Updated 29 January, 2009
Originally published 14 January, 2007
This is the dessert that capped our Foodbuzz 24, 24, 24 meal.
I got this recipe from my good friend, Elizabeth, with whom I've been swapping recipes for a long time. She told me about a green tea tiramisu recipe that she was trying. I was so intrigued by the idea of "Asianifying" tiramisu that I had to try it myself.
I've since made green tea tiramisu a few times, and Nate has even taken a video of me making it. Nate has been requesting this dessert as his birthday cake ever since the first time I made it. Yes, that's how much he loves it.
It's So Easy!
Making green tea tiramisu couldn't be easier. I don't know where people get the idea that making tiramisu is a lot of work. It's not hard at all and yet the taste is so satisfying.
When you make it a green tea tiramisu (or green tea-ramisu, as Nate calls it), it's not that much more complicated than regular tiramisu. Granted, if you do it my way, it does take a bit more work to look so pretty. But trust me, even with the extra work, it's not any harder than baking a cake. And in this case, you don't even have to bake!
Use Fresh Matcha (Green Tea Powder)
From having made a few of these, I can tell you that the matcha that you buy does affect the color of your tiramisu. If it's very fresh, the matcha will turn your mascarpone mixture a bright green but if you let the matcha get too old, it'll start to lose the intensity of color and also the flavor. The one I made this last time used up the last of my matcha and the color was much lighter.
I did notice that the caffeine jolt though was lighter too compared to the first time I made it. The first time I made the green tea tiramisu, I got so wired after just sampling some of the mascarpone mix while making it. This time around, it didn't have the same effect. Go figure!
A Few More Green Tea Tiramisu-Making Tips
As for the making of green tea tiramisu, you really just need to get yourself some ladyfingers from the store. I've found that Trader Joe's carries them cheapest of all (but I also found out that they are now making it a seasonal thing so I was very fortunate to find them when I went a few weeks ago).
If you want, you could make a sponge cake to go with it but like I said, this is an easy recipe and you'd be spoiling that by having to BAKE!
The next thing you need to do is brew some very strong green tea (not too much), just about a cup's worth. Let that cool.
For the mascarpone portion of the recipe, I like to whip my egg yolks in a bowl over simmering water to cook the eggs a little. This is probably the hardest part as the egg yolks are really thick and gooey when you first get started on the whipping. (Of course if you don't care about heating your eggs up, then the work of whipping the yolks with sugar could be done on your electric mixer and then it would be no problem at all.)
Once the egg yolks are whipped to double its volume and pale in color, the rest of it is a breeze. Mix all other ingredients in and then on to assembly.
Now, if you're keeping it really simple, it's all a matter of layering. Soak ladyfingers, lay on bottom of pan, add a layer of mascarpone mixture, repeat. End with mascarpone mixture. Just before serving, dust on some matcha.
The end.
Alright, not quite the end. If you want to do the picket fences like what I did, first, you'd have to have a springform pan. Then you need to measure your ladyfingers against the side of the pan and cut the end off one side so that the ladyfinger will stand up just skimming the top of the pan. Cut enough ladyfingers to line them all up around the pan (flat side facing inward). Then do as the above instructions. Not that much more difficult right?
Green Tea Tiramisu
Ingredients
1-1 1/2 cups brewed green tea, cooled
ladyfingers or plain sponge cake (I ended up using a bit more than 2 boxes of ladyfingers, but that was because I doubled the recipe to do the picket fence)
Green Tea Mascarpone Mixture
3 egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
250g mascarpone cheese
1 cup heavy cream
1 tsp vanilla extract, or any orange-flavoured liqueur (such as Grand Marnier)
2 tsp matcha (green tea powder)
Method
1. Beat the egg yolks and sugar in a stainless steel bowl set over a pot of simmering water, until the mixture is pale yellow and has doubled in volume. Cool the mixture in an ice water bath.
2. In a mixer, beat the mascarpone cheese until smooth & creamy. Don't overbeat it or it will get clumpy (though if that happens, it's not the end, you can still smooth it out at the end with the cream).
3. Add the matcha powder in small amounts at a time, adjusting according to your taste. If you prefer a stronger matcha taste, feel free to add another teaspoon of matcha powder. Mix to blend well.
4. Fold the mascarpone cheese into the slightly cooled egg yolk mixture above.
5. In a separate bowl, whip the heavy cream to soft peaks. Add vanilla or orange liqueur, if using.
6. Fold the mascarpone mixture above into the whipped cream until well blended.
7. Dip each ladyfinger into the brewed green tea (don't let them sit in the tea too long or you'll get super soggy ladyfingers but give it a second or two so they do get a little soft). I use a pie plate so that it's easier to place the ladyfinger in the tea. I just roll the ladyfingers over to get them soaked then remove them and layer them on the bottom of a rectangular glass dish, pyrex dish or springform pan.
8. Spread the mascarpone cream mixture on top, and repeat layers until finished (for me, that is three ladyfinger layers and three mascarpone layers). The top layer should be the mascarpone cream layer.
9. Refrigerate for at least a couple of hours or preferably overnight to let it set well. I find that overnight is best.
10. Dust with matcha just before serving.
Green Tea Tiramisu
Green Tea Tiramisu: A Little Slice of Heaven
Here's the video Nate made of the Green Tea Tiramisu production process:
Cheers, Annie
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©2006-2010 House of Annie. House of Annie's text and photos are licensed under a Creative Commons 
32 Comments:
This looks YUMMY !! How come we don't get to taste all these good and sinful stuff ???
That looks so good! What an amazing green colour!
This looks like a nice twist! Looks really delicious. Love everything with green tea!
That looks crazy good! Those layers sure do something to muh soul. I'm going to try it out as I've got a bottle of matcha sitting for me, but I need to overcome my fear of it!
Thank you!
I am *SOOO* a sucker for macha!!!
Great fusion of cuisines!
I love the color of that tiramisu!
What a lovely color! I'm going to check out your 24 post right now!
This looks great! I love experimenting with traditional recipes. The color is amazing!
That is a thing of beauty, and what a nice spin on the traditional tiramisu!
the matcha color is really pretty!! I bought a big container of GT from KL,so far I just use less than 1/4 ,now I know what to do with it! Gong Xi Fatt Chai!
@all - thanks for your comments!
@Eunice - do try this recipe, you won't be sorry!
I think 'asianified' anything tastes good! This is a great recipe, I cant wait to try it. Thanks for the wonderful, detailed pictures and video.
yeah! Looks Good.
Again, as someone who was lucky enough to get invited over to try this, I can truthfully say this tiramisu is awesome. If you like the taste of matcha, you will love this Japanese take on an Italian classic.
Mascarpone can be replaced with cream cheese? What do u think Annie... Coz i prefer the texture and taste of cream cheese
Have you thought of trying green tea liqueur for moistening the ladyfingers? We make tiramisu and really like that alcoholic kick.
Gorgeous recipe!
It looks fantastic! Must try it out soon. ;)
@Veggie Belly - you're welcome!
@Carolyn - thank you so much for your kind comments. You're making me verklempt! ;-)
@Tucky - they are similar in texture. Try it out and let us know how it works for you!
@Katie - I've never heard of green tea liqueur before! Very interesting. What does it taste like? I'm pretty sure you could use it in place of the Grand Marnier. Try it out and let us know!
Ahhh! I love green tea! Looks yummy! :)
I really like your thought process behind this dish and I might have a play with it myself, good post
@grub - go for it!
I love this - what a beautiful dessert!
i just made this dessert last night. I absolutely love it! so did my lunch guests!!
@ee - woo hoo! That's so nice to hear. Thanks for commenting.
Interesting article about green tea. Has learnt a lot of new about this surprising plant and a drink. On my blog the theme of curative properties of green tea too is discussed. I will necessarily put the reference to your blog.
help!!!!!!!!! i've made your green tea tiramisu before, at least 3-4 times when it has come out heavenly!
but the last 3 times it has been a complete FLOP!
it just turns into watery mush!!! what's wrong!?!
i was mixing the egg yolk and the green macha mascarpone and mixing it when all of a sudden it just turned into watery MUSH!
i'm so upset! what am i doing wrong!?!
Thanks for recipe, i will make for my dinner party at saturday,look unique
Pauls
Green Tea
looks awesome and tasty!!
Hihi!
anyone can help? Is thickened cream the same as heavy cream? Or should I use double cream? I don't have heavy cream here! I have read through the net and it's all so CONFUSING!
I tried this recipe yesterday and was so dismay to find that my thickened cream wasn't whipping up!
I used my kitchenaid on speed 4 for at least 7~8 minutes and it wasn't whipping up to form soft peaks! It was lumpy and when I add in the vanilla essence, it all turn watery and lumpy!
i went ahead to layer with the mushy mix and it's now in the fridge.
I can't help but dip my finger in and the taste was AMAZING!
I really want to try it again. Can anyone help?
sorry for this long comment.
Es
ee--I'm sorry I didn't respond sooner. I didn't notice your comment until just now. I don't really know why your mix turned to a mush. I'm wondering if your mascarpone was overbeaten? Or maybe your egg yolk wasn't beaten enough? I don't have enough information to be able to help you out. The only thing I can say is that if you've had success before, then you should try again. Make sure that you beat the egg yolks until they are very pale in color.
es--being that I just moved back to Asia, I can understand your confusion. I too am having a hard time finding heavy cream here. You have to look for whipping cream here. They do have that but they add stabilizers to it. Try that and you should be able to whip it to soft peaks. I am not too sure about thickened cream since I have not used that. Try asking around in the baking shops if you're not sure what to do--just tell them you want cream that will whip up to soft peaks and see if they can help you. I'm glad you liked the flavors even if your mix was lumpy. The good thing about tiramisu is that you can eat it out of a glass and just use a spoon to scoop it up. So all is not lost! Hope this helps.
could i ask, for this recipe, how big was the baking pan uused?
9 inch? 8 inch?
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