Leftover Christmas cake becomes TiramiYu(le)
A Puglia Kitchen Christmas crossover dish
Here’s a recipe for TiramiYule, inspired by our traditional Puglia Kitchen tiramisù recipe, adapted for using leftover Christmas cake. This festive twist swaps the traditional coffee-soaked ladyfingers for rich, spiced Christmas cake, complementing the mascarpone cream for a dessert full of holiday flavours.
You can layer this in true tiramisù style. But we prefer to break up the heavier Christmas cake into bite size morsels and fold them gently into the tiramisù zabaglione.
We don’t dip the Christmas cake in coffee in this recipe. It’s the Christmas flavours we want to come through. Instead we drizzle the cold espresso to the mascarpone mix before folding in the beaten egg whites.
As Christmas cake is traditionally already boozy, we don’t think it’s necessary to add any more liquor. But you can, if your leftover cake is a little less moist. We use Elisir San Marzano, from Taranto, which works perfectly as it has an almost chocolatey richness. But you can use Marsala wine or spiced rum. Alternatively some orange juice works just as well.
For this you will need:
- Leftover Christmas cake: About 200g, broken into bite size morsels
- Mascarpone cheese: 230g
- Eggs: 2 large, separated
- Caster sugar: 40g
- Orange zest: 1 orange, finely grated
- Espresso : 1 small espresso cup, cold
- Cocoa powder mixed with a pinch of cinnamon powder: For dusting
Method:
Whisk the egg whites until stiff and set aside.
In a separate bowl, whisk the egg yolks until pale and voluminous. Then whisk in the mascarpone cheese a little at a time, until smooth and well combined.
Add the cold espresso to the mascarpone mix now, and whisk it through. Next grate two-thirds of the orange zest inti the mascarpone mixture. Gently fold in the whisked egg whites using a large metal spoon. Be careful not to knock out too much air.
Crumble the Christmas cake pieces into the mixture, as evenly as possible. Gently fold them in.
Spoon the mixture into individual serving glasses and chill for at least 6 hours (but overnight is better). Before serving, dust with the cocoa powder and cinnamon powder and grate the remaining orange zest over the top of each glass.
For more on the original inspiration, check out the Puglia Guys’ traditional tiramisu recipe. For more Puglia Kitchen Christmas crossover recipes:
Orecchiette pasta with leftover sprouts and stuffing
