People think I’m weird when I tell them I LOVE Pesach (Passover) for its food. I really do! I think Matzahs are such great canvas to create all kind of yummy dishes… This time matzahs really found their True Destiny! Dipped in a delicious mocha blend of Cocoa, Coffee and Brandy they are so perfect as layers to this AMAZING cake. It’s one of those bites that make you close your eyes and do a little dance 🙂 if you know what I mean… It is a MUST Passover dessert…
You will need
8 Matzahs
3 tbsp. Cocoa Powder
4 (3 + 1) cups Milk
2 tsp. Instant Coffee powder or Espresso
2 cups Heavy Whipping Cream
1 cup (8 oz. / 225 gram) Mascarpone @room temperature
2 tbsp. Instant Pudding Powder-vanilla flavor
1 tsp. Vanilla Paste
1½ (1 + ½) cups Powdered Sugar
½ cup Caramelized Pecans
1 tbsp. Brandy
Topping:
Shaved Chocolate or Chocolate curls
Cocoa Powder
Let’s get to work!
Lets start by making the mascarpone cream:
In a stand mixer combine 1 cup of milk with mascarpone cheese (make sure the cheese is at room temperature), vanilla paste, instant pudding powder and 1 cup of powdered sugar.
Start the mixer on slow and gradually rise up the speed.
When the ingredients are combined, add the heavy whipping cream and continue whipping it until the cream starts to become stiff.
Starting with medium speed and increasing to high, this will take about 3 minutes.
Don’t over whip the cream. When the cream is ready, cover the bowl and move to the refrigerator to cool and firm up.
Caramelized pecans are soooo good! Their flavor compliments the Tiramisu taste and their crunch elevates the cake’s texture.
Chop the pecans and set them aside.
Making Mocha Blend:
In a medium saucepan combine cocoa powder with ½ cup of powdered sugar add 3 cups of milk on medium heat.
Use a whisk and mix well to incorporate the ingredients together.
Add instant coffee and mix to combine. Allow the blend to warm and just as it starts to simmer, turn off the heat.
Add the Brandy and mix again.
Pour the warm blend into a large dish that will allow you to soak in the matzah pieces whole. My rectangle lasagna dish helps me with this task.
To build your Tiramisu Cake, you will need a rectangular casserole dish, mine is about 13” by 8.5” – just almost enough for 2 matzahs as a layer…Dip the matzahs into the mocha blend and let them hang for 2 or 3 minutes, make sure both sides are getting some liquid and that they are equally soaked.
We are building this cake in four layers – two matzahs for each layer. I had to trim some of the matzahs in order for them to fit into the cake dish.
Place your first layer of matzahs at the bottom of the dish.
Add some of the mascarpone cream on top (a little more than a quarter of the cream).
Spread it nicely with a spatula.
Add another layer of matzahs and cream again. On this second layer of cream sprinkle the chopped caramelized pecans. This will give this very smooth and soft cake some nice crunch and texture.
Once again put another layer of matzahs and cream.
Lastly, the last layer of matzahs and top with the rest of the cream (just a smaller amount for the very top). Cover the Pyrex dish with plastic wrap and move to the refrigerator to cool and firm. I like to freeze the cake and take it out a few minutes before serving – it makes the cutting job a lot easier and the pieces come out nicely.
When you are ready to serve, cut a piece onto a serving plate sift a little cocoa powder on top and add some chocolate curls (or grated chocolate).
This is Passover Heaven 🙂
Enjoy!
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Quick Recipe:
Tiramisu Matzah Cake-
Combine in a stand mixer Mascarpone Cheese (@room temperature), Instant Pudding Powder, 1 cup of Milk, 1 cup of Powdered Sugar and Vanilla Paste.
Mix well until unified.
Add Heavy Whipping Cream and mix (gradually increasing speed) until cream starts to stiff about 3 minutes.
Cover bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate to cool and firm.
In a saucepan combine Cocoa Powder with ½ cup of Powdered Sugar, 3 cups of Milk.
Mix well on medium heat.
Add Instant Coffee Powder and mix well.
Right before simmer turn off the heat and add Brady.
Transfer the mocha blend into a large dish for Matzah dipping.
Dip Matzahs into mocha blend on both sides and allow them to soak for 3 minutes.
Start building the cake in a rectangle casserole dish using two matzahs for each layer:
Put two matzahs at the bottom of the dish for the first layer.
Add cream on top and spread well.
Continue with another layer of Matzahs and cream.
Sprinkle the second layer of cream with chopped Caramelized Pecans.
Continue building the cake and on the last layer top with just a little cream.
Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate over night (or freeze for easy cutting).
When plating a piece, sift a little Cocoa Powder and top with Chocolate Curls (or Grated Chocolate)
I will have to try your recipe Ms. Huppit. It looks terrific. Passover is also my favorite time of the year and I love the food as well. Have a great Pesach and our love to all!
Thank you Mark! I know you will LOVE this one! Happy Passover.
This looks amazing! Can I make this a few days in advance and leave it in the freezer? Thanks for your website! I just found it (via our mutual friend, Esther), and I love it!
Thank you so much Shira, I’m so happy you enjoy the blog!
This cake is perfect to make in advance and freeze and this is exactly what I do every Passover. Just a few tips- after making the cake, let it set in the refrigerator for couple of hours before sending it to the freezer. Freezing the cake also make it a lot easier to cut it, however the frozen cake need to defrost or partially defrost before serving: Defrosting in the refrigerator takes about 3-4 hrs. Defrosting outside at room temperature takes about 2 hours.
Enjoy!
Sounds wonderful – is there a recipe for the caramelized pecans?
Thank you Sherry! I find myself alternating between making them at home and purchasing my favorite ones… in any case, making them at home is very easy: Melt light brown sugar (1/2 cup) together with 2 tbsp of water in a nonstick skillet over medium heat until combined and bubbly. Add 2 cups of haves pecans and stir well to coat all. cook and stir for just a few minutes (no more than 5 minutes not to burn the sugar) until most liquid evaporates. Place cooked pecans separated and well spread on a parchment paper to cool off, dry and set at room temperature for at least an hour. they store well in airtight container at room temperature for about a week and can be kept longer (couple of months) in freezer. good luck let me know how it worked out!
Given the pandemic, I am preparing packages of food for guests to pick up. If I make this, freeze it, then cut it and place in small containers for pick up, will it be ok? I would be cutting it before it is defrosted. Or, should I defrost it, package it, and tell them to put in their refrigerator? Thanks for any tips to help make this easy to transport!!
Hi Ruth,
Thank you for your question. This cake will be such a treat for your guests! This cake works great being frozen, however, when it is completely frozen it gets hard to cut it with ease. For your purpose the way I would it is: prepare the cake in advance, let it sit in the refrigerator for at least 2 hrs- up to 8 hrs. Then start freezing it, 4-5 hours into the freezing process (the cake will come together and will be easy to cut) take it out and cut into your portions, wrap each one individually and continue freezing until it is time for your guests to pick it up. Individual portions will not take very long to thaw in room temperature, so I would instruct the guests to keep it refrigerated until they are ready to enjoy it.
Hope I was able to help.
Huppit
Can you use a hand mixer as I don’t have a stand mixer?
Thanks
Hi Jocelyn,
Thank you for your question-
The stand/electric mixer is needed to whip up the heavy cream with mascarpone. Not to say that it is not doable, but it is a very hard and tiring task to whip heavy cream by hand especially in the amount that this recipe calls for. This 5 minutes mixer work might get very tricky to achieve by hand it may take up to 20-30 minutes by hand and you might need someone else to help you (replace you when you get tired…) also you have to make sure that the cream keep cool while working on it… I hope you’ll be able to get your hands on electric mixer/whipper for this one… I promise you this cake is worth it 🙂
Please let me know how it worked out
Good Luck!
Huppit
Looks wonderful. Could this be done with a hand mixer?
Hi Wendy,
Thank you for your question-
The electric mixer is needed to whip up the heavy cream with mascarpone. Not to say that it is not doable, but it is a very hard and tiring task to whip heavy cream by hand especially in the amount that this recipe calls for. This 5 minutes mixer work might get very tricky to achieve by hand it may take up to 20-30 minutes by hand and you might need someone else to help you (replace you when you get tired…) also you have to make sure that the cream keep cool while working on it… I hope you’ll be able to get your hands on electric mixer/whipper for this one…
Please let me know how it worked out
Good Luck!
Huppit
This looks wonderful. When you say instant pudding, do you mean 2 tbsp pf the powder or of the prepared pudding?
Thank you!
Hi Carin,
in regards to the instant pudding question- I mean 2 tbsp. of instant pudding POWDER.
Thank you for asking, it may be a good idea for me to make sure it is clear on the post every time its mentioned.
Huppit
This sounds delicious. I freeze my regular tiramisu as I like the consistency better.
Does it affect the recipe if I substitute pure vanilla extract for vanilla bean paste which I had never heard of before today.
Thanks
Hi Trudy,
Freezing this cake is my “go to” as well; it just works better for it all to come together and cutting it into portions becomes a much easier task. (Allow the cake to defrost before cutting and serving- Thawing times; about 4-5 hours in the refrigerator or about 2 hours in room temperature. Make sure to cut into portions half way into the thawing process when the cake it still a little frozen)
You can most definitely sub the vanilla paste with extract you may keep same measurements.
Enjoy!
Huppit
This looks amazing! Can you tell me how many people this serves .
Thank you very much dear!
This will serve 12-15 with generous portion.
Hope you get to enjoy it!
Huppit
This looks fabulous! Is there a substitution for the brandy or can it be left out??
Thank you Jamie! You can most definitely leave out the brandy; it is mostly to enhance those signature flavors of coffee-chocolate in the tiramisu. Even without the brandy you still have a lot of flavor; you can fully enjoy it brandy free.
Let me know how it worked out for you.
Huppit
This cake turned out great! My family loved it so much that I have been asked to make it again outside of Pesah. Just a note: I used an electric hand mixer and it worked great. I made sure that the cheese was room temperature prior to making it, so the mixing wasn’t hard. Finally, a delicious dessert for the holiday, thank you!
Dear Masha,
It is so wonderful to hear that you and the family were able to enjoy this cake!
It is truly one of my Pesach favorites and I am so glad the preparation worked well for you and that this dessert may become a holiday tradition for you and your family 🙂
Thank you so much for sharing…
Xo
Huppit
What would you suggest if you want to make it parve what could you substitute for the mascapone
Aline
Hi Aline,
I’m sorry I do not have much experience with Parve cheese substitutes …but a good parve/vegan cream cheese can definitely be a substitute to the mascarpone.
Good luck and keep me posted how it turned out in the parve version.
Enjoy the rest of Passover
Huppit
I am new to this site to bear with me. I have been using jello sugar free fat free pudding to make my desserts. i know that this contains modified cornstarch as one of the ingredients.. Is this what you us for the vanilla powder?or is there something i should be using instead.
Thank you. I welcome your response
Hi Joan,
It is exactly that!
Hope it worked for you and that you got to enjoy this dessert…