Tiramisu cake

It was my friend's 21st last week, so me and my other friend decided to join forces and make her a cake.



I lie though, because this isn't strictly a cake, but actually tiramisu stacked with lots of sponge fingers. It's actually a really simple thing to do, and great for people who don't have a lot of confidence in their oven (see my post "death of a chocolate cake" if you're wondering what I mean).

Tiramisu cake (makes a 7" cake)

Ingredients

Espresso Syrup:
1 tablespoon strong instant coffee powder or espresso powder
1/2 tablespoon sugar
1/2 cup (125ml) boiling water
1 tablespoon Tia Maria or brandy

Filling:
250g mascarpone cheese
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 tablespoons icing sugar
2 tablespoons Tia Maria/brandy
1 cup (250 ml) double cream

Sponge fingers (I bought 2 packs of 24 and used 30ish. If they are thicker than the standard sponge fingers you get in the supermarket then obviously you won't need as many)
50g dark chocolate


dark chocolate shavings(optional)
strawberries for decoration (optional)


Method:

To make the Espresso Syrup:
1. Dissolve instant coffee powder and sugar in boiling water (or make your espresso with the 1/2 cup of boiling water).
2. Leave to cool, then stir in 1 tablespoon of brandy. Set aside.

To make the Filling:
1. Whisk mascarpone cheese with icing sugar, vanilla extract, brandy and 3 tablespoons of the espresso syrup until blended.
2. Whisk the whipping cream until it forms soft peaks (I'd reccomend using an electric mixer, but be careful not to over whip).
3. Mix in 1/4 of the whipped cream to the mascarpone mixture, then carefully fold in the remaining whipped cream to the mascarpone with a spatula.

To assemble the cake:
1. Line the sides of a 7" round cake tin (either springform or with a removable base) with the sponge fingers (do not dip them in the espresso syrup). If the last sponge finger doesn't fit nicely then trim it so it fits in. Cutting off the ends will help them to stand up if they keep sliding around.
2. Gently dip the remaining sponge fingers one at a time in the espresso syrup, and use them to line the base of the pan. Cut them into shorter lengths to fill the whole of the circular base.
3. Spoon half the filling on top, spread evenly and grate dark chocolate over it.
4. Repeat with another layer of dipped sponge fingers and spoon over the remaining filling.
5. Cover and refridgerate for at least 4 hours (but preferably overnight).
6. Before serving, remove the sides of the cake tin, grate over more dark chocolate. If you want large chocolate shavings you can use a potato peeler. Decorate with strawberries. We also added silver balls cos they are awesome.
7. Add a ribbon, candles and surprise someone in the venue of your choice :)

Bibimbap

Bibimbap is a Korean dish which literally translates as "mixed rice". The first time I went to a Korean restaurant I was unfamiliar with everything on the menu, and ordered this just out of curiosity. And then I fell in love... effectively it's a bowl of rice topped with vegetables, beef, an egg and chilli sauce, but then you mix it togther and it is so much more than that. This is not just mixed rice, this is M&S mixed rice... Ahem. Sorry, anyway, the best type of bibimbap is dolsot bibimbap, which just differs due to the fact that it's served in a stone bowl which is heated up on the stove beforehand. This continues to cook the rice once you add it to the bowl, making it all crispy, and it also keeps the food hot. Making bibimbap is a little labour intensive, but totally worth it. If you've had it before, you should get what I mean, and if not, I will cook you some and you'll understand :)

If you're wondering why the egg is a bit funny looking, that's because it's poached, not fried.

Bibimbap (serves 2)

1 cup of cooked sticky rice (or thai fragrant rice if you don't have that)
1/2 packet of beansprouts
1 courgette, julienned
1 carrot, julienned
2 mushrooms
handful of spinach
200g beef mince
2 eggs
Soy sauce, garlic, sesame seeds, sesame oil, vegetable oil and hot pepper paste*

This recipe involves cooking lots of veggies separately which you'll then add to the rice when you're done. So just place them all on a large plate so you can easily arrange them in the bowl afterwards.

1. Put beansprouts in a pot of water, add a pinch of salt and boil until soft. Drain and mix with a dash of sesame oil and 1 tbsp sesame seeds.
2. Quickly boil spinach until just cooked, then mix with a small clove of minced garlic, sesame oil and a pinch of salt.
3. Saute carrots with a little sesame oil until just cooked.
4. Mix julienned courgette with a pinch of salt and saute.
5. Saute mushrooms with 1 tsp of sesame oil. Add 1 tsp of soy sauce and 1/2 tsp of sugar whilst cooking.
6. Cook the mince, and add 2 cloves of minced garlic, 2 tsp of soy sauce, 1 tsp of sugar, black pepper and a little sesame oil.
7. Fry the eggs sunny side up. If you don't want fried eggs, you can make omelette and cut it into little strips. I actually used poached eggs because I still haven't got over how easy it is to make poached eggs in the microwave.
8. Put half the rice in a bowl and arrange vegetables and meat, then top with an egg. Repeat for the second serving.
9. Serve with hot chilli paste, mix and enjoy!

*In korean, this is called gochujang. You can get it from oriental supermarkets, but there isn't really anything it can be substituted with. If you don't have it then you could use some other kind of sauce you like...spicy ketchup, sweet chilli sauce? It won't taste the same but will still be good :D

Microwave poached eggs

When I first started uni, I was missing the egg poacher we had at home and set about trying to find the easiest method to poach eggs. I actually looked at this b3ta feature on how to do it, and yeah, the traditional method did not work for me either. Nor did vortexting it. So I settled with doing it in food wrap for a while, until it occurred to me that even the microwave safe stuff isn't actually supposed to come into contact with food when it cooks. I hadn't yet come across a Daily Mail scare warning me that boiled cling wrap gives you cancer, but I thought it best to stop doing that, and instead started poaching my eggs in a ladle (which works reasonably well, but means you have to hold the ladle the whole time).

However, a few days ago I found out how to make perfect poached eggs in the microwave, and it is SO easy. So here we go:

Get a bowl full of boiling water. Crack the egg in it. Microwave on high for 30 seconds to a minute (depending on the strength of your microwave and how well cooked you like your eggs. Ours is 700W and I like my eggs with the yolk completely runny, so I do it for about a minute). Remove from the water with a slotted spoon.

Don't even think about bothering with one of those awful plastic microwave egg poachers. I once bought one from tesco and the eggs came out all disgusting and rubbery. So yeah. If you like eggs, this will change your life. If not, then you're a disgrace. How can you not like eggs?! Get off my blog.