I’m writing this from my childhood bedroom in my parents’ house. We’ve moved in with my folks for a few weeks to lighten the load of keeping the Portland house perfect for showings until the homestead is ready to move into. It’s been really nice taking walks around my old neighborhood, seeing everyone’s gardens, and watching the green leaves getting a blush of gold as the weather turns. The squirrels here are actively digging pockmarks all over my poor parents’ garden, which means autumn, with all its delicious nuts and fruits, has truly arrived. And as such, I wanted to welcome in the season with something decadent and comforting, so I whipped up this little caramel apple tiramisu. It’s the perfect ode to early autumn, when the weather’s still warm and there’s a flush of delicious apples. Tiramisu is my favorite dessert (as you could probably tell) and this one involves dipping the ladyfinger cookies into apple cider instead of espresso, and there’s a delicious layer of stewed granny smith apples in the middle, along with homemade salted caramel. Not gonna lie, it’s prettttty great.
I was inspired to make this after eating a less-than-ideal tiramisu during our trip to San Francisco the other week. We were there for 36 hours to go to the Greek consulate so I could formally apply for dual citizenship, which is something I’ve been getting the paperwork in order for for a few years now. The consulate said the documentation looked good, so I’ll reach out to them at the end of October and see if everything went through, fingers crossed! But, let’s circle back to the important part—the tiramisu. Jeremy and I were staying in the marina district and walked to Chinatown for dinner, and the route between the two passes through an old Italian neighborhood with a ton of Italian restaurants and bakeries. There was one place with an amazing window display of a zillion pastries (which should have been a red flag—usually places with such a variety of options do a lot of stuff mediocre instead of a few things very well). But I was tempted by the visual delights and bought a tiramisu to enjoy back the hotel. I mean, it was fine, but I wouldn’t call it tiramisu. It was like sheet cake with whipped cream on it and a little espresso drizzled on top. There wasn’t even a trace of mascarpone! Blasphemy.
So when I got home it just added fuel to the fire for my tiramisu craving, and I found myself making a batch with the tasty apples appearing at the market. I recommend making the filling and caramel at the beginning of the day, since you’ll need it to cool to room temperature before assembling. Or you can easily make it the night before and refrigerate them before assembling the next day. But as with all tiramisu recipes, once assembled, you need to let it refrigerate at least 4 hours to firm up. Don’t get annoyed, these are simply the rules of tiramisu. I hope you enjoy it and that it helps you welcome this slower season with something delicious and comforting. Wishing you a lovely rest of your week, dear reader!
Caramel Apple Tiramisu
This is the perfect dessert for early autumn, when the weather is still a bit warm and there's a flush of delicious apples. Keep in mind you need to allow ingredients to cool before combining, so give yourself a lot of time to let ingredients rest before you plan on serving.
Ingredients
Apple Filling
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 ½ pounds granny smith apples peeled and cored and cut into ½-inch cubes
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup water
- 1 cinnamon stick
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- Pinch of salt
Salted Caramel Filling
- 1/2 Cup Heavy Cream at room temperature
- 1/3 Cup Granulated Sugar
- 1/3 Cup Brown Sugar packed
- 1/4 Cup Butter at room temperature
- 2 Tablespoons Water
- 1/2 Teaspoon Salt
Mascarpone whipped cream
- 1 1/4 cups heavy whipping cream cold
- 8 ounces mascarpone room temperature
- 4 egg yolks
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 3 tablespoons apple cider
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Assembly
- 26 ladyfinger cookies
- 1 1/2 cups apple cider cold
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon for garnish
Instructions
Apple Filling
-
Heat the butter in a wide frying pan (use one that has a lid that fits on it, we’ll use it later) over medium low heat. Swirl the pan around a bit every couple minutes to help it cook evenly. Over a period of several minutes, you’ll notice the foam at the top of the butter start to change from light yellow to a light brown. Watch VERY closely, as it can go from being brown to burt very quickly. Once it reaches the light brown stage and the butter looks light brown and golden, smell it. It should smell nutty and similar to toffee.
-
Add the apples and stir to coat, cooking for 1 minute more, then add the sugar, water, and cinnamon stick and stir to combine. Cover and allow the mixture to simmer over low heat until apples release their juices, about 5 minutes. Uncover, add the nutmeg and vanilla, and continue cooking until most of the liquid has evaporated (ideally only about a tablespoon's worth left in the pan), about 20 to 25 minutes more, stirring every 5 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool completely (they CANNOT be warm when assembling the tiramisu as it will melt the mascarpone cream).
Salted Caramel Filling
-
In a small thick-bottomed saucepan, mix together the water and the granulated sugar until well blended. Bring to a boil over medium-low heat and continue boiling until the mixture turns a light caramel color, only stirring once every four minutes. This took me about eight minutes, but the speed will depend upon the heat of your stovetop. Remove the pan from heat and quickly stir in the heavy cream, butter, and brown sugar until incorporated. Be careful as the mixture will spit and hiss a little.
-
If the sugar begins to clump up when you're stirring don't worry, just stir for about 30 seconds, and then put the pot back on the heat and bring it back to a boil again over medium-low heat. Once it is boiling again stir until the sugar chunk dissolves and the mixture is smooth. Once it smoothes out, stir it every two minutes and allow the mixture to simmer for about another 10 minutes or until it has thickened slightly. Remove from the stovetop and stir in the salt. Set aside to cool to room temperature (do NOT use warm, it will melt the mascarpone whipped cream).
Mascarpone whipped cream
-
In a medium bowl, stir together 1/4 cup of the heavy cream and all of the mascarpone until smooth. Set aside.
-
In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat together the egg yolks and sugar at medium speed until pale and silky smooth, about 3 to 5 minutes. Pour into a separate bowl and set aside for a moment.
-
Place the remaining 1 cup whipping cream in the stand mixer bowl (you don't need to clean it out after the egg yolks, it's fine if there's some residue), and beat at medium speed until the mixture holds soft peaks, being VERY careful not to overbeat it. Add the egg yolk mixture, mascarpone mixture, apple cider, and the salt to the whipping cream and beat at low speed until combined. Cover and refrigerate until you're ready to assemble.
Assembly
-
Set aside 2 tablespoons of the caramel sauce to use for a final drizzle. Take a ladyfinger cookie and dip it quickly and fully in the apple cider, then place it in a roughly 9-inch round baking pan. Do not hold the cookie in the liquid too long otherwise the tiramisu will get runny. Repeat until you have one layer of the cookies. Then pour one third of the mascarpone cream over the cookies and use a spatula to even it out. Then spread half of the apple mixture over the cream, and half of the caramel mixture over the apples. Repeat with another layer of cookies, mascarpone cream, apples, and caramel. Do one last layer of cookies and then top with the remaining third of the mascarpone cream.
-
Drizzle the reserved 2 tablespoons of caramel sauce over top and make a spiral shape with the back of a spoon, then dust with the cinnamon. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours before serving, but overnight refrigeration is best to form up the shape of the tiramisu. Then serve and enjoy!
