So a while ago, I purchased assam tea to make some desserts with, only for me to receive twice the amount I intended on ordering, and being stuck with more assam tea than I knew that to do with. For those unfamiliar with it, assam is a kind of black tea, popular in countries such as India, made from the camellia flower. It is similar to an English breakfast tea, and has earthier, maltier notes compared to its black tea contemporaries. I personally love using it in milk teas, or pairing it with chocolate, but in the case of this recipe, I am subbing out coffee with it, and making a tea-ramisu. Tiramisu, an Italian classic, is made by soaking ladyfingers or almond sponge with coffee, sometimes amaretto, and layered up with a sweet mascarpone cream that usually has marsala wine in it, and finished off with cocoa powder. In this case, I am using Chinese almond powder to bring in that almond flavoring instead, and nixing the alcohol entirely just so that the assam tea is more prominent. These tea-ramisu were made using two different silicone molds, one being egg-shaped, and the other being butterfly-shaped for the tuiles on top. Just keep that in mind if you are attempting them, since they do require some specialty equipment to make. You could technically make these using any silicone mold for the mousse-portion of the dessert too, and just freeform your tuiles if that makes it any easier! Granted, even attempting this recipe is commendable, because the amount of steps and ingredients is a tall ask. However, there are definitely some substitutes you can make so that this recipe is more do-able for you! Almond flour is expensive, Almond Inspiration is too. Chinese Almond powder can be hard to source, so you can always sub that out with almond flour, or omit it entirely. The assam tea does require a spice grinder for one of the components, so you can skip the assam tea powder step entirely, and just use an unflavored tuile instead if you do not own one.

For the components, we have an assam tea and Almond Inspiration panna cotta, an almond sponge, an assam tea soak for the sponge, assam tea-Almond Inpiration mascarpone mousse, an almond glaze, assam tea powder, and assam tea tuile. I’ll be honest, I had to prepare the components for this dessert over two and a half days. The panna cotta needs to be frozen solid before you can use it to assemble, so I recommend starting with that component first. The sponge, tuiles, and tea powder can be made ahead of time, and just stored in an airtight container until you need them. The glaze can be prepared ahead of time as well, but you just need to re-melt it down when it comes time to use. The mascarpone mousse, you need to have it ready to use as soon as you make it, since it will only get firmer as there is gelatin in it, and melting it down runs the risk of the mousse tasting rubbery. I used Chinese almond powder, which has that almond extract-flavor, because it plays off of the tea beautifully, and has this almost warming feeling to it when you consume it. So long as you follow the recipe in the steps that I have set up the components, you should not run into too many issues. The hardest technical aspects of the tea-ramisu would probably be glazing them, because the oblong shape of the eggs could result in the glaze not coating the mousses completely, or the glaze knocking the eggs off of the icing rack you are using, and the mascarpone mousse, since mascarpone has a high fat content, meaning that it can split easily if you over-work it. Just be delicate with the mousse, and it will come together as a silky mascarpone tea cloud! Besides that, I would say that this recipe comes together quite nicely, and it basically is milk tea meets tiramisu!

Makes 8 petit gateau:
For the assam-Almond Inspiration tea panna cotta:
1/2 cup almond milk
1 tbsp Chinese almond powder
1 bag assam tea
3 tbsp granulated sugar
1oz Almond Inspiration
a pinch of salt
1/2 tsp gelatin powder, mixed with 1 tbsp cold water

In a pot, heat up the almond milk with almond powder and assam tea on low heat for 5 minutes. Strain out the tea bag and add in the other ingredients, bringing the pot to a simmer to melt everything together. Once everything is dissolved together, pour the liquid into silicone 1-inch half sphere molds. Freeze the molds solid before attempting to remove the panna cotta, and keep those frozen for the initial assembly of the dessert.

For the almond sponge:
1 egg, separated
3 tbsp granulated sugar
1 tbsp canola oil
a pinch of salt
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp almond flour
2 tbsp all-purpose flour

In a bowl, whip the egg white with sugar until stiff peaks form. In another bowl, whisk the egg yolk with canola oil, salt, and vanilla extract. Mix into the egg yolks the flours, and then fold into that the whipped egg white. Pour the batter into a lined quarter sheet tray, and spread into a thin layer. Bake at 350 degrees F for 14 minutes. Allow the cake to fully cool off before cutting out 1-inch disks. You would need 16, two rounds for each mousse.

For the assam tea soak:
1 cup water
2 assam tea bags
a pinch of salt

In a pot, bring everything to a boil. Let the tea bags steep in the water, off heat for 5 minutes, before removing. Reserve 1/4 cup of the liquid for the mascarpone mousse, and refrigerate the rest.

For the assam tea-Almond Inspiration mascarpone mousse:
1/4 cup assam tea
2 tbsp gelatin powder
1 tbsp Chinese almond powder
1oz Almond Inspiration
a pinch of salt
8oz mascarpone cheese
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup heavy cream, whipped stiff

In a pot, heat up the assam team, gelatin, almond powder, Almond Inspiration, and salt. Once everything is dissolved together, pour the mixture into a bowl, and whisk in the mascarpone cheese, and vanilla. Once everything is combined, and the mixture reaches just around room temperature, fold in the heavy cream and transfer to a piping bag.

For initial assembly:
Pipe the mousse into a silicone egg mold, filling them about 1/3 the way up. Press into each mold one 1-inch round of the cake, brushed with the soak. Then add in enough mousse to fill them halfway up. Then press in the still-frozen panna cotta. Then pipe in the rest of the mousse, leveling off the molds, and press on another round of cake that was brushed with the soak. Freeze for at least 4 hours before attempting to unmold and glaze.

For the assam tea powder:
1 bag Assam tea leaves

In a spice grinder, blend the leaves into a super fine powder. Reserve 1/4 of it for the tuile.

For the assam tea tuile:
1/4 tsp assam tea powder
2 tbsp all-purpose flour
1 tsp egg white powder
1 1/2 tbsp cold water
1/2 tbsp canola oil
1 tbsp granulated sugar
a pinch of salt

Mix ingredients together to form your tuile batter. Spread the batter into a silicone butterfly mold, and bake at 350 degrees F for 12 minutes.

For the almond glaze:
1/2 cup almond milk
1 tbsp gelatin powder + 2 tbsp cold water
2 tbsp Chinese almond powder
a pinch of salt
1 cup white chocolate chips

In a pot, heat up almond milk, gelatin, almond powder, and salt. Once the gelatin powder is dissolved into the liquid, take off heat and add in the chocolate. Allow the chocolate to dissolve into the warm milk, off heat, for 1 minute before stirring and passing through a sieve to remove any lumps. Keep the glaze at 90 degrees F for glazing.

To glaze:
On an icing rack, pour the glaze onto the still-frozen mousses. Dust the tops of the cakes with the tea powder and garnish with the butterfly tuiles.