Tiramisu Roll Cake

This is just one of many variations on the basic yellow cake roll recipe I posted before. Tiramisu as a flavor combination—coffee/Kahlua, mascarpone, lady fingers/yellow cake—shows up in many desserts beside the actual tiramisu dessert itself. And no wonder:  it’s delicious, not to mention extremely rich.

As I usually do with roll cakes, I sort of made this up as I went, so I apologize for the lack of specific ingredient measurements. Especially the cream; I really have no idea how much I used. Just use caution and do a lot of taste-testing along the way.

You will need, first of all, to make a plain yellow roll cake. You do not need to add or change anything. That recipe can be found here.

While the roll cake is cooling in its towel, assemble your tiramisu ingredients:

1 container mascarpone cheese (I think the packages are usually 9 oz?)
1-2 C heavy whipping cream
¼ C Kahlua (or other coffee liquor, or espresso if you do not wish to use alcohol)
2-5 TBS powdered sugar

Directions
1. Cream the mascarpone. It’s generally pretty soft already, so you don’t need to heat it, just sort of smooth it out.

2. In a separate bowl, whip the cream to soft peaks. Then, before the whipped cream is quite stiff enough to be done, add it into the mascarpone.

3. Add some powdered sugar, Kahlua, and, if desired, a ½ teaspoon of vanilla extract into the cream mixture. Add in small amounts and taste frequently. It should not be very sweet; the cake will balance it.

4. Unroll the cooled cake. Brush or lightly drizzle Kahlua over the cake’s interior.

5. Gently spread about half of your cream mixture into the center of the cake. Remember not to get too close to the edges; they will fill out on their own.

6. Roll up the cake. Finish by frosting the outside with a thick layer of the remaining cream mixture. Slice and serve. Store covered and refrigerated.