Today we had L's parents over for a pre-Christmas lunch. L and I will be heading off to Germany for a cold Christmas in the Northern hemisphere.
After prawns and turkey that had been prepared by L, I brought out my dessert. I had made speculoos or speculatius tiramisu, both names are used in Australia. Aldi was recently selling speculatius, which to me is a traditional Christmas biscuit.
I love the gentle spice of the crunchy biscuit and it goes perfectly with a cup of coffee. So I thought why not give the traditional tiramisu a bit of a twist?
Speculatius Tiramisu
3 fresh eggs
60g sugar
250g mascarpone
4 tbsp Amaretto
pinch of salt
100ml Espresso
200-250g speculatius biscuits
cocoa powder
Make the espresso and combine with three tablespoons of amaretto. Let cool. Separate the eggs. In a bowl, cream together the egg yolks and half the sugar until light and creamy. While beating on low speed add the mascarpone one tablespoon at a time and add one tablespoon of amaretto.
In a separate bowl beat the egg whites together with a pinch of salt until it forms peaks. While mixing, slowly add the other half to the sugar to the egg white mixture. Carefully fold the egg white mixture under the mascarpone.
Pour the cooled espresso mixture in a shallow container, dip half the speculatius biscuits in the espresso mixture and put in the bottom of a rectangular form or in the bottom of 4 individual glasses. I actually made one layer and added another few biscuits on top, to make the base a little thicker. Top with half the mascarpone mixture. Dip the remaining biscuits in the espresso and put on top of the cream. Use the other half of the mascarpone mixture to top again. Cover and let cool in the fridge for a few hours. When serving, sprinkle cocoa powder on top using a fine sieve. If you want you can use a paper star stencil or other christmas themed decoration.
