It's got meringue, it's got booze, it's got nutella. Need we go on?

Tiramisu Meringue with Nutella Ganache

I love the flavours of a tiramisu. Unfortunately I’ve never loved the texture of the softened savoiardi (sponge fingers) so I have incorporated the concepts of this delightful Italian dessert using a meringue base so you can have the lovely boozy coffee, chocolatey flavours with the crisp edge of meringue.

I’ve left the quantities fairly large for the filling and coffee chocolate ganache, reason being their uses extend far beyond this recipe. The mascarpone is delightful smeared on toast. Ditto for the ganache which also works well over ice cream, chocolate pudding or anything that needs a touch of nutella … in other words 85% of foods. You may find the consistency of these differs slightly to normal ganache and cream fillings, but don’t be concerned, its just the addition of lovely winter warming alcohol. To sustain the crispness of the meringue, don’t construct the layers until you are ready to serve.

Ingredients

Meringue

150g eggwhite

225g caster sugar

1 tsp lemon juice

3 tbsp dutch cocoa powder

Filling

250g mascarpone

250g crème fraiche

60g icing sugar, sifted

25ml amaretto

Coffee chocolate ganache

100g dark chocolate

4 tbsp nutella

50g glucose syrup

30ml espresso coffee (or more to taste)

50ml brandy

25ml amaretto

½ cup hazelnuts, roasted, roughly chopped to serve

Method

Preheat oven to 180C. Using an electric mixer, beat eggwhites and a pinch of sea salt until soft peaks form, then, with the motor running, gradually add caster sugar and beat until sugar is incorporated, then add lemon juice and cocoa powder and beat until combined. Make sure you beat for a sufficient amount of time so that the caster sugar and cocoa powder are properly incorporated, otherwise the meringue will crack and bleed in the oven.

Spoon the mixture onto 3 sheets of baking paper cut to a similar size. The key is to make 3 pieces of meringue relatively the same size – it won’t taste any different whether you make them circular or rectangular.

Reduce oven to 150C and bake for 1½ hours. Turn off oven and, leaving door ajar, stand the meringue in oven for at least 2 hours to cool. (These can be made one day ahead)

To make the mascarpone filling, whisk the mascarpone, crème fraiche, icing sugar and amaretto in a large bowl until incorporated. Set aside until serving.

For the coffee chocolate ganache, melt the chocolate and in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of gently simmering water. Add the nutella and glucose syrup and stir until combined. Remove from the heat and stir through espresso, brandy and amaretto until well combined.

To serve, spread the mascarpone filing over a meringue disk. Top with some chocolate ganache and hazelnuts and top with the second disk. Repeat with the remaining ingredients. Serve immediately.

For more recipes see theothercrumb.blogspot.com