Chocolate Tiramisu Recipe | Food Diaries | Zarnak Sidhwa | Dessert

METHOD:
To make the chocolate spread ganache, gently heat chocolate spread, cocoa and 100ml cream. To make the mascarpone cream, beat egg yolks and sugar until thick and pale. Add mascarpone or cream cheese and remaining 150ml cream, and whisk until thick and combined. Beat egg whites till stiff peaks form. Gently fold egg whites into the mascarpone mixture, then chill for 1 hour or until set. To assemble the tiramisu, put coffee dissolved in warm water in a shallow dish. Dip biscuits one by one into the coffee mixture for just a second, and place them on the base of a glass dish. Sprinkle half the hazelnuts or almonds, then spoon over half the chocolate spread ganache, using a palette knife to spread evenly. Top with half the mascarpone cream and spread evenly. Repeat with remaining biscuits, hazelnuts and ganache. For the top layer, transfer remaining mascarpone cream to a piping bag fitted with a plain nozzle. Pipe 2cm rounds over tiramisu. Chill for 2 hours or overnight to set slightly. Dust with extra cocoa powder just before serving.

Method:
Cook the potatoes in a large pan of boiling salted water until tender. Drain well, mash until smooth. For the filling, melt 50gm of the butter. Add the leek and season, cover and cook until just soft. Stud the onion halves with the cloves and put them into a pan. Add the milk, cream, bay leaves and fish. Bring just up to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 8 minutes or until the fish is just cooked. Set aside fish until cool. Strain the milk mixture into a jug, discarding the flavourings left in the sieve. Flake the cooled fish into a bowl in large pieces. Stir in the prawns and cooked leeks. Boil the eggs for 8 minutes, then drain and leave to cool. Peel and thickly slice. Meanwhile, melt the remaining 50gm butter in a saucepan, then stir in the flour and cook gently for 1 minute. Remove from the heat and gradually stir in the strained milk mixture. Return to the heat and bring to the boil, stirring all the time. Add the grated cheese, parsley, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Stir three quarters of the sauce into the fish mixture, then spoon it into a deep pie dish. Put a pie funnel in the centre of the filling, then arrange the eggs on top. If you don’t have a pie funnel, roll a few layers of foil into a tube and place upright in the centre of the pie dish. Pour over the rest of the sauce, then set the pie dish aside for the filling to go cold.
To make the pastry, mix flour, baking powder, salt and pepper. Put in a food processor. Add the chilled butter and whizz briefly until the mixture looks like fine breadcrumbs. Add the cold mashed potato and mix quickly using the pulse button. Tip the mixture into a bowl, then add the water (how much will depend on how dry your potatoes are) and stir gently until the mixture starts to stick together. Tip out onto a lightly floured surface, bring together gently into a ball, then knead very briefly until just smooth. Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface into a circle slightly larger than the top of the pie dish, then cut a small cross in the centre for the pie funnel. Trim a thin strip all the way around the edge of the pastry, brush with a little beaten egg, then press it onto the rim of the dish and brush with a little more beaten egg. Lay the large pastry round over the dish so the funnel pokes through the cross, pressing firmly onto the rim of the dish. Trim away the excess pastry, then crimp the edges with your forefinger and thumb to form a better seal.
Brush the top of the pie all over with beaten egg, then decorate with little fish or leaves cut from the pastry trimmings and brush with egg. Bake at 180 degrees C for 45-50 minutes, covering loosely with a sheet of foil if it’s browning a bit too quickly, until the filling is bubbling hot and the pastry is an even golden brown. Remove the pie funnel and serve.