Tiramisu Cups
Tiramisu Cups made with a light zabaglione Italian custard incorporated into thick whipped cream and soft Italian mascarpone. Spiced rum and coffee flavour the sponge fingers (ladyfingers) and grated dark chocolate is interspersed throughout.
These individual Tiramisu Cups were inspired by my Cherry Tiramisu recipe, which I made for my family last Christmas. Tiramisu is one of my absolute favourite desserts; I simply cannot resist it.
The secret ingredient in these tiramisu dessert cups is the addition of an Italian zabaglione custard. The custard is incorporated into the mascarpone and cream filling. It introduces an extra dimension of flavour and a light airiness to the filling.
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Why are these Tiramisu Cups so special?
Creamy filling enhanced with a zabaglione egg yolk custard ✔️
Spiced rum and coffee flavoured sponge fingers (ladyfingers) ✔️
Can be made 12 hours in advance ✔️
Very easy to make ✔️
Perfect for a special occasion ✔️
What is zabaglione?
Dating back to the late 15th century, a traditional Italian zabaglione custard is a simple dessert made with egg yolks, custard and marsala.
For this Tiramisu Cup recipe, we, however, use spiced rum instead of marsala.
The key to a perfect zabaglione is ensuring lots of air is whisked in; it needs to be super light.
The final custard should be light and airy, pale yellow and creamy. It should be just thick enough to leave a trail of custard on the top.
This wonderful, airy, delicious dessert is often served with sponge fingers (ladyfingers) and fresh fruits.
Ingredients
See recipe card below for quantities.
- Strong coffee
- Dark chocolate
- Egg yolks
- Spiced rum
- Mascarpone
- Double (heavy) cream
- Caster (superfine) sugar
- Sponge fingers (ladyfingers)
- Vanilla extract
Instructions
See end of post RECIPE CARD for precise quantities and instructions.
Place egg yolks and sugar into a heatproof dish and beat together for a couple of minutes, starting on a low setting. Stop beating once creamy and pale yellow.
Add spiced rum and vanilla extract and beat on a medium setting for another couple of minutes.
Place the dish on top of a gently simmering pan of boiling water and continue to beat for 10 minutes, to cook through. The mixture will then be quite thick, fluffy and full of air. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool.
Mix the mascarpone, spiced rum and vanilla extract until smooth. Using a balloon whisk to finish off mixing can help give a smooth finish.
Beat the double (heavy) cream, starting on a low setting and gradually moving up to high, until it forms stiff peaks. This will happen quite quickly, so keep an eye on it.
Gently mix your cooled zabaglione custard into your mascarpone mixture until smooth.
Assembling your Tiramisu Cups
Fold your whisked double (heavy) cream into your mascarpone and custard mixture, again with your balloon whisk, until fully incorporated and smooth.
Mix your cooled coffee and spiced rum, and then dip in halved sponge fingers (ladyfingers) for just 2 seconds on each side. Place a layer in your glass or small trifle dish, ensuring the base is covered.
Using half of your cream mixture, spread it evenly over the sponges.
Grate over a layer of dark chocolate, so that all of the cream mixture is hidden.
Repeat with another layer of sponge fingers, cream mixture and a final layer of grated chocolate and then sift cocoa powder over the top. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours, or preferably for up to 12 hours.
For additional decoration, melt some dark chocolate and then mix in a little butter. Spread it out on a board or over the back of a baking tray. Once cooled but not totally hard or fully set, push the edge of a knife into the chocolate and then push it away from you in a circular motion to create a chocolate curl. This video demonstrates the technique.
Hint: keep your cream and mascarpone mixture refrigerated if not using right away; it should be kept cold at all times.
Did you try this recipe?
Please leave a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating in the Recipe Card below.
Substitutions
Don't have all of the ingredients for this Tiramisu Cup recipe? Here are some suggestions for substitutions:
- Caster sugar - any sugar is fine to use, caster sugar just dissolves more easily.
- Eggs - you can omit the custard element of this recipe and just use mascarpone and double (heavy) cream mixed in with 3 tablespoons of caster sugar.
- Dark chocolate - you can omit this entirely or use milk or white chocolate instead.
- Spiced rum - Amaretto works very well instead, or kirsch as in Cherry Tiramisu, or a fortified wine like marsala or a dark sherry.
Equipment
The equipment required is listed in the Recipe Card. Here are a few points of note, however:
Tiramisu in a glass, what glass is suitable?
I used small trifle dishes for my Tiramisu Cups, which I purchased at a local charity shop. They measure 9cm across and have a depth of 5cm.
Any glass will be fine; however, even a wine glass will do. The mixture is cold when added to the glasses, so they do not need to be heatproof.
Hand mixer
Making Tiramisu Cups involves a huge amount of beating, which is best done with a hand mixer, unless you're super fit, which I am not!
Coffee maker
I use a Bialetti Stovetop Coffee Maker for all of my tiramisu recipes. However, you can just use instant coffee dissolved in water, as noted in the recipe card.
Storage
Tiramisu Cups are made with fresh cream and mascarpone. They should be covered and kept refrigerated and consumed within 4 days.
Cream and/or mascarpone have a sell-by date, so be careful to consume your tiramisu by that date.
Top tips for perfect Tiramisu Cups
Which coffee should I use?
Tiramisu should be made with strong coffee such as espresso. I use my Bialetti Stovetop Coffee maker and make a full pot, but only use 100ml of the coffee from a full pot.
Tips for soaking sponge fingers (ladyfingers)
The biggest mistake made when making tiramisu is to either soak the sponge fingers too long or not long enough.
Essentially, you want your sponge fingers to be nice and soft on the outside, but retain a thin layer of dry sponge throughout the centre.
To achieve perfectly soaked sponge fingers, the trick is to simply pop them into your coffee mixture for two seconds on each side, rolling them over in the mixture to ensure the sides are coated too.
Then put them straight into your glass or trifle dish, before they start to become soggy.
Tips when making zabaglione
Try to use a rounded-bottom bowl.
Beat your egg yolks and sugar for about 2 minutes on a medium setting, when ready the mixture should be pale yellow, creamy and light with lots of little air bubbles across the top.
Add your alcohol gradually whilst continuing to beat the zabaglione.
Ensure your bowl does not touch your gently simmering water when placed on top.
Continue to beat on a medium setting for 10 minutes whilst the bowl is sat over the simmering water, the custard should be hot and cooked through after this amount of time.
Leave the zabaglione to cool to room temperature; if it is too warm, it could curdle the mascarpone when mixed together.
And a few more tips to help you create perfect Tiramisu Cups
- Mix your spiced rum into your coffee once it has cooled, to retain the alcohol content.
- Your cream will easily overbeat; it is best to stop beating and check regularly to see if the mixture has reached the stiff peak stage, and stop immediately when it has.
- If making with chocolate curls, ensure that you start rolling the chocolate at the point the chocolate is three-quarters set, i.e. still a little soft; otherwise, it will splinter and refuse to form curls.
Linked Recipes
This Cherry Tiramisu 🍒is a perfect treat for a party, cherries in kirsch feature throughout and kirsch, along with strong coffee, is used to soak the sponge fingers (ladyfingers).
I love this recipe for Coffee Swiss Roll with Baileys Irish Cream, it creates a lovely light coffee swiss roll with a soft Baileys cream throughout. Divine.
This Salted Caramel Cheesecake requires no baking at all; it has salted caramel spread throughout and can be made in advance and left to set in the fridge overnight.
FAQ
To make a simple tiramisu, you only need sponge fingers (ladyfingers), strong coffee, sugar, mascarpone, double (heavy) cream and cocoa powder. Simply dip the sponge fingers (ladyfingers) in strong coffee for two seconds on each side and layer in the base of a flat-bottomed dish. Mix mascarpone with sugar (sweeten to taste), fold in beaten double (heavy) cream and spread a layer over the sponge fingers. Repeat with another layer of sponge fingers and cream mixture, and top with sifted cocoa powder.
A maximum of 2 seconds on each side is all that is required. The sponge fingers will quickly absorb the wet coffee, so if you leave them any longer, they will become soggy, and you won't retain that necessary layer of thin sponge inside.
Use espresso coffee or another strong ground coffee.
📖 Recipe
Tiramisu Cups
Here's what you'll need...
- 4 Individual trifle dishes or glasses the trifle dishes I use measure 9cm x 5cm
- Heatproof dish that will sit safely on the saucepan without touching the water inside
- Small saucepan
- Tea strainer or fine mesh sieve
- balloon whisk optional
Ingredients you'll need...
Zabaglione Custard
- 3 Egg yolks - large eggs (US = extra large egg yolks)
- 3 tablespoon Caster sugar level tablespoons (US = Cup)
- 3 tablespoon Spiced dark rum
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
Filling
- 250 g Mascarpone (1 Cup)
- 300 ml Double cream (heavy cream) (1¼ Cups)
- 25 g Dark chocolate
- 1 tablespoon Spiced dark rum
- 2 teaspoon Vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoon Icing sugar sifted
Sponge Fingers
- 100 ml Freshly brewed coffee (or 1½ tablespoons of instant coffee dissolved in 100ml boiling water) left to cool (½ Cup)
- 2½ tablespoon Spiced dark rum
- 24 Sponge fingers (ladyfingers)
Decoration
- 1 tablespoon Cocoa powder
- 40 g Dark chocolate
- ¼ teaspoon Butter
Here's what we do...
Zabaglione Custard
- Fill your saucepan about a quarter full of just boiled water and bring to a simmer.
- Meanwhile, place your egg yolks and sugar into a heatproof dish and beat on a medium setting for approximately 2 minutes until pale yellow, light and creamy.
- Gradually add your spiced rum and vanilla extract, beating slowly throughout until incorporated.
- Place the bowl on top of the simmering saucepan of water (making sure the bowl will not slip and does not touch the water below) and continue to beat on a medium setting for 10-15 minutes, until the mixture is hot, thick and creamy. Once ready, a spoonful of the custard drizzled onto the top of the custard in the bowl should leave a trail on top which slowly sinks into the rest of the custard.
- Remove from the heat and leave to cool to room temperature, however keep mixing intermittently as the custard cools to prevent it from sticking to the sides of the bowl.
Filling
- Add your double (heavy) cream to your large mixing bowl and start beating on a low setting, turn up as the mixture starts to thicken. Once you reach a high setting the cream will form peaks very quickly so keep stopping and checking it. Usually, this whole process takes just a couple of minutes in a stand mixer.
- In another bowl, mix together your mascarpone, spiced rum and vanilla extract, until smooth. Using a balloon whisk at the end may help you achieve this.
- Fold your cooled zabaglione into your mascarpone mixture until smooth, then fold in your double cream.
- Then fold in two sifted tablespoons of icing sugar.
Sponge Fingers
- Mix your coffee and spiced rum together.
- Break your sponge fingers to a size that fit your glasses, then roll in the coffee and rum mixture for 2 seconds on each side.
- Place into your glasses or trifle dishes so that all of the base is covered.
- Spread over half of your cream and mascarpone mixture and level out.
- Grate over a layer of dark chocolate, use the zester side of your grater to ensure a very fine layer.
- Repeat with another layer of sponge fingers, cream mixture and grated chocolate,
- Sift over a layer of cocoa powder.
- To create chocolate rolls, melt your dark chocolate either in a bain marie or in blasts of 10-20 seconds in a heatproof dish in a microwave, stirring in between, then mix in your butter.
- Spread your melted chocolate out in a thin layer on a chopping board or on the back of a baking tray, allow to cool but not set fully hard.
- Take a knife and push the blade into the chocolate, push it away from you in a circular motion to create a curl, see the video in the blog for a demonstration.
- Decorate your tiramisu cups with your chocolate curls.
- Refrigerate your Tiramisu Cups for at least 4 hours, but preferably overnight for 12 hours.
Supporting Notes
Tips when making zabaglione
Try to use a rounded bottom bowl. Beat your egg yolks and sugar for about 2 minutes on a medium setting, when ready the mixture should be pale yellow, creamy and light with lots of little air bubbles across the top. Add your alcohol gradually whilst continuing to beat the zabaglione. Ensure your bowl does not touch your gently simmering water when placed on top. Continue to beat on a medium setting for 10 minutes whilst the bowl is sat over the simmering water, the eggs should be hot and cooked through after this amount of time. Leave the zabaglione to cool to room temperature before adding it to your mascarpone mixture, if it is too warm it could curdle the mascarpone.And a few more tips to help you make perfect Tiramisu Cups
- Mix your spiced rum into your coffee once it has cooled, to retrain the alcohol content.
- Your cream will easily overbeat, it is best to stop beating and check regularly to see if the mixture has reached the stiff peak stage and stop immediately when it has.
- If making with chocolate curls, ensure that you start rolling the chocolate at the point the chocolate is three-quarters set, i.e. still a little soft, otherwise, it will splinter and refuse to form curls.
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