Chocolate Tiramisu Cake with Berries
My Perfect Birthday Cake
Jump to RecipeThis is a combination of my favorite desserts in a cake. Growing up, my mum wanted to make a cake for my birthday every year, but my favorite things that she makes are not cake. They are tiramisu and mousse au chocolat. And because my birthday is in August, there are always strawberries or raspberries involved. But, since moving to Denmark, I am usually not at home for my birthday, so I started to make a cake for myself. And this is the perfect cake in my opinion. It’s full of chocolate, with a hint of tiramisu and berries on top to balance out the richness of the chocolate and to make it look more impressive.
I first developed this cake together with my friend Janina and have since made different versions of it – sometimes with one layer, sometimes with two, sometimes with strawberries, sometimes with raspberries and blueberries. Whatever you feel like. I also made a Swiss roll version which you can find here for something lighter and quicker. To be honest, it’s very easy to make and doesn’t take too long for a layered cake. I honestly should make it more often. But we want to keep it for special occasions. So, here’s what you need to know:
Chocolate Tiramisu Cake with Berries
Course: Dessert, Cake, Sweet12
servings30
minutes170
CelsiusMy perfect combination of chocolate, tiramisu and berries in a cake.
Ingredients
- For the cake:
200g dark chocolate
100g butter
80g caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract or whatever vanilla you have available
4 medium eggs
1 tbsp flour
1tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt
- For the cream:
250g mascarpone
200g quark or skyr
2 tbsp milk or heavy cream (optional)
3 tbsp powdered sugar
1 ½ tbsp cocoa powder
1 shot of espresso
3 drops of bitter almond extract or 1 shot of amaretto
- Topping:
300g strawberries or 200g raspberries
100g blueberries
Directions
- Heat up the oven to 170C (fan setting).
- Melt the chocolate and butter in a bowl over steaming water. Don’t let the bowl touch the water and don’t boil the water too much. Stir occasionally. When melted, take it off the heat and whisk in the sugar and vanilla while it’s still warm.
- While it’s cooling down, you can line a round cake tin (18 cm) with baking paper. It’s easiest if you fold the sheet in its middle a few times until you have a triangle, hold the tip over the middle of the cake tin and then cut the end off where it meets the edge of the cake tin.
- When the mixture is cooled down slightly you can mix in the eggs with a whisk. It’s important that it’s not too hot anymore so that the eggs don’t cook, but that should only take a few minutes.
- Fold in the flour, baking powder and salt.
- Bake for 30-35 min at 170C. The cake is best if it’s still a bit soft in the center like a brownie.
- While the cake is baking you can prepare the cream. This is basically just mixing everything together. You can start by whisking the mascarpone, quark, milk and powdered sugar on high speed to create some air. Then mix in the cocoa powder, espresso and bitter almond extract. You can adjust the proportion to your taste here. While the cake is still baking or cooling down, you can store the cream in the fridge. This will let it firm up a bit and better hold its shape.
- When the cake is cooled down you can cut it in the middle to create two layers or you can leave it as is. Then I would just maybe half the amount of cream as well otherwise it gets too much.
- Spread half of the cream on the bottom layer, put the top layer on top and spread the other half or the cream on it. You can do this as neat as possible or just leave it rustic. You can also cover it on the sides with cream, whatever you prefer. I like to see the chocolate layers as well so I keep it quite easy.
- Lastly, top with the berries of your choice and whatever toppings you want. This is the part to let your creativity out. Or just look on pinterest for inspiration. That’s what I do.
Notes
- I like to use mascarpone and quark as a base for the cream as it’s enough fat while not being too heavy and includes some protein. Not that we are trying to be healthy, but the chocolate is already heavy so the quark balances that out. But you could also substitute a part with whipped cream, crème fraiche or yoghurt. Just be careful that it doesn’t become too liquid.
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