This is my all time favourite dessert. Actually, let me be a little more precise than that, this exact recipe for this dessert is my all time favourite – not any old tiramisu that your local Italian restaurant claims was “handmade by Mama” and turns out to be a too-sweet confection of just whipped cream with only a sniff of chocolate and coffee and little else.
This recipe, however, uses no cream. Luscious mascarpone cheese, very dark chocolate, espresso coffee and drink-me-neat, quality rum that all combine to give boudoir biscuits meaning and purpose in this world. (Seriously, what’s the point of them otherwise???) The Italian name means “pick me up” and that says it all – there’s chocolate to get the endorphins going, coffee for a caffeinated boost and a generous helping of rum (when is booze ever been bad in a dessert?).
The very original incarnation of this recipe comes from Delia Smith’s Winter Collection, but it proved just a little abstemious for my tastes, thus I’ve dialled up the coffee, chocolate and, of course, the rum. While on the subject of rum, my favourite rum in this is the Appleton Estate brand. I didn’t really envisage a time in my life when I’d be the sort of girl who has a “favourite rum” but on visiting Jamaica a few years ago I happened upon this one and, thrilled to discover it’s available in supermarkets, have never looked back.
In fact this is so good I would eat it every single day if it weren’t for two very annoying issues. 1) My husband doesn’t like it (nor anything coffee-flavoured – don’t hold it against this particular recipe) and it would seem rather mean to only ever make this dessert and never throw in an apple crumble or cheesecake to keep him happy. 2) There’s a very small window of opportunity during the day where this is appropriate to eat. Too early in the day and it’s too boozy, too late in the evening and the caffeine will keep sleep at bay…
So, if you’re having an early dinner or are planning on staying up all night anyway, this is the perfect dessert for you.
- 100 g dark chocolate (around 75% cocoa solids)
- 225 ml espresso coffee
- 75 ml dark rum
- 2 eggs
- 50 g caster sugar
- 250 g mascarpone cheese
- 20 boudoir biscuits/sponge fingers (approx.)
- 6 200ml martini glasses or one 1 litre bowl (preferably glass so you can see the layers of the dessert)
- First get all of the elements prepared. So chop the chocolate – reasonably finely, but I like to still have some nubbly pieces and do this using a food blender.
- Combine the coffee and the rum in a shallow dish that will be easy to dunk the boudoir biscuits in.
- Separate the eggs. Whisk the egg whites to soft peaks in a roomy bowl.
- In a separate bowl whisk the sugar and egg yolks until you have a pale creamy consistency.
- Then beat or briefly whisk in the mascarpone cheese with the sugar and egg yolk mixture.
- Mix a spoonful of the whites into the mascarpone mix to loosen it, then gently fold in the rest of the whites, retaining as much air as possible.
- Now for the assembly stage! Take half of the boudoir biscuits and soak two of them at a time for approx 5 seconds on each side. Then line the bottom of your dish with them. Repeat for the rest of this half of the biscuits.
- Top with half of the mascarpone mixture and sprinkle over half of the chopped chocolate.
- Repeat steps 7 & 8 to create two layers of biscuits, mascarpone and chocolate.
- It’s best to let in chill and set in the fridge for a few hours so be patient, but then take a large spoon and devour!
