La dolce vita – Citrus | sponge cake | Vanilla cream

Ingredients for 5 servings:

• 2 vanilla pods
• 150 ml milk
• 300 ml cream
• 4 egg yolks, size M
• 80 g sugar, white
• 30 g brown sugar
• 2 sheets of white gelatin
• 3 organic lemons
• 250 ml water
• 250 ml sugar
• 3 egg whites, size M, very fresh
• 1 pinch of salt
• 6 organic lemon(s), extra large
• 4 eggs, size M, fresh
• 1 packet of vanilla sugar
• 100 g sugar
• 500 g mascarpone
• 200 ml espresso
• 4 cl Amaretto
• 400 g ladyfingers
• 3 tbsp cocoa powder, fine, for sprinkling

Instructions

Working time approx. 1 hour 10 minutes; Rest time approx. 3 hours; Cooking/baking time approx. 1 hour 25 minutes; Total time approx. 5 hours 35 minutes

from the show “The Perfect Dinner” on VOX from 24.03.2025

For the crème brûlée, split the vanilla pods lengthwise and scrape out the seeds with the back of a knife. Combine the milk, cream, and vanilla seeds in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Whisk the egg yolks and white sugar in a large bowl. Place the bowl over a pan of hot water. Add the hot vanilla cream to the eggs, stirring constantly. Stir over the water until the mixture thickens. At around 75 degrees Celsius, the mixture will have the creamy consistency of a vanilla sauce. Immediately pour the thickened mixture through a sieve into a chilled bowl to prevent it from cooking further. Divide the vanilla cream between five ovenproof dishes (120 ml). Place the dishes in the oven’s drip tray. Pour enough hot water into the dish so that the dishes are two-thirds submerged. Bake in a preheated oven at 130 degrees Celsius on the lowest rack for 70-80 minutes. Sprinkle evenly with the brown sugar before serving. Burn with a Bunsen burner until a light brown, crisp sugar crust has formed. Serve immediately. For the sorbet, rinse the lemons with hot water. Finely grate the zest. Soak the gelatine in cold water. Squeeze the juice from the lemons. Place the sugar and water in a saucepan and boil until completely dissolved. Add the grated lemon zest to the sugar syrup and simmer gently for three minutes. Place the sugar syrup in a bowl, mix with the lemon juice, and dissolve the softened, well-squeezed gelatine in it. Allow the liquid to cool completely. Beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt using the whisks of a hand mixer until stiff peaks form. Carefully fold the beaten egg whites into the cooled lemon mixture. Pour the sorbet mixture into an ice cream maker and freeze until creamy. For the tiramisu, separate the eggs. Put the egg yolks in a large mixing bowl. Chill the egg whites until ready to use. Mix the egg yolks with 50g of sugar. Place the bowl over a hot water bath and whip the mixture until thick and foamy. Remove from the water bath and fold the mascarpone into the warm egg foam. Beat the egg whites and a pinch of salt with the whisks of a hand mixer until frothy, gradually adding 50g of sugar. Carefully stir the beaten egg whites into the mascarpone mixture. Mix the espresso and amaretto in a bowl. Line the bottom of a baking dish with a layer of ladyfingers. Drizzle the coffee mixture thinly and evenly over them. Spread half of the mascarpone cream on top. Place another layer of ladyfingers on top and drizzle with the coffee mixture. Spread the remaining cream on top and smooth it down. Chill the tiramisu for 2-3 hours. Sprinkle with cocoa powder just before serving. Bissi prepared this recipe as a dessert in the show “The Perfect Dinner” – Day 1 in the AIDA special “On the High Seas II”, on Monday, March 24, 2025.