Creamy tiramisu filling in little coffee-flavoured cookie cups. Low carb tiramisu you can eat with your fingers! These keto cookie cups will have you coming back for more.
I love mascarpone, but apparently mascarpone doesn’t love me. It does not at all like my attempts to make it do what I want it to do. It’s all very well if I eat choose to eat it on its own, spread on a muffin or paired with some berries. But I often see wonderful creations with mascarpone, creamy concoctions atop cakes and tarts and I so very much want to make them. They look so light and fluffy and after all, mascarpone is so similar to cream cheese, it should be easy to whip into whatever shape I want it take. Oh the hubris of thinking you know how mascarpone will behave!
I have made a handful of desserts with mascarpone and exactly 50% of the time, the mascarpone has done exactly what I wanted it to do. The other 50%, it has become a curdled, clumpy mess. The first time it happened, I was trying to make a low carb mascarpone frosting for a Flourless Chocolate Torte. I thought it might be the result of using sweeteners other than sugar that made it separate out. When I searched online, it seems it had happened to other people but it wasn’t an overly common occurrence and there weren’t any very good suggestions to fix it. Then the next time I took a chance on a creamy mascarpone filling for Tiramisu Chocolate Cups, it didn’t happen at all and I chalked it up to a fluke.
This time, I was using my own Homemade Mascarpone and I was so excited to try it in some yummy recipes. I had a wonderful idea for these coffee flavoured cookie cups, filled with creamy mascarpone and sprinkled with cocoa powder. Tiramisu you can pick up and eat with your fingers, how great is that? Except the minute I tried to mix my mascarpone, it separated out into whey and curds. It was virtuously instantaneous; I had barely touched the mascarpone before it separated. I hadn’t even added any sweetener yet, it was just the mascarpone on its own, behaving as badly as a spoiled child. I was nearly in tears, seeing all of my lovely homemade mascarpone, seemingly going to waste.
I despaired of finding anything to help, but this time the internet divulged some information that was considerably more helpful. Someone on some message board somewhere in cyberspace pointed out that mascarpone has a tendency to become un-emulsified (i.e. the fat and liquids separated) and I needed to add an emulsifier to bring them back together. This person suggested flour but then that would rather defeat the purpose of making a gluten-free dessert. So I turned to a trusty and useful gluten-free ingredient, guar gum, and sprinkled a bit in, then started mixing the mascarpone back together. And lo and behold, it actually worked! The mascarpone even stayed together and willingly let me add some cream and sugar-free coffee liqueur to it without rebelling. My relief was palpable, I didn’t have to toss out my gorgeous cookie cups or my lovely homemade mascarpone and I ended up with a dessert I could actually serve to people!
The moral of the story: mascarpone isn’t as easy going as cream cheese and it will flout you if you presume to think so. But even if it rebels, don’t despair. You can save your lovely dessert with a little ingenuity and an emulsifier.
Tiramisu Cookie Cups
Ingredients
Cookie Cups:
- 2 cups almond flour
- ⅓ cup Swerve Sweetener or other erythritol
- 1 teaspoon espresso powder or instant coffee
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 6 tablespoon butter melted
- 1 large egg
- ¼ teaspoon stevia extract
Tiramisu Filling:
- ¼ cup whipping cream chilled
- ⅓ cup powdered Swerve
- 1 tablespoon coffee liqueur preferably [homemade, sugar-free coffee liqueur|https://alldayidreamaboutfood.com/2013/01/homemade-coffee-liqueur-sugar-free.html
- ⅛ teaspoon stevia extract
- 6 oz mascarpone room temperature
- ½ - ¾ teaspoon guar gum if necessary, to re-emulsify
- Cocoa powder for sprinkling
Instructions
- For the cookie cups, preheat oven to 325F and grease a mini muffin tin (24 mini-muffin capacity).
- In a large bowl, whisk together almond flour, erythritol, espresso powder, baking powder and salt.
- Stir in butter, egg and stevia until dough comes together.
- Form by hand into approximately 1-inch balls and place dough balls into prepared mini-muffin tin. This recipe will make exactly 24 so if you've made your balls too big or too small, go back and redistribute the dough.
- Press the dough into the bottom and up the sides of each mini-muffin hole. Bake 10 to 12 minutes, until edges are lightly brown and cookie cup is puffed up a bit.
- Remove from oven and use the end of a wooden spoon to gently create a nice well in the center of each cookie cup. Let cool.
- For the filling, ship cream with powdered erythritol until it forms stiff peaks. Stir in coffee liqueur and stevia extract.
- Gently fold in room-temperature mascarpone. If it separates and gets clumpy, beat in guar gum ¼ teaspoon at a time until comes back together.
- Spoon or pipe filling into cooled cookie cups. Sift cocoa powder over top and refrigerate 20 minutes to set.
Notes
Beth D. says
I a making these tonight but in a tart pan, I set aside some of the dough to make a few cups later. as I was reading instructions for the filling it stumped me for a quick second until I realized you meant to type ‘whip’ **7. For the filling, ship cream with powdered erythritol until it forms stiff peaks. Stir in coffee liqueur and stevia extract.**
I am sure these will turn out perfectly just as all your recipes do! 🙂
Cari says
Carolyn,
May I email you?
Carolyn says
Of course. Email is on contact page.
Angela says
How would you convert the almond flour with these? My son has allergies to nuts. With other recipes I’ve been swapping coconut flour. But I’m not sure that would work with these.
Carolyn says
Sunflower seed flour might work. Coconut flour would not because it absorbs too much liquid.
k says
Hi there. Love the cute little things!
Wanna try making them but is it possible to use regular sugar in this recipe? Would it be the same amount?
Also what is stevia extract? Never heard of it here on Asia? Can we replace that with anything else?
Can’t wait to try these !
Carolyn says
Hi there. Yes you can use sugar. Stevia extract is a sweetener so skip it and do about 1/2 cup sugar in the cups and 6 tbsp sugar in the filling. Hope that helps!
Sarah says
I don’t have a mini muffin pan. Would the dough hold it’s shape if I baked it free form? If not, which would be better? Baking them in a regular pan and making larger tiramisu cookie cups OR baking the cookies small and round and making a cookie sandwich with the filling?
Carolyn says
Ooooh, I like the sandwich idea! I think that these will rise and puff too much to do free-form.
amanda says
I can’t buy marscapone anywhere near me and don’t have time to make, could I use cream cheese instead?
Carolyn says
Sure!
Sarah max says
Just FYI I made these tonight and used a level tablespoon of dough for each cup and it worked out perfect! 🙂
Carolyn says
So glad you liked them, Sarah.
Lisa says
Carolyn..I saw these on Pinterest many times the past few days an thought “I’ve got to get over there and get the recipe!” They look and sound sensational, and frankly..I need to start cutting sugar and carbs from my diet (not my blog lol) because I want to eat healthier. I’m already planning on your mango creamsicles… soon!
Diane (createdbydiane) says
OMG love these!!! You know I love bite sized treats, did you make these just for me….wishing I had some right now!
Great flavors 🙂