Pumpkin Tiramisu

Tiramisu is my favorite. dessert. ever. My love affair for the coffee-soaked cake began as a child, obviously passed down from my mother. We would each ask for it every year as our birthday cake, special ordered from only the classiest of bakeries restaurants, The Olive Garden.

I know what you're thinking. The Olive Garden? But that's the classy establishment that I go to for bottomless soup, salad and breadsticks (also all you can eat pasta during that one month of the year). I've never heard about their tiramisu. Well bitches, I'm hear to set you straight. The Olive Garden, hands down, has the best, most decadent, rich-but-light-at-the-same-time tiramisu in America! Go get some now.

I digress. Last month, while browsing Camille Styles, I found a recipe for pumpkin tiramisu. Whaaat?! I emailed my mom right away and said we must try it for Thanksgiving. Our all-time, favorite tiramisu getting up, close and weird with the Thanksgiving, classic pumpkin? It's was our destiny to make it.

The recipe turned out super well. The overall flavor of the tiramisu was definitely the amaretto, so if you love amaretto, this recipe is for you! I was hoping for more of a pumpkin flavor, so I think if I make it again, I'll add more pumpkin and less amaretto. Overall though, it was tasty and beautiful; and although there are a lot of steps, it was super easy to make.

Pumpkin Tiramisu (original recipe here)
Makes 8 (huge) servings

INGREDIENTS:

Cake
3 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 cup sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup oil (I used Canola)
4 eggs, room temp
1 15-ounce can pumpkin pie filling (I used pumpkin puree and added pumpkin pie spices)
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp orange zest

Almond Syrup
1 cup water
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup amaretto liqueur

Filling
1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
2 tbsp powdered sugar
pinch of cream of tarter
1 1/2 cups mascarpone
2 vanilla bean seeds (I used 4 tsp of vanilla extract)
2 tbsp amaretto liqueur
1 bag of amaretto cookies, crushed

TO MAKE CAKE:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter two, 9-inch, round cake pans. Spray with cooking spray, then line the bottom of pans with parchment paper; spray again and dust pans with flour (this step is super important to a layer cake, so your cakes don't stick and look pretty and even).

Sift flour, baking soda, baking flour and salt into a bowl. In a different bowl, beat sugar and oil with a mixer until combined. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating until well blended after each addition. Add pumpkin pie filling (or pumpkin puree with 1 tbsp pumpkin pie spice), vanilla and orange zest; beat until well blended. Add flour mixture; beat on low until just incorporated. Divide batter between pans. Smooth tops.

Bake cakes about 40-50 minutes, until knife comes out clean in the center. Cool cakes completely in pans on rack. Run knife around cakes to loosen. Invert cakes onto racks; remove parchment paper. Turn cakes over, rounded side up. Using a serrated knife, trim rounded tops of cakes to level, then cut

TO MAKE SYRUP:

In a saucepan, combine water and sugar. Bring mixture to a boil and boil for 5 minutes. Strain into a bowl, allow to cool, then cover and store in the fridge.

When ready to use, mix in amaretto

TO MAKE FILLING:

In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat whipping cream until soft peaks form. Add powdered sugar and cream of tartar. Beat again until stiff peaks form.

Combine mascarpone, vanilla and amaretto in a bowl. Beat with a whisk to combine. Fold into whipped cream.

TO ASSEMBLE:
Brush a couple spoonfuls of amaretto syrup onto the cut side of each cake

Put the first layer, uncut side down, on a cake stand and spoon a layer of mascarpone filling over the top. Sprinkle a layer of crushed amaretto cookies over the filling.

Repeat this process until al the cake layers are used. Drizzle a little extra syrup over the top layer. Enjoy. Stores in the refrigerator.




Image from here