March 24, 2007

You Can Pick Me Up Anytime!


This cake will pick you up too! Why? Because it’s tiramisu, (which literally means ‘pick me up’) in cake form. Oooh, fancy! When Emily of Chocolate in Context, announced the theme for this round of Sugar High Friday was raw chocolate I had no idea what I would be making because I’d never used it before. This is a good thing though because it forced me to try something new. But it was also a problem because where I live there’s not a whole lot of places to find raw chocolate. Or chocolate. Or stores. Or people. There are cows though. Moooo. After much searching and a hint from a friendly cow, I found some cacao nibs. The next step was finding a recipe so naturally the first place I looked was Dorie’s book. Nuts! Nothing called for cacao nibs, but they were listed in the glossary where it said they could be used to replace chocolate chips. Interesting. Lots of Dorie recipes called for chocolate chips. I had lots to choose from but just to be fair, I scanned some of my other books and the internet to look for an alternative recipe, but my heart wasn’t in it. Dorie or die! And so I looked through Baking: From My Home to Yours for the umpteenth time and I came to rest at a recipe that could kill two birds with one stone. A while back I made alfajores as I was challenged by Marce of Pip in the City to do so and at the end of that post I said I was always up for a challenge if anyone had any other suggestions for me. Lis of La Mia Cucina said she wanted to see my take on tiramisu.



Well, here it is! It’s actually Dorie’s take on tiramisu by turning it into a cake, combined with my take on SHF by substituting cacao nibs for chocolate chips in between the layers and on top of the cake. Oh and it has Armagnac in it instead of kahlua. As you may have noticed, I’m hooked on Armagnac right now. Soon I’ll find a new flavour and use it in everything, but for now, it’s Armagnac. I was happy with how this cake turned out. I think it’s pretty and it only gets better with time! It has the elements of a classic tiramisu but it’s served as a cake instead of in a bowl which, in my opinion, makes it much more elegant. You can’t get a perfect slice of a traditional tiramisu, you just get a glob on a plate. Sure it looks nice in the bowl, but you can’t eat it without ruining it! That’s why a tiramisu cake is so much better. And in this case you also get the added bonus of cacao nibs, what’s not to love? I have a feeling cacao nibs will be making many more appearances here… Look out Armagnac, you’ve got competition!




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26 comments:

K and S said...

That cake looks so scrumptious! And with cacao nibs! I'll have to give this cake a try :)

Anonymous said...

Absolutely gorgeous, and as a huge fan of anything with cacao nibs, I'm a big fan of the substitution :D

Alpineberry Mary said...

Oh, it would be torture if I didn't have easy access to chocolate. :)

Very smart to use the nibs instead of choc chips in your nib-a-misu.

MyKitchenInHalfCups said...

Cocoa nibs...Looks lush and moist...love all the layering.
Beautiful cake.

Peabody said...

I have considered making this many a time...now I might have to.

Meeta K. Wolff said...

Pick me up now so I can have a bite of this cake. The nibs are a great addition. Love it.

Anonymous said...

What a beautiful cake and being tiramisu makes it even more beautiful to this tiramisu loving foodie.

Jenny said...

How pretty! And what a creative way to use the SHF theme! (Gives pat on the back to Brilynn!)

Anne said...

Such a lovely cake! Yum yum :)

rkhooks said...

Give me a slice of this cake anyday! Cocoa nibs, great idea. Definetly one to use to impress the frenchies coming for dinner next week.

Lis said...

Awwwwwwww yay!! I knew your spin would be something I'd drool over!

What a cool way to use the nibs, too. Heck yeah, they'd work perfectly in a tiramisu - genius!

'kay your next challenge is to send me a slice.. soon. please. with sugar - err.. nibs on top. ;)

xoxo

Patricia Scarpin said...

Brilynn, I'm in awe - this is a stunning cake!

I've never eaten cocoa nibs - now I'm even more curious. :D

Freya said...

Nice use of the nibs! They have a great taste don't they? The cake looks delicious!

Alicia said...

I'd say you're right on the presentation part, your cake will look better on the table [& on my plate;-)] anyday!

Sara said...

Yum! I've never even seen cacao nibs.

Helene said...

I made that Tiramisu cake for a friend's bday the first day I got the book. Loved it, but I like your cocoa nib substitution even more!
beautiful cake!

Maria of Passion Fruit & Mangos said...

I love tiramisu- and your take on it looks marvelous! And the cocoa nibs- spectacular idea! I wanted to cook with cocoa nibs also, but I couldn't find any- perhaps when I do find some I shall have to try your take of Dorie's tiramisu, I can only imagine that the cocoa nibs and armagnac make it out of this world!

Anonymous said...

ooooo yummy! i have a challange, i have a ton of fudge sauc ein my freeze that is really thick, i really need to do something with it besides eating it out of the container with a fork (hehe). so yeah i challange you to make soemthing with fudge sauce besides pouring it over ice cream! thanks
katrina

Anonymous said...

I never knew what tiramisu meant! That is so cool, now I like it even more. :)


Ari (Baking and Books)

Carol Blymire said...

Knock it off. I thought the UN outlawed torture. Those photos are just MEAN.

Anonymous said...

wow i'm getting high just looking at it :D

Anh said...

This cake is so wonderfully done!

Anonymous said...

What a fantastic entry!

Unknown said...

I've looked at this cake several times and it looks FANTASTIC! Yours is beautiful. Hopefully, I'll get a chance to make it sometime.

thecoffeesnob said...

Wow this looks gorgeous. You have such strong willpower. I would have just dug right in without snapping a photo and probably polished it all off there and then. What i wouldn't give to have that for breakfast now.

Jacqueline said...

it must have been such a long time ago. but it really did look AMAZING. would it be okay if you can share your recipe?
xoxo
jackie