk about my cake, I need to also talk about my sister's cake. Because our birthdays are only 2 days and many years apart, we always celebrate together. This year, Pei wanted a Tiramisu cake and I wanted the same cake as I had last year, which was a flourless chocolate cake. 

I had planned to make a little yoga figurine made of fondant for her cake. But it wont look nice sitting on a tiramisu cake as the surface of the cake is mascarpone cheese. So I decided to swap our cakes. I will have the tiramisu cake and Pei will get the chocolate cake. We still get to eat both the cakes anyway. 
After searching and searching on the internet for a tiramisu cake recipes and comparing them, I chose rasamalaysia.com 's recipe for the cheese filling and the sponge cake was from Annie Rigg's Make, Bake & Celebrate book. All set and ready to bake. 

Sponge base 

Almond Praline

The sponge cake was a little different to the normal sponge cake, it had almond meal in it. It gives it a bit of a texture and I guess it will hold its shape better after pouring in the coffee syrup. Then for the sides of the cake, instead of leaving it plain with mascarpone cheese, I decided to make almond praline to cover the sides. Then the topping was just classic shaven chocolate. I used Lindt 85% dark chocolate, yumm.......

Tiramisu Cake

Happy Birthday to me :)

The cheese filling was a mixture of whipped cream and mascarpone cheese. It didn't have any raw eggs in the filling which was good. I feel more comfortable when there is no raw eggs in the cake. 

Want a slice?

Verdict of the cake, I think it needs double share of the mascarpone filling and maybe next time I will add in some stabilized whipped cream to the mixture so that it holds better. Then the cake can probably be thinner or maybe add more coffee syrup into it. Absolutely love the almond praline and chocolate shavings. Overall, I like the cake and will try making it again with some adjustments. 

Next cake up will be the Yoga cake.