Delectables with Dan: Sugar-Free & Carb-Conscious Double Chocolate Tiramisu!

Delectables with Dan Presents:

Sugar-Free & Carb-Conscious Tiramisu!



This is a far longer process than making a regular tiramisu because we're homemaking the ladyfingers the recipe calls for. I'm going to go through all the steps you'll need to go through to make the ladyfingers then assemble the tiramisu. This was an amazing take on one of my favourite Italian desserts using almond flour and stevia!  

We're going to start out with making an almond cake which we will cut into fingers using biscuit cutters. You can get a similar set to the ones I like down below. I used an oval one, but sometimes I've also heard them referred to as finger-shaped biscuit cutters, so whatever you want to call them, what's what we're gonna use to make up some "finger biscuits" for our tiramisu. You'll get what I'm saying when we get down below. 

LADY-BISCUIT-CAKE 

48g almond flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/8 teaspoon salt

3 large eggs

2 tablespoons powdered erythritol 

1/8 teaspoon stevia extract powder

1/4 teaspoon vanilla essence

1/4 teaspoon almond essence

1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar

First, off grease with non-stick cooking spray a 18x2 baking pan and pre-heat your oven to 180C (350F) and prepare your cake. Combine the almond flour, baking powder and salt together in one bowl. In a separate bowl, separate the egg whites from the egg yolk. setting the whites to the side. Add your sweeteners to the yolks and using an electric mixer, beat on high speed until your yolks become a bright yellow colour. (Think of the paint that Van Gogh tried to eat.) Once yolks have turned that sickly happy colour, beat in your vanilla and almond essence then the cream of tartar. This should take 1-2 minutes tops. Don't overbeat. We don't want to Chris Browm the batter. Once you've done this, using a rubber spatula, carefully fold it into the almond flour mixture.

Once you've done this, wipe your beaters (God that sounded rather sexual, didn't it?) and turn your attention to the egg whites. Beat the egg whites on high speed with the electric mixer until stiff peaks begin to form. Once they've formed up, you'll want to add half of it to the batter. Fold in carefully and give a gentle stir. Once you've done that, add the other portion of the egg whites into the mixture and give a good stir, making sure they're evenly blended into the mixture.  Once that's completed, pour the mixture into the greased baking pan and put in to bake. The cake should bake 15-18 minute depending on your oven.

Fill Me Up Inside
While that little bugger is baking up, let's make us some filling, shall we? We're going to be using the regular ol' way to make a tiramisu but rather than using sugar, we're going to be using stevia in place. To make this thicc, delicious and sugarless (like someone I could mention) filling, simply use the ingredients below: 

3 large egg yolks 

2 tsp vanilla essence 

3 tsp stevia 

225g mascarpone cheese 

175ml double cream

Separate the egg whites from the yolks; we're only using the yolks for this. Place them in a large heat-safe bowl. For this step, you're going to need to boil water in a medium-sized saucepan to put under the yolk bowl. Add 2 tsp of stevia to the egg yolks, place over the boiling water and begin to beat vigorously. If you need to, use an electric mixer for this, minding the cord of your mixer. Whip for 6 minutes until yolk mixture triples in size. Don't worry if it only doubles in size, that's just fine. That's how it happened for me and mine came out just fine! (See? Not everything on Delectables with Dan turns out perfect!) Once the yolks and sugar have tripled or doubled in size, remove them from heat and set to the side. I like to let mine sit a minute or two before stirring in the mascarpone cheese to it. Stir well. Make sure that the yolks and cheese are completely combined before whipping the cream.

Now, with an electric mixer, whip up your double cream. The cream will be ready when thick, peaks form in the cream. Add this to the cooled yolk-mascarpone 1/2 by 1/2. Carefully fold in one half of the whipped cream to the mascarpone mixture, once that's done fold in the other half of the whipped cream and give it a gentle stir with a rubber spatula. The cream will lose a bit of its fluff; that's normal.  

Brewin' On Up! 
Brew up 120ml or half a standard coffee cup of CHOCOLATE cappuccino. This will give it that extra layer of flavour as you make it up. I bought mine off Amazon I think, but any brand that has chocolate will do. These flavoured coffees don't have added sugar, just flavour so don't worry! Once you've brewed your coffee (you want to make it nice and strong) put it in the fridge to cool. We need it completely cool or cold for when we dip the ladyfingers into it. Once the coffee is cool, it's time to prepare it for the ladyfingers. Combine the vanilla essence and 1 tablespoon of stevia with the coffee and set to the side. 

Assemblymen of Sorts 
Now that your cake is cool, it's time to cut it into that iconic oval or finger shapes that dominate this Italian dessert. Because the cake it thick, you're going to be unable to press them through the cake, but you're going to use them as a guide to cut the shapes out with a thin, sharp knife. Carefully press the biscuit cutter through the top of the cake, just enough to keep it still and with your knife, going around the outer side of the biscuit cutter, cut out the desired shape. Repeat until all of the cake has been fingered. (Okay, I couldn't resist that one there.) Let them sit a minute or two before dipping them in the coffee. Don't let the fingers soak up too much coffee! Be quick about it! Think about it like this: you're jumping from foot to foot trying to put out the flames of an angry spouse. Lay them together in two neat and tight rows. 

Once you've laid your base ladyfingers, taking a decent sized scoop of the mascarpone mixture with the rubber spatula and spread it evenly over the tops of the ladyfingers. Sprinkle unsweetened baking cocoa over the top of the cheese layer. Add another layer of ladyfingers, another layer of mascarpone mixture and chocolate, repeat until you've run out of fingers; usually 2-3 layers depending on the size of your fingers. Add the final layer of mascarpone to the ladyfingers and dust the top with the unsweetened baking cocoa. Put into fridge to set a minimum of 5 hours before serving! Eat up within 2-3 days, if it even lasts that long!

Biscuit Cutters:
https://www.etsy.com/search?q=oval+cookies
https://coppergifts.com/-/pc/Mini-Finger-Cookie-Cutters-set-of-two-p4957.htm
**I got the recipe for the almond cake offline, it's not my own. I got it off a low-carb site** 

**I lost the photos of the earlier steps, so I'm sorry about that**