Chefs Binge · Fusion · Serves 5 pots

Easy Tiramisu Cheesecake in Pots

Three no-bake layers in a pot: an espresso-soaked biscuit base, a coffee liqueur ganache and a whipped cream cheese top, dusted with cocoa.

Prep

20 min

Total

1 hr

Serves

5 pots

Per serving

830 kcal

Ingredients

Ingredients for the base

150 g chocolate digestive biscuits

30 g melted butter

3 tsp strong espresso

Ingredients for the chocolate layer

250 g milk chocolate - drops or finely chopped

150 ml double cream

100 ml coffee-flavoured liqueur - such as Tia Maria or Kahlua

Ingredients for the cheesecake layer

150 g cream cheese

100 ml double cream

1 tsp vanilla bean paste

50 g icing sugar

Cocoa powder for garnish

Equipment

Dessert Pots · Whisk · Rolling Pin

Method

Prepare the base. Crush the chocolate digestive biscuits in a bag using a rolling pin - a food processor takes them past crumbs and into powder, which sets solid. Combine with the melted butter and 3 tsp of strong espresso, then spoon into 5 dessert pots and press down flat. Place in the freezer for a few minutes to set.

Make the chocolate layer. Set a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water, making sure the bowl does not touch the water - it is the steam that should melt the chocolate. Add the double cream, milk chocolate and coffee liqueur all at once rather than melting the chocolate first, which is how it seizes into a stiff paste. Stir gently with a spatula until smooth, pour over the bases, and freeze for 20 minutes to set.

Prepare the cheesecake layer. Beat the cream cheese on its own until completely smooth, because lumps will not come out once the cream is in. Add the vanilla bean paste, icing sugar and double cream, and whisk to stiff peaks - watch it near the end, as it goes from holding its shape to grainy in seconds. Spoon or pipe over the set chocolate layer.

Chill, dust and serve. Refrigerate for at least 20 minutes to firm the top layer. A few hours, or overnight, is better still: the coffee mellows into the cream and it tastes like a tiramisu rather than three separate layers. Dust with cocoa powder just before serving, not before chilling, or it draws moisture from the cream and goes patchy. Keeps for 3 days in the fridge.

Chef’s notes

Cream, chocolate and liqueur go into the bowl together. Chocolate seizes when a small amount of liquid meets it, so melting it first and adding the cream afterwards is how it turns to stiff paste. If it does seize, stir in more warm cream until it comes back.

The bowl must not touch the water. Steam is doing the melting; direct contact takes the chocolate too hot.

Milk chocolate is not swappable for dark weight for weight. Dark carries far more cocoa solids and far less sugar, so the same amount sets much firmer and can split. Use about a third less if you want it darker.

Beat the cream cheese smooth on its own first. Lumps will not come out once the cream is in, and the mixture goes from stiff peaks to grainy in seconds.

Go carefully with the butter in the base. Too much and it sets hard in the fridge and you cannot get a spoon through it.

Chilling: 20 minutes a layer will set them enough to eat, but a few hours or overnight is noticeably better, because the coffee mellows into the cream. Dust the cocoa on just before serving - left on overnight it draws moisture from the cream and goes patchy.

Keeping them: two to three days in the fridge, covered. Do not freeze; the cream cheese layer comes back grainy.

Per serving Calories 830 kcal · Protein 9 g · Carbs 70 g · Fat 55 g · Saturates 33 g · Fibre 3 g · Sugar 54 g · Sodium 300 mg

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