Italy is one of our favorite travel destinations. Some of our most memorable trips include Venice, Rome, and a sailing trip last summer along the Cinque Terre coast.
When Hugo heard about a Paris café dedicated entirely to tiramisu — WE ARE TIRAMISU — we knew we had to visit. We put leashes on the dogs and headed to the 17th arrondissement, to rue Bayen.
WE ARE TIRAMISU
10 rue Bayen
75017 Pariswww.wearetiramisu.com
WE ARE TIRAMISU is a tiramisu bar offering nine inventive varieties, featuring flavors such as yuzu, Grand Marnier, dulce de leche, caramel, lime, and raspberry. We treated ourselves to two flavors: a yuzu–jasmine–lime tiramisu and a Limoncello–lemon curd–raspberry tiramisu. Both were delicious, and we savored every bite. We also appreciated the heart-shaped spoons and the excellent Italian ristretto coffee.
It was a beautiful day, and after our visit we enjoyed a stroll through Parc Monceau. On the walk home we started discussing our next baking project.
Inspired by the mascarpone and berry notes from the tiramisu bar, we decided to create a tart that combined shortbread pastry with a blueberry caramel and a mascarpone meringue filling. We found ripe blueberries at the health food store and set to work on a large tart plus four mini tartelettes so we could enjoy leftovers with tea during the week.
Special Tools :
- Pastry circle: 26 cm for one large tart (or use mini 10 cm moulds for 8–10 tartelettes).
- Juice extractor or a good blender for the blueberries.
- Stand mixer (we used a Kitchenaid Artisan Series) with a whisk and flat beater.
For the shortbread (500g / 2 tarts):
Ingredients :
- 230 g whole wheat flour
- 140 g softened butter
- 1 whole egg + 1 egg yolk (reserve the egg white for the meringue)
- 90 g powdered sugar
- 40 g powdered almonds
- 2 pinches of salt
- ½ vanilla pod
Steps to create to perfection :
1. Cream the butter and powdered sugar in a stand mixer on low speed with the flat beater until smooth.
2. Add the powdered almonds and mix briefly.
3. Add the whole egg, the extra yolk, and the vanilla.
4. In a separate bowl, combine the flour and salt.
5. Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and mix just until the dough resembles coarse sand. Do not overmix.
6. Chill the dough in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight.
7. Divide the dough into two portions (you can freeze one portion for a future tart).
8. Roll the dough to about 3 mm thickness; avoid rolling it too thin.
9. Line your tart pan or pastry circle with the dough.
10. Dock the dough with a fork to create small air holes.
11. Cover with parchment paper and weight with dried beans or pie weights.
12. Bake at 150°C for about 30 minutes.
For the blueberry caramel :
Ingredients :
- 125 g blueberries
- 90 ml heavy cream
- 120 g glucose syrup
- 80 g molasses
- 50 g brown sugar
- 8 g salted butter
Steps to create to perfection :
1. Puree the blueberries using a juice extractor or blender.
2. Mix the blueberry purée with the cream and set aside.
3. Heat the glucose syrup and brown sugar in a medium saucepan until they caramelize.
4. Carefully add the blueberry–cream mixture in three additions; the liquid will rise quickly when it contacts the hot caramel.
5. Continue heating until the mixture reaches 118°C (245°F).
6. Pour the caramel over the baked shortbread base and chill in the refrigerator for 2–3 hours until set.
For the mascarpone meringue filling & toppings :
Ingredients :
- 250 g mascarpone
- 50 g powdered sugar
- 2 eggs + 1 extra egg yolk
- 8 g lemon juice
- 35 g water
- 60 g molasses
- 60 g brown sugar
- 2 g agar-agar (to stabilize the filling)
- Zest of 1 pomelo grapefruit (or zest of ½ large grapefruit)
- Zest of ½ lemon
- 10 blueberries for decoration
- 1 square dark chocolate, grated
Steps to create to perfection :
1. Separate the egg whites from the yolks.
2. In a large bowl, whisk the egg yolks with the powdered sugar. You will add the meringue later, so use a sufficiently large bowl.
3. Add the mascarpone to the yolk mixture and whisk until smooth. Set aside.
4. In a medium saucepan, combine the lemon juice, water, brown sugar, molasses, and agar-agar.
5. Heat the mixture over high heat until it reaches 118°C (245°F).
6. While heating, whip the egg whites to soft peaks.
7. When the sugar mixture reaches 118°C, pour it carefully into the whipped egg whites while whisking on high speed. Continue whisking until the mixture cools to room temperature (about 22°C / 70°F).
8. Gently fold the Italian meringue into the mascarpone mixture in small additions, taking care not to deflate the mixture. It should remain light and airy.
9. Transfer the mascarpone–meringue mixture into a pastry bag and chill for 3–4 hours to firm up.
10. Pipe or spread the filling over the chilled blueberry caramel layer in the shortbread tart.
11. Sprinkle the zest of 1 pomelo (or ½ large grapefruit) and the zest of ½ lemon over the tart.
12. Decorate with 10 fresh blueberries and grate a square of dark chocolate on top.
Enjoy your blueberry caramel shortbread tart with mascarpone meringue — a dessert inspired by our Paris tiramisu adventure and perfect for sharing with friends.