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Chocolate Filled Kahlua Tiramisu Cake close up photo of a single slice on a white plate

Chocolate Filled Kahlua Tiramisu Cake

A light sponge cake soaked in Kahlua filled with whipped chocolate and covered in coffee mascarpone cream frosting.
Course Dessert
Prep Time 1 hour
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 30 minutes
Servings 12 servings
Author Barry C. Parsons

Ingredients

For the Sponge Cake

  • 1 cup flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 6 eggs separated room temperature
  • 1/4 tsp cream of tarter
  • 1 cup sugar separated in 2 half cups
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract

For the Tiramisu Cream Frosting

  • 3 cups whipping cream
  • 1/3 cup icing sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons instant espresso powder
  • 1/2 cup mascarpone cheese

For the Whipped Chocolate Filling

  • 1 1/2 cups dark chocolate chips I use 50% cocoa chips
  • 1/3 cup whipping cream
  • reserved 1/2 cup of Tiramisu Cream Frosting

To soak onto the cake

  • 2 to 3 ounces Kahlua liqueur cold sweetened espresso is also a good non-alcoholic substitute

Instructions

To prepare the Sponge Cake

  1. Sift together the flour and baking powder and set aside.
  2. For the meringue base of the cake batter, beat egg whites and cream of tarter until foamy.
  3. Add ½ cup sugar gradually until egg whites are stiff.
  4. Beat egg yolks and ½ cup sugar until foamy and thickened.
  5. Fold beaten egg yolks into the beaten egg whites along with the vanilla for only a few turns.
  6. Slowly and gradually folding in the flour and baking powder mixture very gently BY HAND using a rubber spatula until just incorporated into the meringue mixture. I mix in the dry ingredients in 3 equal portions. Do not over mix, you just want the flour to be incorporated; over mixing will deflate the egg whites and result in a tough textured final product.
  7. Pour into ungreased 8 or 9 inch round cake pans with the bottoms lined with parchment paper and bake at 325 degrees F for 25-30 minutes or until center springs back when touched.
  8. Cool completely in the pans before running a sharp knife around the edge to release the cakes from the pans and then remove the parchment paper from the bottoms. You can also bake this cake in a 9 inch spring form pan and slice it in half horizontally after it is completely cooled.

To prepare the Tiramisu Cream Frosting

  1. Whip together the cream, icing sugar, vanilla extract and instant espresso powder until stiff peaks form.
  2. Remove about 2/3 of the whipped tiramisu cream to a large bowl and beat in the mascarpone cheese until smooth.
  3. Fold the mascarpone mixture back into the tiramisu cream. Remove about 1/2 cup of this frosting and set aside for the whipped chocolate filling.

To prepare the Whipped Chocolate Filling

  1. In a double boiler melt together the chocolate chips and whipping cream. Don’t overheat the chocolate. It needs to be cooled to almost room temperature to be used so as little heat as possible in order to get it to melt is best.
  2. Reserve about 1/2 cup chocolate to drizzle on top.
  3. Fold the rest of the chocolate into the reserved cream frosting.

To construct the cake

  1. Using a fork or wooden skewer, stab holes all over the surface of both cake layers and pour the Kahlua over each layer.
  2. Use the whipped chocolate mixture to fill between the layers.
  3. Frost the entire outside of the cake with the tiramisu cream.
  4. Drizzle the cake with the reserved melted chocolate using a piping bag or a Ziploc bag with the corner snipped off.