Dirty Chai Tiramisu
This dirty chai tiramisu is a twist on traditional, Italian tiramisu. Chai spices mingle with the bold flavors of espresso-soaked ladyfingers, all layered between lusciously light layers of creamy mascarpone.
Ingredients
For the Mascarpone Mixture
- 2 packages mascarpone 500 g
- 6 tablespoons sugar divided in half (3 tablespoons for egg whites and 3 for the egg yolks)
- 3 egg whites room temperature
- 4 egg yolks room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 teaspoons chai concentrate
For the Dirty Chai-Soaked Ladyfingers
- 2 packages ladyfingers 24-26 ladyfingers
- 1 cup espresso
- 1 cup chai concentrate
For the Chai Spice Topping
- ½ tablespoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
- ⅛ teaspoon ground cardamom
- Pinch of ground cloves
Instructions
- Brew 1 cup of espresso or other strong coffee and let cool. Minewhile, using two different bowls, separate the egg whites into a clean medium mixing bowl and the egg yolks into a large mixing bowl, discarding one of the egg whites in the process.
- Using a stand mixer or an electric hand mixer, start to whisk the egg whites, making sure the beaters are clean. Once they are white and frothy, add the sugar. Keep whisking until the egg whites are stiff and glossy. (Note: You should be able to tip the bowl upside down without anything falling out.)
- Then in the large mixing bowl, use the hand mixer to beat the egg yolks with the sugar until they turn pale yellow. Then, whisk in the mascarpone cheese, adding the vanilla extract at the end.
- To the mascarpone cream, gently fold in the egg whites ⅓ at a time.
- Mix the espresso and the chai in a bowl you can use to dip the ladyfingers in.
- Dip ladyfingers into the coffee mixture one by one, turning to coat each side and working quickly so they don’t disintegrate before you can lay them in your baking dish. A good rule of thumb is to count to 3 for each side.
- Lay ladyfingers in a glass or ceramic baking dish one by one. Spread mascarpone mixture over the top of the first layer of ladyfingers. Repeat this process with the remaining ladyfingers and dirty chai mixture until you run out of mascarpone. In my 9 inch quiche pan, I was able to get 2 layers each.
- Combine the topping spices in a small bowl and then either sprinkle over the top of the tiramisu or use a fine-meshed sieve to dust the top.
- Chill for 6 hours or overnight, covering with aluminum.
Notes
Notes:
If you are making the tiramisu for entertaining and you want the piping/spice topping to remain in tact, layer the tiramisu as you normally would, but leave the final mascarpone layer until you are ready to serve, storing the mascarpone filling for this layer in an airtight container until ready to use.
Make sure anything that touches the egg whites is clean and dry. A drop of water or egg yolk can keep the egg whites from forming stiff peaks.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!