malted banana milk tiramisu
& the difference between riffing a recipe and developing one.
hi hi helllloooo!
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Boy am I on a tiramisu kick, but you knew that ;)
A few weeks ago I riffed on the classic version I’ve been chippin’ away at developing and made a banana milk version instead, where I dunked the lady fingers in Binggrae banana milk instead of coffee and added a single chopped up banana between the layers. A little free will baking if you will. And, don’t get me wrong it was really good, I mean bananas, mascarpone cream and a dusting of cocoa powder. What could be wrong with that? NOTHING. But, things can always be better.
That’s what riffing on a recipe is, when you take something that already exists and maybe put a few tweaks on it to satisfy a momentary desire or put the pantry odds and ends to good use. Maybe it’s a choc chip cookie recipe, but you’ve also got walnuts and shredded coconut you wanna use up- okay well toss them in with the chopped choc. Yeah, it’s a good cookie, but there wasn’t enough walnut, or maybe the coconut would have been better if you toasted it first. It’s okay though, ya still have a delish sweet treat:)
In my case, it was an abundance of lady fingers, a single over ripe banana, my fave artificial banana flavored bevvie and a hankering for tiramisu but not tiramisu. There wasn’t really a desire to make it again and again, it scratched the itch and I’m ready to move on. That was until, my friends kept bringing it up. “My mom LOVED the banana tiramisu”… “hey… when are you gonna make that banana thing again” — “You know what I was thinking of? The banana cream thing you made us” OKAY. I got the hint.
This is where recipe development begins, because I have made banana tiramisu 4 times now lol each time a little different. Development is making tweaks to eventually land on your ideal version of the recipe. I think back to the mental notes I made about the first version and all the things I’d do to level it up:
For starter’s—The first go round, I only had one banana in the fruit basket so there was not enough fresh banana chunks. Def needs more. Maybe a nutty praline added to the mascarpone cream? Okay maybe not nuts but, something with a little.. depth? Oh, malted milk powder is nice.
hard to tell, but malted milk mascarpone situation going on here Then you make it again, now with *changes*. Alright now we’re getting somewhere. But, still it needs a little more— more malted milk powder and ya know what? Let’s play around with brown sugar in the egg whites of the mascarpone cream. OK yum, we’re getting there.
lush lush luuuuusssh brown sugar meringue One more time now y’all! This time instead of layering the bananas in between the layers, we’re gonna fold them into the cream. And ya know what? Let’s drizzle a little dulce de leche between the layers. Just like that MONEY.
That’s also part of the development process, not just this amalgamation of ingredients, but thinking and playing around with techniques or the best way to compose a dessert. You could layer the bananas individually, but a) that’s kinda tedious annoying work and b) it just eats better when the bananas are folded in throughout. The difference in cooking the egg yolks with sugar to make a zabaglione or using them raw. (Zabaglione base makes for a thicker texture than if you used raw yolks)
This is what development is. We can all be recipe developers, you don’t have to work in the BA test kitchen or at Food52 to achieve that title. But, in those situations where development is your full time job (like, well my situation) you’re executing this process in rapid succession. Tweak after tweak, multiple versions of the same recipe over the course of a few days or a week, especially when you’re trying to keep up with holidays, food trends etc etc. But, like, at home, for your leisure? You can slowly develop a recipe over time. Like, the cookies I mentioned earlier, maybe they’re something you made for the holidays, and the next time December rolls around you pick up walnuts and coconut. But, this time you remember to add more walnuts and toast the cocoanut before hand. Oh that’s better. Next year, you brown the butter and add a little less flour. Over the span of 5 years and only making the cookies 5 times, you nail it and have your ideal, pass down to the grandkids choc walnut coconut cookie recipe. You still developed something, but without deadlines looming over your head. The thing is, you can always keep going. You could make tweaks forever and I do.
Yip yapping is over, now what you’re all actually here for, the recipe:
Malted banana milk tiramisu:
Lady finger conundrum! You’ll know from my cannoli tiramisu that 2-7 ounce packs of lady fingers is enough to fit a 9x13” pan. RIGHT RIGHT, but that’s also like a lot of tiramisu. Which unless you’re planning on feeding the entire neighborhood might not be the move for you. I developed this with a more intimate gathering in mind. BUT, now you’re using just shy of a pack and half of lady fingers. oops. You can use the few left over to make yourself a mini single serve chef snack of a tiramisu for yourself to enjoy some before everyone else. woooooo!
As for the dulce de leche, I used the ever so convenient squeeze bottle from la lechera. But, you can make your own fully from scratch, or with the boiled sweetened condensed milk can method.
Tools:
Mixing bowls
Rubber spatula
Small sieve
Cutting board
Knife
Small off set spatula
9”x 9” baking pan (or tiramisu vessel of choice)
Ingredients:
4 large eggs, separated
65 grams dark brown sugar
16 oz mascarpone
3 tablespoons malted milk powder
3/4 teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt
3 large, ripe bananas
2- 6.8 fl oz Binggrae banana milk cartons
10 oz lady fingers (about 1.5 7 oz packages)
Dulce de leche, for drizzling
Cocoa powder, for dusting
Directions:
Start by whipping the 4 large egg whites and 65 grams of dark brown sugar in a medium bowl to stiff peaks. Whip these first, because then you don’t have to wash the whisks of the hand mixer, and you can go straight into whipping up the other ingredients. If ya did the mascarpone mixture first, you’d have to wash the whisks before moving into the whites, since the fat will inhibit the ability for the whites to whip. I’m just tryna save 30 seconds of your life here okay. Anyways, set those stiff whipped whites aside.
In a separate bowl combine the 16 oz mascarpone, 3 tablespoons malted milk powder, 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt, and the 4 egg yolks. Whisk together until smooth and creamy.
Fold the whipped egg whites into the mascarpone mixture in two additions.
Cut your 3 large bananas, sans peel ok, into bite sized pieces. Fold the banana into the cream mixture until evenly dispersed. Set aside.
Empty the 2 Binggrae banana milk cartons into a bowl.
Quickly dip each lady finger into the milk before placing it into a 9”x9” baking dish, or your tiramisu vessel of choice. A one second dunk, they take on liquid quick and can fall apart on you if you over do it. Create an even layer of soaked lady fingers.
Dump half of the banana mascarpone filling into the pan. Using a small off set spatula, evenly spread the mixture over the lady fingers.
Drizzle some of the dulce de leche over the banana mascarpone filling.
Dust a thin layer of cocoa powder over the dulce de leche.
Repeat soaking the lady fingers and evenly arranging them over the cocoa powder.
Top the second layer of soaked lady fingers with the remainder of the banana mascarpone mixture. Evenly spreading it out with your small off set spatula.
Cover the tiramisu directly with plastic wrap. Store in the fridge for a minimum of 4 hours, but preferably overnight, this allows everyone to get to know each other.
Before serving, top the tiramisu with another drizzle of dulce de leche and a hearty dusting of cocoa powder.
Dig in & ENJOY ♡
Til next time!
Obsessed w this