Almost Tiramisu Double Espresso Chocolate Layer Cake

This double espresso chocolate layer cake is the nearest thing you can get to tiramisu in cake form. The two-layered cake is sandwiched together with mascarpone frosting and can be made with either regular or spelt flour.

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I’ve wanted to make a tiramisu for ages but one thing has put me off: lady fingers. What is it with lady fingers? Why are they even called that? And is it just me, or are they pretty revolting? I guess it’s just me.

While we’re at it, I am not overly keen on the taste of alcohol (and before my friends grass me up for being a liar, I mean in cakes, not in general).

So, given these hurdles, I decided to make my very own almost tiramisu inspired chocolate layer cake. It has the mascarpone, the heavily sprinkled cocoa, and the coffee soaked cake. Not completely authentic, but as close as it gets.

Coffee features heavily in this double espresso chocolate layer cake. No surprises there. I love coffee. I simply can’t function without my morning shot of caffeine. And I love it almost as much (if not more) when it’s in my cakes.

So, given my penchant for the brown stuff, you can imagine my screech of euphoric glee when Gourmesso.com asked me if I’d like to try some of their Nespresso replacement coffee capsules. Oh, yes.

Why you should add coffee to your chocolate cakes

Regular readers will know how much I use coffee in my chocolate cakes. Every kind of chocolate cake loves coffee. I mean really loves it. Like, let’s get down the aisle as quick as we can, kind of love.

Coffee does something bordering on magical with the chocolate flavour, intensifying it to the point of sublimity. It’s particularly noticeable in fudgy creations, like this Nutella brownie cake or caramel brownies.

However, despite the indisputable evidence (fabulous chocolate cakes don’t lie), many people are simply unwilling to accept the truth. One of my absolute favourite bloggers, and queen of all things cake, Amanda Rettke, (the driving force behind I am Baker), has regularly discussed the subject.

Amanda’s obviously had so much grief about using coffee in chocolate cakes that she’s even just gone to the lengths of making a cake and proclaiming it has no coffee. Guys, we’re not talking about adding custard to your cake; now that would be horrendous. It’s coffee. It’s delicious. You can’t taste it in cakes. Please try it. For me? You’ll never look back, I promise.

So, stepping down off my soapbox, where were we? Ah, the recipe. Now, joking aside, if you are really put off by the thought of coffee in your cakes, this beauty is perhaps not for you – it is full of the stuff.

Mascarpone desserts

Forgetting about coffee for a second though, there is way more going on with a rich, chocolate sponge and lashings of creamy, sweet mascarpone frosting. The frosting is just mascarpone and icing sugar (with no butter or cream cheese), and I liked the simplicity of it. Mascarpone also adds a lightness, such as in my white chocolate and lime dessert and in creamy cheesecakes. I left the cake naked (anyone else titter when they see a cake referred to as naked? Or is that just me, again?), but you could easily make more frosting and cover it all.

I actually loved the contrast between the dark sponge and white frosting and taste wise, don’t think it needs a full covering.

This cake appeared in my collection of 31 spectacular spelt cakes.

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