Lady Grey Tea and Alphonso Mango Tiramisu

I just want to state, unequivocally, that I, Peter Hallsworth, am a Hawaiian Tropic Boy. I am so in love with their SPF 50 Silk Hydration 12h Moisturisation lotion that I want to carry on wearing it everyday, despite no longer being on holiday.

I just don't get on with other brands. Other brands don't have hydrating ribbons. And don't get me started on the fragrance. All I will say, if pressed, is that they need to bring back the Factor 50 'Pink Bits' from a few years ago but seem to have discontinued. Then, I will be truly tanning happy.

A word on tanning by the way, for all the Summer Bunnies that abound right now: use a high factor. And, when you're doing your lover/brother/friend/etc.'s back, remember to do their sides too. You aren't buttering a piece of toast, OK?

(I had a great holiday. I wish I were still on it.)

Right back to usual service. So, this is it. The recipe I am most proud of in all the world. Proud because it is my baby; my creation.

I always said I'd never write about it on here, because of some annoying copyright issues (which I have overcome by changing things slightly), but you know what? It's Summer. It's Alphonso Mango season. And I want to.

This dessert was my entry for the TV show 'Britain's Best Dish'. I say to you now, up front, I didn't win. I made it through the first round and then got booted off by judges who thought that curdled crème brulée and rock like scones were a safer bet. Whatever.

I don't know if they eliminated me because they thought my opponent's dessert was better (as if!) or because I told the wardrobe woman, who, because of 'camera issues', wanted me to wear a different shirt to the one I had selected (a banging Tsumori Chisato number in royal blue with miniature red-roofed house print detail - delicious), that the shirt was going to be the most amazing thing that day time ITV had ever seen and covering up half of it with the stupid apron I had to wear was quite enough compromise for me for one day, tha-ank you very much.

When someone comes into a room wearing Tsumori Chisato, you tell them they look fucking amazing. You don't tell them to take it off.

Annoyingly, I forgot to take photos after this. Just imagine intricate layers. Lovely. Like the Hyrdrating Ribbons in Hawaiian Tropic.

This dessert was born out of my hatred of chocolate. This may come as a surprise, except to regular readers, but I just don't think chocolate is the way to end a meal. I want fruit, I want sweet and creamy-smooth texture and I want delicacy. I want this tiramisu.

It is not a quick undertaking; you'll need about an hour because you have to make the ladyfingers yourself. But it is easy and can be made up to two days in advance.

If you make only one of my recipes, then make this one, please. I promise you'll enjoy. The mangoes and Lady Grey mingle and make the prefect last mouthful of any special meal.

A quick note: Alphonso mangoes are easy to find in Indian groceries. If they are out of season, you can get tinned purée, which is fine, or use whatever mangoes, kesar or otherwise, that they do have.

Lady Grey Tea and Alphonso Mango Tiramisu

For the Lady Grey Fingers:

2 eggs, separated
50g sugar
100g plain flour
1 Lady Grey teabag (or 1 tsp tea leaves)

1. Beat the egg whites to stiff peaks; set aside. 
2. Beat the eggs and sugar, and the contents of the teabag or tea leaves, for a few minutes until thickened slightly. Fold in the whites.
3. Sift over the flour in three parts. Fold in gently. Pour the mixture into a piping bag, and pipe fingers onto the parchment lined sheets. You should get two dozen 10cm fingers easily.
4. It is traditional to sprinkle ladyfingers with sugar before baking; I don't bother. Bake for 10 minutes at 170°C.
5. Cool on a rack.

For the tea infusion:

2 Lady Grey teabags
200ml boiling water
zest of an orange
zest of a lemon
3 tbsp Cointreau (optional)

1. Simply make the tea and add the other ingredients. Leave the bags in. Steep for 15 minutes or up to an hour. It will be strong, and needs to be.

For the mango purée:

2 Alphonso mangoes
sugar to taste

1. Peel and chop the mangoes. If you don't fancy puréeing them, just chop finely, but I like the way the smooth purée melds with the creamy mascarpone later. Sweeten to taste.

For the mascarpone cream:

250g mascarpone
3 eggs, separated
75g sugar

1. Beat the egg whites to stiff peaks; set aside.
2. Beat the eggs and sugar together until thick. Fold in the mascarpone, a little at a time. Lastly fold in the whites, very gently.

Whew, this is a long recipe. OK, we should have four components ready and waiting. Let's make the tiramisu!

I usually do just one big one. But for company best, these amounts should do 6 portions if you use fancy glasses.

So. Start with a little purée. Then dip ladyfingers into the tea infusion, allowing them to become nice and moist, then make a layer of those. Follow with mascarpone cream. Repeat these layers until all ingredients are used and be sure to finish with a mascarpone layer.

Done!

Chill for at least four hours. I like this to come out of the fridge a good half an hour or so before serving. Enjoy! 

Re-Inventing the Lamington 2011 Day Four: Tiramisu Lamingtons

Gimme a 'Hey Yeah!' if you missed the coconut.

(In which Mr. P talks irrational fears.)

You know, coffee making can be quite terrifying.

I make coffee all the time (and not just on the ground - I can do it at altitude too!), and always used to think that it was cheating and trashy to use instant. Or that I didn't even like instant, which let me tell you, is no longer the case. When you spend nights in hotel rooms as often as I do, you start to feel thankful for those ridiculously tiny hotel room kettles (that always seem to have handles that overheat and burn you when you pour) and sachets of Nescafé that taste differently depending on where in the world you are (and for the record, I prefer the French arôme corsé & intense if I'm needing caffeine, and the Italian Gran Aroma relax if I'm going fun-free - told you I spent a lot of time in hotels.).

The 'cheating and trashy' thing came about after I first went to Italy on holiday years ago and realised that you could make great coffee at home every morning using one of those little moka pots that seem to have become quite trendy and now cost loads more than they used to. Fortunately, I invested when I was still young, and spent several years insisting on only drinking 'the real stuff'.

Don't call me pretentious.

Thing is, although I have now learned to love the instant - and in fact, am going to make one right this minute - I can't really get my head around using it to make a tiramisu, which is anyway a dessert that I have mixed feelings for (those who know me in real life will know what I mean - me, re-invention and Italy's #1 dessert didn't fare too well against those pesky judges). But those moka pots heat up to around 4000°C, and take ages to cool down. Since we've had the kitchen re-fitted, I have been suffering from this incredible reluctance to use ours, just in case I accidentally put it down on the new side board while it's still hot, and burn it. I just wouldn't be able to live with myself. I'm the same with our new saucepans - turmeric is not allowed anywhere near them, and I have a special pan for when we make tarka dal.

(Oh, stop looking at me like that. You know it makes sense.)

Anyway, more to the point, our moka makes six shots of espresso, and I only reckoned I would need about two for this. So I make no apologies for bringing out the Red Mountain. If you feel differently, you may act accordingly.

Also, I know I'm pushing it with the tiramisu connection here, but my friend Francesco makes this dessert sometimes by sandwiching a couple of those little brown amaretti biscuits with a teaspoon of mascarpone, then dipping them in espresso and rolling in coconut. They are divine, and in fact one day, I might make them for the blog.

I used another recipe from Rose's Heavenly Cakes for this lamington, a version of her genoise cake. Genoise is incredibly light and very absorbent, when it comes to syrups and glazes, so is perfect for making lamingtons. Until I got my copy of the book, I was apprehensive of these types of cakes, but Rose really does instill confidence. (That means you need to enter the contest to win a copy!)

Let us create.

Tiramisu Lamingtons

For the genoise cake -

4 eggs
100g caster sugar
50g plain flour
50g cornflour
45g butter
1 tsp vanilla extract

For the glaze -

200g dessicated coconut
400g icing sugar
50ml strong coffee (use 1 tbsp instant coffee, or make a pot of espresso)

To serve -

250g mascarpone

1. First, make the genoise. I bake it in a 20cm square tin, but otherwise, you need a round one of about 22cm. Grease the tin, and line the bottom with parchment. Heat the oven to 180°C.
2. Melt the butter (ideally, you'd clarify it too, but I never bother), and add the vanilla. Keep to one side in a small bowl.
3. Sift the flour and cornflour together; set aside.
4. Set a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water, and place in it the eggs and sugar. Whisk the mixture gently using a balloon whisk until it feels warm to the touch. Don't be scared about the eggs scrambling, but don't heat them so much that your finger feels hot. Just think nice and warm.
5. Remove from the heat, and beat with electric beaters on high speed for 10 minutes, until the mixture has more than quadrupled in volume.
6. Working quickly, add about a cupful of the egg mixture to the butter and vanilla, and stir until combined. It will be the consistency of mayonnaise.
7. Then, sprinkle half of the flour over the beaten eggs, and fold in gently with a balloon whisk (better than a spoon or spatula, as it will help to avoid deflating the egg mixture). Add the rest of the flour and the butter mixture, and fold in thoroughly.
8. Pour the mixture into the tin and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until risen and golden. Immediately turn out onto a wire rack to cool.
9. Cut the cooled cake into squares, and prepare the glaze. For this, mix the coffee and icing sugar together, and if necessary, add a little hot water to make a thick-ish icing that will easily stick to the cake cubes.
10. Put the coconut into a shallow dish; dip the cakes first into the glaze, then roll in the coconut. Set aside on a wire rack to dry for several hours.
11. To serve, sandwich the coated cakes with mascarpone. There you are - tiramisu lamingtons!

Re-Invent the Lamington Yourself!