Citrus Raspberry Cream “Tea”ramisu
To skip the post and step-by-step instructions and go straight to recipe, click here.Creamy, zesty, sharp, light, and luscious. This citrus tea-infused dessert is made up of orange zest ladyfingers dipped in tart lemon tea and gin, layered with orangey mascarpone cream and sweet powdered raspberries.
Unlike most of my recipes that require multiple rounds of development, one bite of my first draft of this one and I knew it was practically perfect. Allow me to briefly toss my humbleness aside to say that this recipe was truly one of my best ideas.
When I was growing up, my family always had tea with dessert, especially on special occasions like birthdays or holidays. As a youngster whose taste buds weren’t too keen on traditional teas, my go-to was always Celestial Seasonings lemon zinger. It’s tart and citrusy with a pleasant floral hibiscus undertone - lovely and refreshing for all palettes. I was thinking back to those memories of holiday tea and cake and decided I wanted to combine the two for an all-around happy recipe. Plus, a friend of mine recently requested a tiramisu recipe, so this one’s for you bud!
Recipe Notes:
Ladyfingers: This recipe includes ingredients and instructions for your own homemade orange ladyfingers that I think work perfectly for the final product. However, if you’re going for a quick and easy dessert, store-bought ladyfingers will do just fine. The perfect texture for tiramisu ladyfingers (in my humble opinion at least) is to be slightly crisp and golden on the outside and spongy in the center, and then dipped briefly into liquid before layering. So, since you can’t control the texture of them if you buy them in the store, make sure you’re at least taking it into account. Meaning, if they seem very soft and cakey, make sure to do only the briefest dunk in your tea mixture so they don’t become overly saturated. And, if they seem extra crisp, let them soak a couple seconds longer.
Powdered Raspberries: I definitely understand that powdered raspberries are not an everyday grocery that you would find at a corner market. However, I feel like they bring this dessert from fairly simple to elegant and impressive. I ordered my powdered freeze-dried raspberries on Amazon from Modernist Pantry, but you can also find it on Etsy, some specialty baking stores, and even a lot of Walmarts! Another option is to purchase whole freeze-dried raspberries which are sold for baking and snacking (a lot of Targets even carry these) and crush them into a powder yourself with a coffee grinder, food processor, or a rolling pin. These methods may not provide you with quite as fine of a powder, but will be just as delicious.
Step-By-Step Walk-Through
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Step 1:
Bake Ladyfingers
Preheat oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit.
Line a 9x13 inch baking sheet with parchment paper. Also lay out two pieces of parchment paper the same size as the one you used to line the baking sheet.
Separate three eggs.
In a medium mixing bowl with an electric mixer, whip the yolks with ⅓ cup of granulated sugar on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
Beat in ½ teaspoon of vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste.
Fold in the zest of ½ an orange.
Thoroughly wash the beaters from your electric mixer so no trace of egg yolks get into the whites and inhibit whipping.
In a large mixing bowl, whip the three egg whites on medium speed into soft peaks.
While continuing to whip, gradually add ⅓ cup of granulated sugar to the egg whites.
After all the sugar is added, continue whipping until you achieve stiff, glossy peaks.
Gently fold the yolk mixture into the whites.
In another separate bowl, sift together ½ teaspoon of salt, 1 cup of all-purpose flour, and 2 tablespoons of cornstarch.
Fold the dry ingredients into the egg mixture until no lumps remain, but careful not to overmix and knock air out.
Scoop the batter into a large piping bag with a ½ inch round piping tip.
Pipe 3-inch-long lines of batter about an inch apart on the lined baking sheet. Repeat on the other two pieces of parchment as well. It’s okay if some of the ladyfingers connect when spreading in the oven.
Generously dust all of the ladyfingers with powdered sugar. I like to use a fine mesh strainer for this.
Bake the first tray of ladyfingers for 10-15 minutes. I find that with my oven, they reach the perfect doneness at 11-12 minutes. You want them lightly golden and crisp on the outside but still spongy in the center.
When the first tray is done, remove it from the oven and gently slide the parchment with the cookies on it onto a cooling rack.
Slide the next piece of parchment with ladyfingers piped onto it onto your baking tray and bake. Repeat until all three trays are finished.
When cookies are fully cooled, peel them off of the parchment paper and store in an airtight container or bag until you’re ready to make your tiramisu.
Step 2:
Make Soaking Liquid
Boil 1 ½ cups of water and pour into a bowl or large mug.
Place in 2 lemon zinger tea bags.
Let steep for 10 minutes.
Remove tea bags and place tea into the refrigerator to cool completely, at least 20 minutes.
Once tea is room temperature or colder, remove from fridge and pour into a shallow dish for dipping.
Mix in 3 tablespoons of gin if desired.
Step 3:
Make Filling and Cream Topping
Into a large mixing bowl, add 2 cups of heavy cream and a scant ½ cup of granulated sugar.
Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed until thick and creating stiff peaks, about 5-6 minutes. You want it pretty stiff, but be careful not to whip so long that it starts to separate and turn to butter.
Remove ¼ of the mixture and transfer to a separate bowl.
To the remaining whipped cream, fold in 8 ounces of mascarpone cheese and the zest of ½ an orange until well combined and smooth.
Step 4:
Assemble
Lay out all of your items to assemble your tiramisu - the ladyfingers, soaking liquid, mascarpone mixture, cream, raspberry powder, and a fine mesh sieve for the raspberry powder if you have one. Also set out an ungreased, unlined 8x8 inch square pan.
To make the first layer of ladyfingers, drop each ladyfinger into the soaking liquid, flip after about 1 second, then remove and place in the bottom of the pan. Repeat until the bottom is mostly covered in ladyfingers - I like to do two rows of five. Feel free to cut or slightly overlap ladyfingers if needed.
Scoop about a third of the mascarpone mixture on top of the ladyfingers and spread it out evenly with a frosting spatula or butterknife.
Dust with a layer of raspberry powder to taste. I went a little heavy, but if you go lighter, the tea flavor will shine through more.
Repeat with another layer of ladyfingers, mascarpone filling, and raspberry powder.
Repeat one last layer of ladyfingers and mascarpone filling, and finish it off with a generous layer of powdered raspberry. Wipe excess raspberry powder off the edges of your pan with a damp cloth.
Scoop your plain whipped cream into a large piping bag with a star nozzle.
Pipe nine evenly-spaced stars of whipped cream on top of the tiramisu (one on top of each serving). If the whipped cream isn’t sticking to the tiramisu and is lifting up, try using a butterknife to make a little hole in the raspberry layer and piping on top of it.
Let sit in the fridge for at least 4 hours to allow everything to set.
If desired, decorate with fresh raspberries, lemon or orange slices, or candied citrus zest. Slice and enjoy!
Citrus Raspberry Cream “Tea”ramisu
Servings: 9 Time: 7 hours (including setting time), 2 1/2 - 3 hours (active)
Difficulty: Medium/Difficult
Ingredients
For Ladyfingers:
3 eggs
⅔ cup granulated sugar, separated into ⅓ and ⅓
½ tsp. vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
Zest of ½ an orange
½ tsp. salt
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 TBS. cornstarch
Powdered sugar for dusting
For Soaking Liquid:
1 ½ cups water
2 lemon zinger tea bags
3 TBS. gin (optional)
For Filling and Topping:
2 cups heavy whipping cream
8 ounces mascarpone cheese
Scant 1/2 cup granulated sugar
Zest of ½ an orange
Freeze-dried raspberry powder for dusting
Directions
Step 1: Bake Ladyfingers
Preheat oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit. Line a 9x13 inch baking sheet with parchment paper. Also lay out two pieces of parchment paper the same size as the one you used to line the baking sheet.
Separate eggs. In a medium mixing bowl with an electric mixer, whip the yolks with ⅓ cup of the granulated sugar on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in vanilla. Fold in orange zest.
Thoroughly wash the beaters from your electric mixer so no trace of egg yolks get into the whites and inhibit whipping. In a large mixing bowl, whip the three egg whites on medium speed into soft peaks. While continuing to whip, gradually add ⅓ cup of granulated sugar to the egg whites. After all the sugar is added, continue whipping until you achieve stiff, glossy peaks. Gently fold the whites into the yolk mixture.
In another separate bowl, sift together salt, all-purpose flour, and cornstarch. Fold the dry ingredients into the egg mixture until no lumps remain, but careful not to overmix and knock air out.
Scoop the batter into a large piping bag with a ½ inch round piping tip. Pipe 3-inch-long lines of batter about an inch apart on the lined baking sheet. Repeat on the other two pieces of parchment as well. Generously dust all of the ladyfingers with powdered sugar. I like to use a fine mesh strainer for this.
Bake the first tray of ladyfingers for 10-15 minutes. I find that with my oven, they reach the perfect doneness at 11-12 minutes. You want them lightly golden and crisp on the outside but still spongy in the center. When the first tray is done, remove it from the oven and gently slide the parchment with the cookies on it onto a cooling rack. Slide the next piece of parchment with ladyfingers piped onto it onto your baking tray and bake.
Repeat until all three trays are finished. When cookies are fully cooled, peel them off of the parchment paper and store in an airtight container or bag until you’re ready to make your tiramisu.
Step 2: Make Soaking Liquid
Boil water and pour it into a bowl or large mug. Add the lemon zinger tea bags. Let steep for 10 minutes. Remove tea bags and place tea into the refrigerator to cool completely, at least 20 minutes. Once tea is room temperature or colder, remove from fridge and pour into a shallow dish for dipping. Mix in gin if desired.
Step 3: Make Filling and Cream Topping
In a large mixing bowl, add the heavy cream and granulated sugar. Beat with an electric mixer until thick and creating stiff peaks, about 4 minutes. You want it pretty stiff, but be careful not to whip so long that it starts to separate and turn to butter. Remove ¼ of the mixture and transfer to a separate bowl. To the remaining whipped cream, fold in the mascarpone cheese and the orange zest until well combined and smooth.
Step 4: Assemble
Lay out all of your items to assemble your tiramisu - the ladyfingers, soaking liquid, mascarpone mixture, cream, raspberry powder, and a fine mesh sieve for the raspberry powder if you have one. Also set out an ungreased, unlined 8x8 inch square pan.
To make the first layer of ladyfingers, drop each ladyfinger into the soaking liquid, flip after about 1 second, then remove and place in the bottom of the pan. Repeat until the bottom is mostly covered in ladyfingers - I like to do two rows of five. Scoop about a third of the mascarpone mixture on top of the ladyfingers and spread it out evenly with a frosting spatula or butterknife. Dust with a layer of raspberry powder to taste - add less if you want the tea flavor to shine through and more if you prefer the raspberry flavor.
Repeat with another layer of ladyfingers, mascarpone filling, and raspberry powder. Repeat one last layer of ladyfingers and mascarpone filling, and finish it off with a generous layer of powdered raspberry.
Scoop your plain whipped cream into a large piping bag with a star nozzle. Pipe nine evenly-spaced stars of whipped cream on top of the tiramisu (one on top of each serving). If the whipped cream isn’t sticking to the tiramisu and is lifting up, try using a butterknife to make a little hole in the raspberry layer and piping on top of it. If desired, decorate with fresh raspberries, lemon or orange slices, or candied citrus zest.