No-Bake Tiramisu Cheesecake w/ my Husband, Kevin - Bigger Bolder Baking Ep 111

Hi Bold Bakers, today is a very special Valentine's episode because my husband Kevin came from behind the camera to bake with me. We are going to make a no-bake tiramisu cheesecake. You ready? Let's get baking. Good job. Some of you may not know that there's two people behind Bigger Bolder Baking, myself and Kevin. I do the presenting, the foods, that kind of creative stuff. And I'm usually behind the camera and also editing the episodes. A lot of people ask if this is our full-time job and it is. We quit our real jobs two years ago and started Bigger Bolder Baking. And we haven't looked back. We haven't looked back and here we are, baking together. Okay, so we're going to start out by making the base for our cheesecake. Let's do it. We're going to start out in a small bowl. Here I have some graham crackers but you can use digestives, whatever kind of plain cookies you like. Into our graham crackers we're going to add in some melted butter. And then you just want to mix those two ingredients together. I think a crust of a cheesecake is actually my favorite part of a cheesecake. It always is. Yeah. And the thicker the better. Yeah. Kevin, how's that looking? I think it's looking great. Okay, perfect. We're going to take our cookie base and we're going to put it into our springform tin. Now because this is a cheesecake for two for Valentine's Day, I'm going to use a small six-inch tin. And then we just push the base into the tin? Yeah. Okay. You can use your hands or a spatula. Just push it in there. One reason I love this recipe is because I get a lot of requests for tiramisu and I was kind of trying to think how to make a big and bold tiramisu because we don't usually do things by, like, regular standards. So I thought the idea for a tiramisu cheesecake was just fantastic. And the fact that it's no-bake makes everybody's life easier. And tiramisu is one of my favorite desserts. Is it really? Absolutely. I didn't know that. I'm part Italian. Okay, Kevin, that looks lovely. Okay. I might just push it a little bit in with your fingers just to get the stuff down there. Sounds good. Okay, now Kevin, what are we going to do with our base? We're going to put it in the refrigerator for about 20 minutes and get going on our cheesecake filling. There you go. Good job. You're a great helper. Thanks. Especially when I'm doing the work. Our next step is to make our tiramisu filling for our cheesecake. So, Kevin, what are we going to do? We're going to start out in a large bowl. We're going to add in our cream cheese. I'm going to add in some mascarpone because mascarpone is a big ingredient in a tiramisu. And it gives you that lovely, smooth, creamy kind of flavor. But also a little bit of a tang. Our next ingredient is our coffee. Now, for baking, when it comes to coffee flavor, what I like to do is to dissolve coffee granules in water because you get a much more intense flavor and you have to add in less water. So that's good. After the coffee, I'm going to add in some vanilla extract because I also think that's an important flavor in tiramisu and in cheesecake in general. It's one of my favorite flavors. Okay, Kevin, you can add in the icing sugar. One of the things I like about this no-bake cheesecake is that you can mix it by hand without big, heavy machinery. So we're just going to use a little hand electric mixer. Got mine ready to go. There you go. Okay, Kevin, go for it. All we're going to do is just mix this up until there's no more lumps. So while Kevin is mixing that, I asked on Facebook, do you have any questions for Kevin because it's our first time having him here and I got in some great ones. So I'm going to ask you while you're mixing. Alright, hit me with them. You go. Okay, here's a good one. A question here from Peyton Jones is, can Kevin bake? And he can. Thank you. But you can. Do you prefer to cook or to bake? I think I like to cook and mainly because Gemma makes so many amazing things that I don't find myself needing to bake. So that's why I like to cook more. Actually, there's another good question. Where does all the food go to? Kevin, tell them where the food goes to. I eat my share, believe me, but our neighbors actually get a good amount. We eat a lot of it here and then we share it with our neighbors and then also we donate it to a place down in Santa Monica. Great. How's this looking? I think it's looking great. Fantastic. Okay, now that this mix is lovely and smooth, I'm going to add in some cream. And what I like about this tiramisu is that it doesn't contain any eggs unlike a traditional tiramisu and also this cheesecake, because it's both, doesn't contain gelatin so it's suitable for vegetarians. Okay, go back in there and then we're just going to mix this all up together until it gets even thicker. Somebody asked a really good question and it was, what is your favorite dessert from Bigger Bolder Baking? Oh man, I have to say, all of the homemade no machine ice cream flavors are my favorite because I love ice cream. And believe me, I've eaten my share of all of them. Yes, it's true. And I think we're done. It looks great. Good job, Kevin. This is what your texture should look like. Lovely and smooth. I'm going to get a little bit of a taste. That's what I do. I'm going to sneak in there too. Yummy. Yum, yum, yum, yum. Oh man, I can taste the little bit of the coffee, that vanilla is fantastic. Nice and creamy. I'm excited for this one. So we are going to set this aside. We're going to take out the base of our cheesecake and we're also going to get our ladyfingers and coffee organized. How am I doing so far? You're doing great. I like that I'm doing less of the work. I'm having a cup of tea while you're doing this. So you're a great helper. What we're going to do now is assemble our tiramisu cheesecake. So we have our base here. It's nice and set. So Kevin, if you wouldn't mind putting in half of that cheesecake mix onto that. When you put in half, we're going to go in with a spatula and just spread it out nice and evenly. And what I like to do is… Give it a tap. Just make sure that there's no air bubbles and that it's nice and even. Now because this is a tiramisu cheesecake, we are going to add in some ladyfingers. Beautiful. Into the middle. Do you like these guys? I do. Yeah, me too. So we're going to… I needed that. So we're going to dip this in some coffee. Just really quickly. One side in for a few seconds. Turn it over. A few seconds. And then we're going to put it directly on our cheesecake. Okay, so we're just going to continue dipping. Kevin, there you go. There's some cookies for you. You might want to break them up if you're using a little tin like we are. I think we're done. Let's have a little look. Look at this guy. Lovely. A nice thick layer of ladyfingers. Now on top of this, we are going to add in the rest of our cheesecake mix. Do you remember when I had gingerbread in my pocket? I used to carry around food in my handbag and feed it to Kevin when we first met. And I think it was like we were at Alcatraz and you told me to stop bringing you food and trying to feed you. I loved it, but I think I was gaining too much weight for it. I had gingerbread, I had carrot cake in there. Do you remember? I had flapjacks. Oh my gosh. Yeah, he had to tell me to stop. So I stopped. And now it's just our job. Exactly. Okay, Kevin, how are we doing? I think it's looking good. It's looking fantastic. We are going to pop this guy in the fridge for minimum 8 hours, but preferably overnight because it doesn't contain gelatin, so you want it to get nice and cold so it sets. I can't wait. So here you go, Kevin. Pop that in the fridge. Okay. Thank you. Here I have a cheesecake that myself and Kevin made yesterday. I want it to be nice and set so we can decorate it. Oh man. This is my favorite part, is the reveal. Look at that. Looks fantastic, doesn't it? Fantastic. And you can see the little ladyfingers poking out. Now this does look lovely as is, and you can even serve it this way, but we're actually going to add on some more ladyfingers, some cocoa, and make it really over the top. And big and bold. Big and bold. To decorate your tiramisu cheesecake, generously dust the top with cocoa powder. And then place some ladyfingers around the edge to make it even more impressive. Then pipe on some freshly whipped cream on top and shave on some dark chocolate. What do you think, Kevin? I think that's pretty amazing. I don't think I can eat a regular tiramisu anymore. I think it looks absolutely fantastic. Now just cut a big slice of tiramisu cheesecake. I'm going to share mine with you. Thank you. You're welcome. Happy Valentine's Day. Oh, yummy. Oh man. So good. What about that texture, Kevin? Oh, I love it. It's creamy, I can taste the vanilla and the coffee and the cocoa powder. I love coffee flavored desserts. Unbelievable. Thank you. Jim, thank you. Thank you. Thank you for having me. I really appreciate you showing me how to bake. And we'll see you back here next week for more Bigger Bolder Baking. Bye guys. Happy Valentine's Day. Bye guys. Happy Valentine's Day. This is my show. So don't go. They're stealing my limelight.