Gianduja is a hazelnut and chocolate cream originating from Piemonte, a region located in northern Italy that boasts the world’s highest quality production of that dried fruit. Therefore, despite deviating from the classic recipe, this gianduja tiramisu honors one of the many noble products of the vast Italian gastronomy.
Ingredients:
For the biscuit:
2 egg whites
40 g hazelnuts
20 g corn or potato starch
1 teaspoon sugar or xylitol
2 small cups of mokka coffee
1 measure of coffee liqueur (optional)
For the cream:
125 g mascarpone
2 egg yolks
1 gianduja chocolate bar (100 gr)
To decorate:
Cocoa powder
“Fondente” (bitter) chocolate flakes
Since it is a quite caloric dessert and is also quite filling, I decided on these proportions with which a small tiramisu is obtained. To prepare a larger dessert, simply multiply the quantities proportionally.
I recommend reviewing the original tiramisu recipe, in order to know all the details and secrets before trying this variant.
Start by preparing the coffee: ideally it should always be prepared in a mokka. Reserve to cool.
Prepare the biscuit: we will not use the typical “savoiardi”, but we will bake a sponge cake or “pan di Spagna” with hazelnut flour. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. Beat the egg whites until stiff, add the dry ingredients and mix gently. Place baking paper on a plate and spread the dough so that it is a uniform height of a few millimeters. Or for greater convenience, use two molds of equal size (I used two round ones). Bake for 12-14 minutes and set aside.
Prepare the cream: beat the yolks until their volume increases and they take on a whitish color. Add the mascarpone and beat until integrated. Melt the chocolate tablet in a bain-marie, taking care that it is not too hot, so that it does not alter the other ingredients. Add the gianduja to the previous cream and mix. Reserve.
Assemble the tiramisu: If you baked the cake on the baking sheet, divide it into two equal parts and choose a mold with a corresponding size. Add the liquor to the cup of coffee, put the first layer of cake on the mold, and paint it with the liquid without excessively bathing it. Add half of the mascarpone/gianduja cream on top. Cover with the second cake and paint it again with coffee (this time more generously). Cover it with the rest of the cream. Flatten the surface and let it cool in the refrigerator, ideally for at least 8 hours.
Serve: the tiramisu is sprinkled with cocoa only before serving; if we did it before, the moisture that accumulates would make the cocoa less attractive. If available, decorate with dark chocolate flakes on top.
Tips and tricks:
- We can easily make the flakes by simply “shaving” a chocolate bar with a potato peeler. To obtain larger flakes, melt dark chocolate in a double boiler, pour it on baking paper and spread it with a spatula until you obtain a very thin layer. Store in the refrigerator to cool and solidify. Then roll the paper, which will break the chocolate sheet and form the flakes.
- Adjust the amount of sugar according to preference. Personally I have added very little to the cake because the mascarpone/gianduja cream is already very sweet.