hello kitty matcha green tea tiramisu cake

My coworker Kim loves anything green tea, and while I wasn't able to make her a cake last year (since I was on maternity leave from work), I made her this Hello Kitty shaped green tea cake the year before. (Yes, this post is two years late!)

I made pretty much the same components that I had made for this Hello Kitty tiramisu cake, such as the same vanilla cake, and the same method of cutting out the Hello Kitty shape and layering the components.

Except that I made a matcha green tea syrup of the espresso syrup.

Which also meant making the green tea mascarpone filling instead of an espresso mascarpone filling.

After adding a second set of vanilla cake, green tea syrup, and mascarpone layers, I dusted the top with green tea powder (instead of cocoa powder).

Then I let it set overnight before unmolding it.

While the cake had great green tea flavor, I think it would have been better had I used the green tea chiffon cake that I made here and here. The more green tea flavor, the better!

Stay tuned to see the cake that I made for Kim this year!

tiramisu birthday cake with piped swirl ruffle sides

My last post was about this mocha pocky layer cake that I made last year for my mom's birthday, which started out as one cake, and then turned into a different cake altogether! For this year's cake, the same thing happened! I had this whole vision in my head - I knew I wanted to make a tiramisu cake, because out of all the cakes that I have made for my mom, she seems to have liked this Hello Kitty tiramisu the best (she prefers desserts that aren't too sweet, and she loves the flavor of coffee). For the design on the top, I pictured something similar to this lace cake that I had seen on Pinterest somewhere, except that I wanted to dust on cocoa powder instead of sugar. And for the sides, I wanted to try this pretty swirl ruffle piping that I had pinned on Pinterest about a year ago.

So I doubled my Hello Kitty tiramisu recipe to make two 8-inch vanilla cake layers and sliced them in half horizontally. Then I topped each cake layer with a light brushing of espresso syrup, a layer of espresso and Kahlua creamy whipped filling (made with cream cheese this time instead of mascarpone cheese), and then a dusting of cocoa powder before adding the next cake layer. Then I finished it off by using the same creamy filling to frost the top and sides of the cake.

Next I attempted to dust on my lace design with cocoa powder. Let's just say that it didn't come out too pretty. So I decided to dust the entire top with cocoa powder, and then try the lace design with powdered sugar. At first it seemed to work, although the design was very light...

.. but then before I knew it, the powdered sugar started to dissolve into the cocoa powder, until the lace design was not even recognizable. Boo :( Oh well, at least I would still have the pretty swirl ruffles piped on the sides.

But even that didn't come out as I had envisioned. I think I should have gone one more swirl higher than I did.

In any case, it still looked like tiramisu, although a tad plain. So I decided to sprinkle some sugar pearls on the top, to pretty it up a little.

Right before the party, the cake was still looking a little plain, so at the suggestion of my husband I threw on some light green cymbidium orchids (although I didn't have time to properly photograph it).

To my delight, my mom loved the cake! I think I may have to make tiramisu cake for her every year!

Happy Birthday, Mommy!

hello kitty tiramisu cake

While we were on vacation in Hawaii last month, I found this awesome tool!  And I had to buy it!  It's meant for making pan sushi, which is basically made of ingredients that you would normally roll up in sushi, but spread out in layers inside a pan instead (and usually made with a layer of furikake instead of nori/seaweed  paper), and then cut in squares to serve.

So what was the first thing I made with this tool?  I made a Hello Kitty tiramisu cake!  We were going to celebrate my mom's birthday a few weeks early since my brother was going to be in town, and since her favorite dessert is tiramisu I had been planning to make her tiramisu cake.  And while I was unpacking all the goodies I had bought on vacation, I suddenly realized that I could use the pan sushi mold make the tiramisu instead!

So I found a tiramisu cake recipe in my copy of Dorie Greenspan's book "Baking: From My Home to Yours".  The cake layer was a sponge cake, which I baked in two 9-inch pans.  While the cakes were in the oven, I used the mold to trace and cut out Hello Kitty on a cake board, which I then covered in foil.

Then once the cakes were baked and cooled, I again used the mold to cut Hello Kitty out of the cake.  I ended up using only one of the cakes, cut in half horizontally to make two layers, since both of the cakes together plus the filling would be taller than the mold itself.

Next, I prepared all the components I would need to assemble my tiramisu cake - I made espresso extract, espresso kahlua syrup (which uses the espresso extract), and freshly whipped cream to lighten a mascarpone filling (which also uses the espresso extract, as well as a bit of kahlua for extra flavor).  Once all of the components were ready, I placed my prepared cake board inside the Hello Kitty mold, followed by the first layer of cake.

Next, I the brushed the cake with some of the espresso syrup.

Then came a layer of the mascarpone filling, and then a dusting of cocoa powder (or you can use chopped chocolate).

Next came the second layer of cake, brushed with more of the espresso syrup (on both sides).  And then another layer of the mascarpone filling.  This would be the top of the cake, so I made sure to smooth it out evenly with an offset spatula.

And then the final touch - one last dusting of cocoa powder, using a Hello Kitty stencil, in order to bring Hello Kitty to life!

The cake turned out light and moist, and full of tiramisu flavor. 

I think the kids liked the cake even more than my mom!  Happy birthday, Mom!

The cake was pretty simple to make, and we liked it so much that I made it again the following weekend for my friend Diana's belated birthday (since we were on vacation during her actual birthday!).

I hope she liked it as well!  Happy birthday, Diana!

tiramisu ice cream

My friend Hsing recently made tiramisu ice cream, and when I tasted it I knew that I wanted to make it too!  Not long after that, I had the perfect opportunity - my cousin Angie was coming to visit and I know that she loves boozy desserts, so I decided to make it for her.

The source was, once again, David Lebovitz's book "The Perfect Scoop".  The ice cream base included Kahlua and rum, as well as mascarpone cream to create a creamy richness.  I also made a mocha ripple (made by simmering espresso, cocoa powder, vanilla, sugar, and corn syrup), which was layered into the ice cream after it was done churning.

The resulting combination of flavors was delicious!  Although I would have loved more coffee flavor, so next time I'll try adding some espresso to the ice cream base as well.