Tiramisu with homemade sponge cake

Ingredients for 8 servings:

• 3 eggs
• 4 tbsp water, hot
• 150 g sugar
• 1 packet of vanilla sugar
• 100 g flour
• 100 g cornstarch
• 3 tsp baking powder
• 1 cup of coffee (espresso)
• 4 cl liqueur (coffee, cherry or orange liqueur)
• 2 cups of cream
• 2 packs of cream stiffener
• 75 g sugar
• 1 packet of vanilla sugar
• 250 g mascarpone or cream cheese
• 4 tbsp cocoa powder

Instructions

Working time approx. 30 minutes; Total time approx. 30 minutes

can also be made with sponge fingers, almost like in Italy

Beat the eggs and hot water with a hand mixer fitted with a whisk on high for 1 minute until frothy. Mix the sugar and vanilla sugar, gradually sprinkle in the mixture, and beat for about 2 minutes. Mix the flour, cornstarch, and baking powder and slowly sift them in. Stir everything in with a whisk on the lowest speed. Bake the sponge cake at 175°C for about 20 minutes. The temperature and baking time depend on the oven. Let the sponge cake cool and then cut it in half lengthwise. Drizzle with the espresso and liqueur. Whip the cream with the cream stiffener, sugar, and vanilla sugar until stiff. Stir the mascarpone until smooth and fold in the stiffly whipped cream. Spread half of the cream over the sponge cake, then place the second sponge cake on top and spread the other half of the cream on top. Just before serving, dust with cocoa powder. I bake the sponge cake in an Ikea casserole dish (20 cm wide and 30 cm long). If you’d rather skip the baking, you can of course use sponge fingers. I personally find them too sweet, so I bake a sponge that’s not as sweet but light and airy.