Food: The best Tiramisu

... you have ever tasted! Tiramisu is an Italian tradition, but everyone needs a little refresh now and again. We thought it was time to show this classic some love, and if you agree, here’s a new take on this ageless after dinner indulgence with a very tempting twist. There’s enough here to fill 5-6 individual dessert glasses with irresistible deliciousness.

Ingredients

For the Rubis Chocolate Wine caramel

240g caster sugar 300g frozen cranberries, defrosted and blended in a food processor 240ml Rubis Chocolate Wine 8 whole cloves 2 cinnamon sticks 1 whole nutmeg 2 star anise 1 vanilla pod, split lengthways and seeds scraped 2 oranges – one skin peeled, the other finely grated 300ml cranberry juice

For the mascarpone cream 50g caster sugar 3 eggs, separated 500g mascarpone 60ml Grand Marnier Finely grated zest of 1 orange ¼ tsp ground cinnamon ½ tsp freshly ground nutmeg Salt

To layer and serve 200g sponge finger biscuits 2 shots espresso ¾ tsp cocoa powder ⅛ tsp ground cinnamon ⅛ tsp freshly ground nutmeg

Method

The caramel

Find a large, deep pan and cook the sugar over moderately high heat for 5 minutes, until the melted sugar turns a deep golden caramel colour. Remove from the heat and then add the cold cranberries. The caramel will bubble when the cranberries go in, so be careful.

Once the cranberries are covered in caramel, return the pan to the heat and cook for a further 5 minutes, stirring until the caramel has melted again.

Turn up the heat to medium-high and add the Rubis Chocolate Wine, cloves, cinnamon, whole nutmeg, star anise, the split vanilla pod and shaved orange rind. Reduce down for 5 minutes and then add the cranberry juice and 60ml water.

Simmer until the caramel has thickened to a runny jam consistency, this should take around 15 minutes. Then remove from the heat and set aside to cool, taking out the spices and peel.

The cream

To prepare the mascarpone cream, whisk the sugar and egg yolks until pale and fluffy, then gently fold in the mascarpone.

In a separate bowl, whisk egg whites and a pinch of salt into stiff peaks, then add to the mascarpone along with the Grand Marnier, orange zest, vanilla seeds, ground cinnamon and ground nutmeg.

Gently fold everything together.

To serve

To serve, place the mascarpone, sponge fingers soaked in caramel, and drizzle of espresso in alternating layers into each glass, finishing with a top layer of mascarpone.

Cover each glass with cling film and refrigerate for 24 hours, or at least overnight. Uncover and top with a dusting of the cocoa, cinnamon and nutmeg mixture to serve.

Rich, velvety and oh so sweet, these Tiramisu pots might just end up as your favourite dessert!