This Mother’s Day, the only job I had was to make dessert, so I could spend some time making it. This wonderful Frozen Tiramisu Loaf is as delicious as it is beautiful! You can make it ahead of time, but you can’t take shortcuts, because there aren’t any!

For the cake:

Use any marbled or chocolate sponge cake (which you can buy, so there’s a shortcut), to layer as the base of your tiramisu loaf.

For the ice-cream center:

1 tin of condensed milk

2 egg yolks, beaten

250ml cream

5ml vanilla essence

For the Zabaglione/Mascarpone layer

1 tub mascarpone (250g), at room temperature

Zabaglione, (made with 5 egg yolks, a quarter cup of castor sugar, half a cup of Marsala – or similar fortified wine)

For the finger biscuits:

One large packet of finger biscuits (if using Boudoir 200g, get 2 packs as you’ll need one and a bit)

2 cups of strong black coffee

2 tots of brandy

How to do it:

Line a large loaf tin – mine was around 14x30cm – using either cling wrap or baking paper. You want the paper to hang over the edges so you can get a handle on it and pull it out once frozen and ready to serve. I lightly grease this, with a baking/cooking spray.

For the ice-cream, place all of the ingredients into a small saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring continuously. Once the ice-cream is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon you can remove it from the heat and allow it to cool, and then chill it completely before churning it in an ice-cream maker. Don’t freeze it to the point that its too hard to work with – it needs to be malleable when you layer the dessert.

Using a glass or metal bowl, make the Zabaglione by whisking the egg yolks with the sugar, and then place this over a pot of gently simmering water. You want to create the effect of a double boiler, so that the custard can cook very slowly by way of steam. Whisking continuously over the heat, slowly add the fortified wine, bit by bit, until you have a mixture that resembles a custard beginning to thicken. It should coat the back of a spoon. Now set this aside to cool. You can even refrigerate it.

In the meantime, arrange slices of cake on the bottom of your loaf tin, tightly packed together, to create your first layer.

Once the Zabaglione is completely cool, fold the mascarpone into the custard. You can now use this as your mascarpone layer.

Spread a mascarpone layer -around 2cm thick – over the cake layer. Dip biscuits into the coffee and brandy mixture and lay them side by side, making another layer. Fill the next layer with the condensed milk ice-cream. This will be a thick layer that will be the center of your cake. Repeat the biscuit layer, followed by a mascarpone layer, and finally top with biscuits again. (If you have more filling because your tin is shaped differently, keep going. There’s no right or wrong). Dust the top with cocoa powder, cover and freeze, preferably overnight. And you can keep it for days!!

Before serving, allow to thaw ever so slightly, just so the loaf comes away from the tin more easily. Slice with a large, sharp knife and serve garnished with berries, beautiful edible flowers and another dusting of cocoa or shaved chocolate.

Next… figure out what to do with all the egg whites you have left! I’m going to suggest pavlova!