Aussiemisu: Chef mixes lamingtons and tiramisu in celebration of citizenship

To celebrate his Australian citizenship, Italian chef Carlo Staropoli has created the Aussiemisu, a new dessert which combines the classic tiramisu with lamingtons and a native Australian ingredient.

Aussiemisù is a crossover between the Australian Lamington and the Italian Tiramisù - with an Aboriginal Twist. Source: Supplied

For Italian-born chef Carlo Staropoli, becoming an Australia citizen was an overwhelming and memorable day. So memorable, in fact, that he created a new dessert to celebrate his heritage and dual Italian and Australian citizenships.

Enter, the Aussiemisu, a combination of the classic Italian dessert tiramisu and Australian favourite the lamington, with a wattle seed twist to pay homage to Australia's native ingredients, and First Nations peoples.

“For me, the greatest emotion when becoming an Australian citizen is the sense of freedom,” Staropoli tells SBS Italian. “Italy or Australia? Now I will be free to choose between these two wonderful countries without having to consider visa implications."

“As soon as I set foot on Australian soil, I wanted to become an Australian". Carlo Straropoli holds his Australian Citizenship certificate. (Supplied) Source: SBS

Staropoli left the Calabrian hillside village of Limbadi six years ago with the intention of pursuing his culinary career in Australia. His initial ambition was to graduate as an IT engineer at the University of Calabria, but he was sidetracked by a love of food.

While studying IT, he worked as an assistant cook to help pay for his university fees, and developed a burning passion for cuisine in doing so. While continuing his university studies, he enrolled at the local hotel school to become a chef. 

“As soon as I set foot on Australian soil, I wanted to become an Australian," he says."Aussiemisù is a wonderful mix of traditions, flavours and history.“

Indeed, Starpoli is so passionate about his new creation, he has shared the recipe with SBS Italian for anyone else who wants to try it out.

"It is a simple recipe to prepare and I encourage everyone to try it, he says.

Aussiemisu recipe

Ingredients

• 150 gram savoiardi (ladyfinger biscuits)
• 2 medium eggs
• 250g mascarpone
• 60g sugar
• 150ml coconut milk
• 20g wattle seed powder
• 50g grated coconut
• 100g dark chocolate

Preparation

1. Pour 120ml of coconut milk into a saucepan. 
2. Add wattle seed powder and a tablespoon of sugar. Boil coconut milk, with the wattle seed powder and sugar for a few minutes. 
3. Turn off heat and set saucepan aside. Let the flavoured coconut milk cool down and put in the fridge. 
4. Pour 30ml of coconut milk into a separate saucepan and add dark chocolate. Melt dark chocolate with the coconut milk until creamy. 
5. Now, make a cream as you would for tiramisu, beating the egg yolks with sugar and mascarpone until soft peaks form. Add the whipped egg whites. 
6. Put the cream in a cup or plate. 
7. Dip savoiardi biscuits in the coconut milk that was boiled with wattle seed powder. 
8. Dip savoiardi biscuits in liquid chocolate - to give it the resemblance of a lamington. 
9. Place the savoiardi biscuits on top of the cream and sprinkle grated coconut on top.
10. Continue making layers, forming two or three levels of savoiardi and cream, or as you prefer.  
11. Garnish as preferred.

"Aussiemisù is a merrymaking of traditions, flavours and history”, said Carlo Staropoli. Source: Supplied

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