Clementine, Ginger & White Chocolate Tiramisu
Ah, the smell of clementines always brings back memories of Christmas – the toes of stockings stuffed with clementines or satsumas and the smell of pomanders. Fragrant clementines always add a fresh and zingy flavour to Christmas celebrations and this festive twist on a tiramisu makes a delicious alternative to Christmas pudding or a Twixmas treat. The sweetness of white chocolate works so well with the citrus tang and warm spice of ginger. If you don’t want to use alcohol, use extra juice or some diluted ginger cordial.
Method
Make the clementine & ginger compote. Peel the clementines, removing as much of the white pith as possible. Place in a food processor and blend to a puree. Transfer to a small saucepan and add the sugar, stem ginger, syrup and lemon juice. Bring to the boil and then simmer for 25-30 minutes until thickened, skimming off any foam that appears. Remove from the heat and allow to cool completely.
Place the clementine juice, 5 tbsp of ginger wine and the syrup in a wide bowl and set aside.
Place the white chocolate in a bowl over a saucepan of just simmering water, ensuring that the bowl isn’t touching the water, and leave to melt (or use a microwave in short bursts). Remove the bowl from the heat, stir to remove any lumps and set aside to cool to room temperature.
In a clean bowl, whisk the egg whites until stiff peaks form. In a separate bowl whisk the cream until soft peaks begin to form.
In a large bowl beat together the egg yolks and sugar until creamy and pale. Then whisk in the mascarpone, remaining ginger wine, vanilla extract and clementine zest. Mix in the melted white chocolate until well mixed – you don’t want any lumps. Gently fold in the whipped cream a little at a time, keeping it nice and airy. Then gently fold in a spoonful of the egg whites into the cream mixture until blended and then fold in the rest a little at a time, again being careful not to knock out any air or volume.
Dip each biscuit into the orange juice and ginger wine for a second or two on each side until the liqueur has soaked in a little, but the biscuits are not soggy. Shake off any excess.
Layer some dipped biscuits, sugar-side up, into the bottom of a 20cm x 10cm size trifle glass. Spread some cream mixture over the biscuits and top with a thin layer of clementine compote and then repeat the process, using up the biscuits and finishing with a layer of cream. Smooth the top, cover and chill for at least 3-4 hours until firm.
Just before serving, dust the top with the ground ginger and cinnamon. Sprinkle over the ginger crumb. Pile the white chocolate curls in the centre and sprinkle with the candied zest and glitter (if using).
Ingredients
- 5 clementines, juice of 5, finely grated zest of 4
- 100g white chocolate, broken into pieces
- 350ml double cream
- 6 tbsp ginger wine or sweet sherry
- 2 tbsp syrup from jar of stem ginger
- 2 large eggs, separated
- 50g caster sugar
- 250g mascarpone
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 1 x 200g packet savoiardi/lady fingers biscuits (you may not use them all)
- For the Compote
- 6 seedless clementines
- 40g caster sugar
- 2 pieces of stem ginger, from a jar, finely chopped
- 1 tsp syrup from jar of stem ginger
- ½ lemon, for squeezing
- To Decorate
- gingerbread or gingernut biscuits, blitzed to a crumb
- ½ tsp ground ginger mixed with ½ tsp ground cinnamon, for dusting
- white chocolate curls
- candied orange peel (optional)
- edible gold glitter or sparkles (optional)