Velvety and Luscious… This Individual Tiramisu takes a classic Italian dessert and give it a simple twist, making it perfect for a prepare ahead individual dinner party dessert!
What is Tiramisu?
Tiramisu is a creamy rich layered Italian dessert, made with mascarpone cheese, ladyfinger cookies, espresso, eggs, sugar, sweet marsala wine (or rum) and cocoa powder.
The cookies are soaked in coffee and masala, then layered with a mixture of mascarpone cheese and an Italian custard, known as Zabaglione, made from egg yolks, sweet marsala wine, and sugar.
The soft pillowy cream is a wonderful contrast to the strong powerful espresso soaked biscuits.
What alcohol can be used in Tiramisu?
- Sweet Masala
- Madeira
- Dark Rum
- Coffee liqueur
- Amaretto
- Brandy
I like to use a sweet masala in my tiramisu, as that is how I was first taught to make it! But when masala isn’t on hand I have successfully made it with dark rum, brandy and coffee liqueur.
Because these Tiramisu contain raw eggs and alcohol, they are not suitable for children or expectant and nursing mothers. There are some recipe online that remove the alcohol and eggs, but they aren’t as light and luscious. If you are serving someone who needs to avoid alcohol/raw eggs then rather than serve an inferior dessert, I would pick something different. If you would like an individual dessert still then try my Individual Strawberry Trifles or perhaps my super simple and super decadent Chocolate Pots.
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Individual Tiramisu
Velvety and Luscious… This Individual Tiramisu takes a classic Italian dessert and give it a simple twist, making it perfect for a prepare ahead individual dinner party dessert!
Ingredients
You can change the measurement from US to metric at the bottom of this list
- 1 1/2 cup warm espresso coffee
- 3 tbsp brown sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 1/3 cup super fine sugar (castor sugar)
- 8 ounce package mascarpone cheese
- 1/3 cup sweet masala/dark rum
- 24 ladyfingers (savioardi cookies)
- 2 tbsp cocoa powder
Instructions
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Mix the coffee and brown sugar together in a small bowl and then place in the fridge to cool.
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Separating the eggs.
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Set the yolks to one side and place the egg whites into a mixing bowl.
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Beat the egg whites until they are stiff.
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In a second mixing bowl, beat the egg yolks and super fine sugar together until the mixture is a pale yellow colour and has started to thicken. (about 4 minutes)
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Whisk in the mascarpone cheese two tablespoon at a time, until well mixed and fluffy.
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Pour in the marsala and continue whisking until everything is smooth.
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Use a metal spoon to carefully fold in the egg whites. Turn gently, so you don't deflate the whites, until just combined. You should be left with a very light pillowy cream.
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Remove the cooled coffee from the fridge and dip a cookie into it until it is just fully saturated, the aim is for a soft cookie, but not to have it fall apart.
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Break the cookie in half and lay it in the bottom of your glass, Depending on the shape of your glasses you might need an extra half cookie on your bottom layer. The aim is for a single even layer of soaked cookies. (See notes)
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Repeat with the remaining glasses.
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Spoon a heaped tablespoon of cream over the cookies, and sprinkle with a little cocoa powder.
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Repeat your layers until your glasses are full.
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Set the tiramisu in the fridge to set, an hour minimum and up to 24hrs.
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To serve dust with more cocoa powder.
Recipe Notes
I use small wine glasses for my individual tiramisu. They are probably about 250ml/1 cup sized.
Depending on the shape of your glass you might need more or less cookies on each layer to cover the bottom.
And the height of your glass will dictate how many layers you can achieve.
Individual Tiramisu Anecdote
(aka my recipe ramble for those who love the waffle)
TRUTH….I can eat this cream straight from the mixing bowl…FACT I am working on ways to make this cream a dessert in it’s own right!!!! 😉
Don’t tell anyone but……I actually ate so much of it when I was making this last batch that I only had enough cream to make 5 1/2 portions…OOOPS! Good job we only had 2 friends coming for dinner!!!!
Not much rambling tonight…..I am distracted by George Clooney! Sadly not in person, but in a tux as he masterminds his casino job. Got to love a bit of Ocean’s 11. 😀
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Tiramisu is one of my favourite ever desserts! These individual ones look amazing!
Oh yeah 😀
mine too!
This looks delicious! I can’t wait to try making it for my next dinner party 🙂
I hope your guests enjoy them Amy 😀
Oh my goodness, these look SO gorgeous! Almost look too good to eat! ‘Almost’ being the key word, I’ll take all 6 please 🙂
Hehe, I like the way you think Chris 😀
I simply LOVE tiramisu – it’s definitely one of my top favorite desserts in the world! Yours look absolutely delicious and I really love the photographs too!
Thank you Natalie….it really is such a yummy classic isn’t it.
YUM YUM YUM! This Individual Tiramisu really impresses! I want to eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Looks very tasty. And very beautiful presentation. I definitely want to try it. Thank you for sharing this great recipe!
Thank you Veena 😀
Oh my Tiramisu dreams! This heavenly cups are so cute and perfect for entertaining. I love Tiramisu is such a classic and a crowd pleaser.
That is exactly what I wanted. Something perfect for entertaining 😀
I made these last night with Amaretto. They were so light and delicious. We also had a coffee with them, the perfect accompaniment! Thanks so much for this recipe, I will definitely make it again.
So happy to hear that Dana 😀
Thank you for stopping back to comment.
Individual desserts are the best. And I love that this is a classic Tiramisu! It’s the perfect recipe I need! I’ll probably eat the cream straight from the bowl too! 😉
It is so good!!!!! I am really trying to work out how I can class it as a dessert in it’s own right 😉
Love that these are individually sized. What an awesome dessert idea.
Thank you Shannah, I just love serving individual desserts at the end of a meal. I think it is such an elegant way to enjoy dessert 😀
Loving these detailed instructions for this super tasty recipe! YUM!
Thank you Jean, so glad you found them helpful 😀