Matchamisu: The Magic of Matcha Tiramisu

Everyone loves tiramisu but have you ever tried matcha tiramisu? This delicious version of tiramisu uses matcha powder in place of coffee. My version is based on an authentic tiramisu recipe that I learned how to make in Italy. For this tiramisu I made my own adaptions using an additional ingredient that makes this out of this world delicious! This is a pushy recipe if you love matcha Dear Reader!

An authentic tiramisu uses raw egg yolks and whites so please use fresh eggs for your tiramisu. I noticed that a lot of tiramisu recipes use whipped cream in place of whisked egg white and that's fine if you prefer to avoid raw egg whites. You can also whisk the egg yolks and sugar over a double boiler if you want the egg yolks to be more cooked. However you have to ensure that the egg yolk mixture is cooled and chilled before adding the cream, otherwise your mascarpone cream will deflate and you won't get those lovely layers of mascarpone cream and dipped lady finger biscuits.

I made a few goes of this matcha tiramisu, I found the mascarpone cream was fine but it was missing something. Then I remembered my favourite matcha cake which is made with matcha and white chocolate. And blow me down with a feather but this was the missing ingredient! White chocolate really balances the bitterness of the matcha. When I realised that I couldn't wait to make the new version.

Tips for Making Matcha Tiramisu

1 - I buy a new packet of matcha for this recipe because when matcha ages it loses its bright green colour. You can buy it in smaller quantities and you will need around 25g/1ozs of matcha for this recipe.

2 - Store matcha in the fridge but allow it to come to temperature before using it.

3 - Most kettles boil water to 100C/212F because that is the best temperature for black tea but green tea or matcha needs 80C/176F. If you have a setting on your kettle for green tea use that.

4 - If you can't have raw egg whites, replace the 3 egg whites with 300ml/10.6ozs cream (in addition to the cream already specified)

5 - If you can't eat raw egg yolks, whisk the yolks and sugar over a double boiler using an electric whisk. You can also whisk this by hand but it's time consuming to get it thick enough. Then add the mascarpone and then cool this mixture completely before adding the whipped cream.

6 - This recipe below fits a 2.7 litre glass dish that was 8cm (H) x 28cm (W) x 21.5cm (D) / 3.1-inch (H) x 11-inch (W) x 8.5-inch (D) from Kmart. This also comes with a lid which is good for covering this up.

My calendar for recipe development is carefully balanced. It hinges on a few things but one thing that might surprise people is that it hinges on who I am going to see that week because they will be the people that will be gifted the food, particularly desserts. Every time I make savoury food it gets eaten for dinner but because I tend to make so many desserts I have to distribute them.

Mr NQN likes dessert but he doesn't like cake and he doesn't like matcha so I needed to ensure that I would be seeing people that loved matcha and desserts, especially since I usually make a few versions of a dessert before I release the recipe. I scheduled one tiramisu to be ready to scoop (it has to sit in the fridge overnight) just before meeting up with Monica and Georgie. Then my final version was waiting for Yuki who was house and dog sitting for us while we were away for our wedding anniversary.

I was leaving Yuki a message after a particularly busy day. I don't know about you but by the end of the day my fingers are so sore and I need to rest them because I use my phone so much. I've started dictating everything rather than typing and when I'm really tired, I just send me friends voice notes. I was telling Yuki about where the keys were (we didn't want to forget them like last time!) and I was telling her the code to the lockbox. I was busy dictating this all to her in a DM but Mr NQN piped up. "Why don't you write it in all caps?".

"I was going to, just leave me to do it! I'm just dictating this and then I'll go back and edit it," I said exasperatedly because I'm convinced that sometimes he thinks I'm hopeless when it is I that organises everything and he just shows up wondering what the plan is.

I hit send and then went about doing the rest of the organisation for our anniversary weekend away. After a while I opened Instagram again and realised that the entire conversation was recording including our little squabble. Thankfully Yuki hadn't seen it or she may have been a touch confused (or not) about what we were saying! I quickly deleted it and resent a new one making sure that Mr NQN didn't interject.

So tell me Dear Reader, do you like matcha? Are your fingers sore by the end of the day?

Matcha Tiramisu

An Original Recipe by Lorraine Elliott

Preparation time: 30 minutes plus overnight sitting time

Cooking time: 0 minutes

Serves: 8-10 people

This recipe is best made the day before

• 1/2 cup/125ml/4flozs water (80C/176F)
• 1 tablespoons matcha powder
• 2 tablespoons caster or superfine sugar
• 3 egg whites (around 110g/3.9ozs)
• 1 pinch salt
• 5 egg yolks (around 90g/3ozs)
• 150g/5ozs. caster or superfine sugar
• 2 teaspoons matcha powder
• 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
• 500g/1.1lbs. mascarpone, room temperature
• 2 tablespoons marsala
• 600ml/21flozs thickened or pure cream
• 200g/7ozs white chocolate, finely blitzed
• 200g/7ozs. savoiardi/sponge fingers/ lady fingers
• 3 teaspoons matcha powder to sprinkle

Notes: I used a 2.7 litre glass dish that was 8cm (H) x 28cm (W) x 21.5cm (D) / 3.1-inch (H) x 11-inch (W) x 8.5-inch (D) from Kmart.

You will need around 25g/1oz of matcha powder for this recipe.

Step 1 - First make the matcha dip so that it has time to cool. Whisk the water, matcha powder and sugar together and place in a shallow sided bowl that can fit the sponge fingers to cool. If you have a matcha whisk that works really well.

Step 2 - Whisk egg whites until stiff with a pinch of salt. Set aside. In another bowl whisk the cream until soft peaks and set aside in the fridge. Then whisk the egg yolks with sugar, matcha and vanilla until the mixture is pale and fluffy and then whisk in the mascarpone and marsala. Then switch to a spatula and fold in the whipped cream and the egg whites gently so as not to deflate them too much. Lastly fold in the white chocolate. You should have a light, fluffy thick creamy mixture.

Step 3 - Apply a layer of mascarpone cream on the base of a serving dish. Dip the ladyfingers in the matcha dip allowing the excess to drip off. Place a layer of these on top of the cream - for this sized tray I used 10 per layer. Then add another layer of cream and then a layer of matcha dipped ladyfingers and then a final layer of cream using a palette knife to smooth over the surface.

Step 4 - Allow to set in the fridge, preferably overnight. When ready to serve, dust with the extra matcha powder (if you add the matcha powder before serving it, it will absorb and turn a dark green colour.