Tiramisu Pancakes

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Look at what I done do last week.

 
The always lovely Jaden Hair of Steamy Kitchen sent out a tweet some time ago for some suggestions. She had half a cup of mascarpone in her refrigerator and was looking for ideas on what to do with it. I had just put up a post about my basic pancakes when I saw that, so I naturally thought of tiramisu pancakes.

 
I fiddled around a lot with the recipe in my head. I knew I had to have coffee and chocolate in there. And of course, the cream. Do I add cream to the batter as well? Do I use real coffee or just powdered coffee? Do I go through the trouble of making the zabaglione for the cream?

 
In the end, it was my son Tim, the pancake connoisseur, who helped me focus. His final say: “I don’t think you should make them too rich. They should still be panckaes, and I want to be able to eat a lot of them.”

 
Spoken like a true eating machine.

 
So, after about 4 experimental batches, I finally had the recipe that makes me happy and want to eat pancakes all day. The cream is what really makes it all come together, and I found that it was unnecessary to go through the whole trouble of making the zabaglione. Just some whipping cream and coffee liqueur, and it was good to go. I also added maple flavoring to the glaze and the cream, because although tiramisu doesn’t really have maple syrup in it, these are, after all, pancakes. They’ll miss the maple syrup and might start running off in search of it.

 
Oh, and you know something? Those nooks and crannies that sometimes show up in the cooked pancakes? They work really well here, because they give you extra space where you can hide more cream. The pancakes taste awesome even when cold, which makes them taste like dessert.

 
Head on over to TLC, where Steamy Kitchen featured these pancakes on her blog today. And let me tell you something: even though I’ve been making these non-stop for the past four days, looking at them still makes me hungry. (Although, to be honest, that really isn’t saying a lot. A photo of a cup of plain rice makes me hungry too.)

 
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Tiramisu Pancakes
(Serves about 5 reasonably hungry people)

For the pancakes:
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa powder, slightly rounded, sifted
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
a generous pinch of salt

1 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cups sour cream
3 large eggs
4 tablespoons butter, melted
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 tablespoons instant coffee

For the glaze (optional):
1/4 cup maple syrup
3 tablespoons softened butter
2 tablespoons coffee liqueur

For the cream:
4 oz. mascarpone cheese
1 cup whipping cream
2 tablespoons coffee liqueur
2 tablespoons maple syrup

Instructions:

Start by preparing the cream and the glaze. For the cream, beat all ingredients together and whip until you have soft peaks. Set aside in the refrigerator. (Tip: this cream tastes amazing, and is what really makes these pancakes. If you like generous amounts of cream on your pancakes, you might want to make a double portion.) The glaze is optional, but very, very (and I mean very) good. Simply combine the ingredients well. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Make sure the cocoa powder is well sifted, so that it will dissolve evenly.

In a separate bowl, combine the milk and sour cream until smooth (it helps to slowly dilute the sour cream with the milk while whisking, which reduces the chances of clumps). Add the instant coffee powder and mix well until dissolved. Whisk in the eggs, melted butter, and vanilla. Add the wet mixture to the dry ingredients, mixing gently until you have a slightly lumpy batter but without any large clumps of flour. If batter is a little runny, add a tablespoon or two of flour. I like to transfer my batter to a measuring cup or something else with a spout, for easier cooking.

Let the batter sit while you preheat your griddle. When griddle is hot, drop batter in portions desired (1/4 cup for regular-sized pancakes) onto the greased griddle. When bubbles come up and edges look cooked, gently flip to cook the other side. Once pancakes are cooked, transfer to a plate. Spread a small amount of the maple glaze over the top of the pancake so it soaks in while still hot. Continue with the remaining batter until done.

To serve, dollop a generous amount of the cream in between layers of pancakes. Top with more cream, and then top with shaved chocolate, or a light dusting of sifted cocoa powder.

Serve with extra cream and/or glaze on the side for dipping. A bonus: these pancakes taste amazing even when cold.

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50 thoughts on “Tiramisu Pancakes”

  1. First, I absolutely love the new website look. It’s fantastic. Second, I’m right there with you, I was just bemoaning the other day that I overate on a bowl of stick white rice with a little rice wine vinegar and furikake, and WHO DOES THAT?!! /sigh. These pancakes look absolutely heavenly, and I really will have to try them!

    1. Uhm … I do that too. I’ve even done jasmine rice, soy sauce, and a squeeze of lemon or lime. Then I tell myself that rice is whole grain, the soy sauce is like eating tofu, and the lemon is Vitamin C.

      Sometimes I’m gullible like that.

  2. I fell in love with this the moment I saw the recipe title and the photo. It’s brilliant and they’re perfect for breakfast. I would actually love to have the rejects unfortunately we live too far away. :D

  3. I love this idea! I love mascarpone. There is an Italian restaurant in Michigan that makes Chocolate Mascarpone, I found the recipe and make it when I get a chocolate craving.
    Also, I tried your chocolate chip cookies via America’s Test Kitchen…delish! Thank you for the fun recipes and the beautiful pictures.

  4. What a great concept-these look absolutely delicious! I’ll take any excuse I can get for eating something like tiramisu for breakfast ;)

  5. Wow, so many new “faces.” So nice to see everyone! Thanks for dropping by. This has quickly become one of our favorites, and it was only after I was done experimenting with the recipe that I realized how little sugar there is in here. Which I think really makes the coffee, chocolate, and cream flavors really stand out.

    But boy oh boy, I’ve never before eaten this many pancakes in the span of four days. And it’s not just because of the coffee liqueur in it. :)

  6. This looks so good that I am sitting here almost licking my screen and panting.

    I have a feeling if I ate them I would love them so much I’d want to make out, marry them and have little Tiramisu Pancake babies with the DIVINE YUM that is this concoction.

    Plus? The creativity is killing me. How do you come up with something like this? Seriously….just awesome.

    :)

  7. This recipe is everywhere!

    It looks so awesome. I have been having long elaborate fantasies about these pancakes all week long, and I will finally get my chance with them tomorrow morning. I can’t wait!

    Thanks for posting this.

  8. Hi Adrianna! Good to see you here. This is my new favorite way to use mascarpone. Hope it works out for ya!

    Liam, excellent post! Glad you enjoyed them.

    Hi everyone! Thanks for popping in. If you do try these, please tell me all about it. ‘Cause I kinda need accomplices. :)

  9. This recipe was instantly my favorite pancake recipe-EVER! Brilliant! Delish! Can’t express just how amazing these are!

  10. These look AMAZING. My hubby LOVES tiramisu and pancakes. I’m going to save this recipe and surprise him on his birthday!!!!

  11. AS Italian I love the tiramissu`, even if I do not make it so often, yes too rich! I will try your version as soon as possible, these pancake looks so gnammy!
    Ilaria

  12. Absolutely delicious!!! My family and I were in heaven when we tasted these! I made them for my husband for Father’s Day (it was also his birthday!) because he is a huge Tiramisu fan. He LOVED them! Thanks so much for sharing the recipe!!

    ~Karla @ It’s The Little Things…

  13. tiramisu is by far my favourite thing in the entire universe.

    it is the meal i want to go out on.

    the sole reason i choose restaurants is based upon if they have a tiramisu on the dessert menu or something that is even slightly tiramisu-esque.

    nothing is better than tiramisu.

    and now i can have it for my brother trucking breakfast.

    THANK YOU SO MUCH

    1. Hmmm. If I were out of instant coffee, I’d use a strong shot or two of espresso in a measuring cup, then fill the rest of the cup with milk until the 1 1/2 cup mark and use that as a substitute. (In fact, now that I think about it, that sounds better than instant coffee. :)) Hope that helps!

  14. Today I tried the Tiramisu recipe and the cream part was running. Any tips …I did double the recipe as suggested. It was very hot ….80 degrees in kitchen. The outside temp apprx. 95 degrees

    1. Hi! You might want to make sure the cream ingredients are chilled, and I’d stick the mixing bowl and beater in the freezer to chill them as well before preparing the cream. You may also want to prepare the cream right before serving the pancakes, so it has less time to break down from the heat.

      Hope that helps!

  15. I have made this for my wife for Mothers Day brunch for many years now. Thank you Ivoryhut. This is the best recipe out there and you also provide the recipe for the cream and that is the best part.

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