Mini tiramisù cups (festive edition)

This is a little festive twist on my family’s tiramisù recipe. Instead of making a tray of this creamy layered dessert, you serve them in individual portions. For a wintery effect you add a short sprig of rosemary that’s been dusted in icing sugar. Alternatively, you can also use raspberries, pomegranate seeds, cherries, amarena cherries in syrup (I love this brand), holly leaves or fresh redcurrants. Then for a touch of festive decoration, tie a little red ribbon to the base of each serving glass. It’s a fun and compact way to enjoy your tiramisù on Christmas day or any special occasion. The serving glasses I use are tapered and are 3.5″ in diameter and 5.25″ in height. Ideally make these lovely mini tiramisù pots a day ahead.
To prepare the coffee for the tiramisù, I highly recommend using a coffee machine or a Bialetti style moka stovetop coffee pot with an Italian roasted-style coffee. I personally use Illy coffee (red tin), which is the mild and balanced 100% arabica.
Depending on the size of glasses you are using, you may require less or more of the savoiardi biscuits specified, so do keep a few extra biscuits on hand just in case. Due to the biscuits being broken into smaller pieces, they require less coffee than the full biscuit you would using when making a tray of tiramisù. Take care when dipping the savoiardi into the coffee, dip them for roughly one second or less on each side to absorb the coffee. If you’ve over dipped, lift them vertically above the plate to allow them to drip, and even squeeze them gently on the side of the coffee plate before placing them in the dish. There should be an even amount of liquid in the savoiardo. It shouldn’t be too dry otherwise the texture won’t be moist, nor should it be too wet as the biscuit will fall apart and the excess coffee can linger like a puddle on each mascarpone layer.

Makes 4 individual portions/cups

4 egg yolks

8 tablespoons of caster or granulated sugar 

500g room temperature mascarpone 

170ml strong black coffee (cold)

10 savoiardi biscuits (plus extra depending on glass size)

1/2 tablespoon unsweetened Dutch process cocoa powder

1/2 tablespoon icing sugar

4 rosemary sprigs

248cm of 1.1cm-thick red ribbon cut into lengths of 62cm (4 ribbons in total)

In a medium sized mixing bowl, use an electric mixer to beat the egg yolks and sugar together. Once the egg yolks and sugar are well combined (about 1 – 2 minutes), add the mascarpone. Continue beating with your electric mixer until the ingredients are thick but smooth in consistency.

In a separate, shallow bowl (to allow enough room for the savoiardi), pour in the cold coffee.

Now we begin the assembly process and should have three layers of coffee-soaked biscuits topped with three layers of mascarpone. Place one savoiardo biscuit across the diameter of your individual glass and measure where you’ll need to break it so it fits snugly at the base of the glass.

Break the biscuits needed for the first layer. Dip each biscuit quickly on both sides (less than one second each) from the side of the bowl into the coffee (to avoid over dipping), then place side by side into the base of the serving glass.

Cover the biscuits with roughly two heaped tablespoons of the mascarpone mixture. Using the back of a teaspoon, smooth the mascarpone down so the layer is flat and covers the coffee-soaked biscuits well.

Now for the second layer. Break the biscuits to fit perfectly in the glass to cover the first mascarpone layer. If your glasses are tapered, then you may need one extra piece of biscuit here. Dip both sides of the savoiardi into the coffee quickly and place them on the mascarpone. Cover with another layer of mascarpone mixture and smooth it down again with the back of a teaspoon.

To create the final layer, break the savoiardi to a length that will ensure they fit on top of the mascarpone snugly. Quickly dip both sides of the biscuits into the coffee then place on top of the mascarpone. Cover the coffee-soaked biscuits with a final layer of mascarpone, reaching the brim of the glass (you may need to use slightly more mascarpone here than the previous layers), and smooth out with the back of a teaspoon.

Repeat the steps above for the remaining three glasses.

Dust the tops of the glasses with the cocoa powder until mascarpone is not visible. Place in the fridge for a minimum of five hours, ideally overnight.

About 20 – 30 minutes before serving your mini tiramisù pots, on a small plate, add 1/2 tablespoon of icing sugar and spread it out across the plate using your spoon

You want to create little trees out of the rosemary sprigs. Start from the top of each sprig and cut them at the 6cm mark. Pull off the rosemary leaves from the bottom 2cm of each cutting. Then cut the remaining sprigs at the 6cm mark and repeat pulling the leaves from the ends of the sprig, about 2cm worth.

After you’ve repeated this with all the sprigs, gently place the rosemary sprigs into the icing sugar. Using your hands or a fork, gently roll and cover the rosemary trees in the icing sugar until they look snowy.

Put two of the rosemary sprigs together and pierce them into the middle of the tiramisù pot so they look like a small Christmas tree. Repeat with the three remaining serving glasses so they all have a little rosemary tree on top.

Tie the ribbon into a bow at the base of the stem of each glass. You can even use different colours of ribbon for each person, so they don’t get their glasses mixed up.

Wishing you and your guests a merry celebration, whatever the occasion!