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Chocolate tiramisu with chocolate peppermint mousse, homemade chocolate ladyfingers and peppermint bark.
I wanted to call this โChocolate Peppermint Tiramisuโ or โPeppermint Bark Tiramisu,โ but I ended up calling it โChristmas Tiramisuโ in my head, because a title like that willย implore me to make it once a year.
I hardly make the same recipe twice, yetย I am a stickler for holiday food.
We must eat the same things every holiday season, but I also want a few new dishes on the side.ย The new dishes are in the running for a permanent spot on the table, of course.
While my Mama will make the standard chocolate cream pie and something with coconut for the Christmas dessert table, I have plans on sliding this chocolate peppermint tiramisu into the mix.ย I think people will take a small sliver just to be nice, but then go back for a big helping.
At first, they wonโt want to mess up the pretty dots of mousse on the top. But then, theyโll start swiping their fingers through them as they cut more pieces. When weโre all done, it will look like a pack of raccoons joined us for Christmas.
I made homemade ladyfingers for this chocolate tiramisu because Iโve never been able to find chocolate lady fingers in the store!
I knew I wanted my tiramisu to have an excess of chocolate, so I turned to a Martha Stewart recipe, and made the full batch of fingers! I stored the rest in the freezer for future chocolate tiramisu escapades.
Chocolate tiramisu layers:
On top of chocolate lady fingers, you have a chocolate peppermint pudding/mousse thing.
Iโm not sure what to call it, really. Itโs mascarpone cheese whipped with melted chocolate, cream, and a dash of peppermint extract. Itโs seriously easy to make (it took me 4 minutes!), and if you want to just make that and call it a day, youโll be happy.
Layer everything together, but save the last of the chocolate peppermint mousse to pipe on top, prettily.
You know what else would make you happy? Gifting yourself a box of Peppermint Bark. Trust me, I did it, and itโs amazing. I always buy Williams-Sonoma peppermint bark for holiday gifts, but rarely buy myself a box..I just hit the Williams-Sonoma sample table several times while Iโm shopping, heh.
I crumbled peppermint bark in between the layers of ladyfingers and chocolate-peppermint mousse, and that is exactly what makes this worthy of our Christmas Dessert Table.
I hope you love this Chocolate Tiramisu with Peppermint Bark. I think it will become a new holiday classic in your kitchen!
Christmas Tiramisu
Chocolate Peppermint Tiramisu is perfect for the holidays!
Ingredients
- For the chocolate ladyfingers:
- 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, plus more for dusting
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 7 large egg whites
- 2/3 cup + 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 6 large egg yolks
- For the rest:
- 12-ounces chopped milk chocolate
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- 16-ounces mascarpone cheese
- 1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract
- 1/2 pound Williams-Sonoma peppermint bark, chopped
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350, and line a baking pan with parchment paper. (I don't recommend a silicone mat, it makes the cookies spread too much; parchment is best).
- Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, and salt. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. Then, slowly add 2/3 cup of the sugar while beating. You will have soft, shiny peaks when you're done.
- Wipe off the beaters, and beat the egg yolks and the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar until thick and pale, 3-4 minutes.
- Fold the yolk mixture into the whites completely, and then fold in the flour in two additions. Take your time, and fold the flour in slowly. It will take the better part of 5 minutes. Be sure to scrape the bottom of the bowl so you don't end up with flour crumbles!
- Move the batter into a piping bag fitted with a 1/2" tip.
- On the baking sheet, pipe ladyfingers 4" long, about 1/2 centimeter apart. I can get 3 rows of lady fingers on a standard size baking sheet. You will need 2 baking sheets. The batter will spread and touch, it's fine. Sprinkle cocoa powder on top.
- Bake for 14 minutes. They should be dry on the top. Let cool completely on the pan, and then use a knife to into ladyfinger shapes--it should be easy to tell where to slice, and they may even break apart at the line, too.
- Next, melt the chocolate and cream together in a medium bowl. Use a double boiler to melt the chocolate, or microwave at 50% power for 30 second intervals, stirring between each, until melted.
- Add the mascarpone and peppermint extract to the melted chocolate, and beat until light and fluffy. It will have the consistency of chocolate pudding.
- Have the peppermint bark ready on the side.
- In a 8x8" dish, layer ladyfingers, chocolate mousse and chopped peppermint bark 3 times. Put the last third of the chocolate mixture into a piping bag if you want dollops on top.
- Decorate with cocoa powder and crushed peppermint bark.
- I like to refrigerate this for a few hours to let it set, but take it out about 30 minutes before serving and let the chocolate on top soften.
Notes
*Chocolate ladyfinger recipe from Martha Stewart: http://www.marthastewart.com/312493/chocolate-ladyfingers-and-cake-rounds
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
10Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 631Total Fat: 44gSaturated Fat: 25gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 14gCholesterol: 209mgSodium: 346mgCarbohydrates: 47gFiber: 3gSugar: 35gProtein: 14g
ย
i have been patiently waiting for this recipe. chocolate peppermint is my fav and so it tiramisu so you have basically made my dream dessert.
Hooollly cow, between those ladyfingers and putting peppermint bark in tiramisu (!!), you are a dessert queen! I havenโt touched tiramisu since I made enough to serve 200 people a few years ago, but this might make me want to make it again :)
Oh my godโฆthis looks so delicious and dangerous!!
Yes! I got so excited when I saw your pictures peeking this on instagram! The WS peppermint park is ADDICTIVE, so thank you for giving me a way to not eat the whole tin on my own in one sittingโฆ
Iโm loving this idea of chocolate ladyfingers, why is this not a common thing? Whatโs wrong with the world? Sigh.
Looks amazing! Iโm going to try it this Christmasโฆ Sure my family would love it!
hey girl this looks amazing! yummy!
Dear Christina, Iโve been anticipating making this recipe for weeks while procuring ingredients, but my results were nothing short of disaster. The lady fingers turned out OK-ish. Ugly and chewy (are they supposed to be chewy and floppy, or more rigid and crunchy?) but definitely edible. Iโm not sure I folded the flour enough (I did 6 minutes), because they were a bit speckled in color, but the texture turned out fine regardless. However, the chocolate mousse was not even close to pudding consistency. It was like very, very dry crumbly peanut butter. Any ideas as to the likely culprit? I am at altitude (5000โฒ) so I did add a tablespoon of water when melting the chocolate. And I used melted bittersweet chocolate chips instead of chopped milk chocolate. Could that be it? Does mascarpone always have the consistency of cream cheese? Iโm perplexed. I ended up making the ugliest ever lady finger chocolate sandwiches, skipped the peppermint bark entirely. I canโt complain too much โ they are tasty! But man, so much time and effort for such a disasterโฆ would love any advice! please forgive me this is my first baking experience in years, I probably should have started with something simpler!
Oh gosh, Maggie! Iโm so sorry this happened to you! I can tell you right away that the pudding part was ruined by the water. Chocolate and water hate each other so much. It makes it seize (turn hard and crumbly). :( If you think chocolate needs a little help melting, shortening or oil is the thing to use.
As for the lady fingers, did you pipe them? I think theyโre a tad ugly, but since theyโre dunked and covered in mousse, I didnโt care much. I think theyโre still tasty though!
The type of chocolate you used is another culprit, too because milk chocolate has more sugar than bittersweet. Plus, chocolate chips have a waxy coating on them so they donโt melt in the oven (so chocolate chip cookies stay pretty), while chopped chocolate doesnโt have that coating, so it melts more easily and is smoother.
Again, Iโm so sorry this was such a disaster for you. I think the water was the main problem, and everything else would have come together smoothly :(
Wow, thank you so much for the speedy reply! Iโm still loving the pepperminty ladyfinger sandwiches, so not a huge loss. I needed a practice round before Christmas anyway. I did pipe the ladyfingers. I cut a little hole in the bottom of a gallon sized freezer bag โ but Iโm sure an actual piping bag would have yielded more pleasing shapes, so Iโll try to get one :) Thank you so much for all the insights on ingredients, especially about water + chocolate hatred! This will save me much future angst!