Extra luscious and easy-peasy, this gluten free and keto tiramisu for one (with its instant ‘cookie’ layer!) is bound to become a favorite low carb treat!
Gluten Free & Keto Tiramisu-For-1
Easy Peasy & Fairly Instant
Tiramisu is perhaps Italy’s most famous dessert export, and with reason! Think layer after layer of coffee-soaked savoiardi biscuits, followed by the creamiest of mascarpone fillings, all topped off with a dusting of cocoa powder.
And so, with a few tips and tricks, you can make this famous dessert keto (and in a jiffy!). So e xpect a featherlight zabaglione and mascarpone custard, with an instant and killer coffee-infused biscuit base.
Fun fact: Tiramisu, which literally translates as pick-me-up, is thought to have originated in a casa chiusa (i.e. a house of ill-repute) as a ‘pick-me-up’ for the girls.
The Booze
Tiramisu is traditionally a boozy dessert. From the Tia Maria (or coffee liqueur) soaked savoiardi (i.e. lady fingers), to the marsala-infused mascarpone.
Coffee liqueur, in all it’s sugary glory, is out of the question if keto. But some brandy would be a nice substitute if you’re keen. Otherwise leaving it out (or even adding some extract) would work the charm.
Same goes for the marsala wine. Either substitute it for another dry wine, or simply substitute in with a tablespoon of almond milk. Different results, but nonetheless delicious.
Tip: I generally keep a small (and cheap) bottle of sauvignon blanc in the fridge. Even after weeks of hanging out, it still delivers (and spruces up even the most boring of chicken breasts).
The Sweetener
You can pretty much use whatever sweetener floats your boat. But it must be powdered for smooth blending. Think sugar alcohols (erythritol and xylitol) and allulose.
So get your blender out, make sure it’s completely dry, and process your sweetener of choice until powdered. Just make sure you wait a few moments for the dust to settle before opening the blender or food processor.
Or you can always grab a bag of Powdered Lakanto or Powdered Swerve (i.e. confectioner’s).
And if using xylitol, make sure to be careful if you have a pup around the house, as it’s highly toxic to the little guys! 🐕
The Method
Traditional Italian tiramisu involves you making zabaglione; otherwise known as sabayon or zabaione. Which is nothing more than an egg yolk, sugar and white wine custard.
So for this simplified keto tiramisu version, we’re giving you two options. Number one involves skipping the zabaglione, giving you fairly instant yet still delicious results (think more tiramisu cheesecake). While number two is more akin to tradition, as you’d be whipping up a quick custard.
They’re both super delicious. Oh, and we’re not that much into folding in the whipped egg whites at the end. Not very traditional of us, but it’s just not our jam.
And to substitute the coffee-soaked savoiardi, we did a layer of toasted almonds, sweetener, melted butter and a touch of espresso (or strong-brewed coffee). If you taste it after just made it’ll be a soggy mess, but once set in the fridge it’s absolutely delicious. So don’t skip it!
1. Make zabaglione
2. Fold in mascarpone cheese until completely incorporated
3. Fold in whipped heavy cream until creamy smooth
Gluten Free, Low Carb & Keto Tiramisu-For-1
Ingredients
For the coffee soaked biscuit base
- 25 g almond flour
- 1-3 teaspoons powdered erythritol or allulose and xylitol*
- pinch cinnamon
- pinch kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons melted unsalted grass-fed butter
- 1 teaspoon espresso or strong-brewed coffee
For the keto tiramisu
- 1 large egg yolk skip for quick version
- 1 tablespoon dry Marsala wine or dry white wine**
- 2-3 tablespoons powdered erythritol or xylitol, to taste (we use 2)*
- 70 g mascarpone cheese at room temperature
- 40 g heavy cream whipped
- cocoa powder for dusting
Instructions
For the coffee soaked biscuit base
- Lightly toast almond flour in a dry skillet or pan over medium heat, until fully golden and fragrant (2-4 minutes). This is very important taste-wise, so don't skip!
- Transfer toasted almond flour to a small bowl (or go straight for the serving glass), and mix in Swerve, cinnamon and salt. Add in butter and coffee, mix until thoroughly combined, and sprinkle into serving glass or dish. Refrigerate while you make the tiramisu (and don't worry if it tastes soggy right now!).
For the keto tiramisu (the easy version)
- Add heavy cream to a medium bowl and beat with an electric mixer until whipped (2-3 minutes). Set aside.
- Fold in mascarpone, marsala (optional), and powdered sweetener to taste.
- Transfer to prepared serving glass and freeze for 30-40 minutes or refrigerate for a couple hours (or overnight). Serve with a generous dusting of cocoa powder.
For the keto tiramisu (the zabaglione version)
- Add heavy cream to a medium bowl and beat with an electric mixer until whipped (2-3 minutes). Set aside.
- Beat egg yolk, marsala (or white wine) and powdered sweetener in a heat-proof bowl set over a simmering water bath. Making sure the bottom doesn't touch the water. Whisk rapidly and constantly (much easier with an electric mixer or handheld whisk), until tripled in volume, 4-6 minutes.
- Remove from heat and fold in mascarpone until thoroughly combined.
- Fold in whipped cream gently until creamy smooth, transfer to prepared serving glass and freeze for 30-40 minutes or refrigerate for a couple hours (or overnight). Serve with a generous dusting of cocoa powder.
Notes
Nutrition
and some food (for thought) 👁️
a newsletter about functional food to nourish, create and evolve.
(p.s. we don’t talk about fight club 🪄 )
xo! Paola
This is wonderful! I made this for my husband’s birthday “pre”kend, but we both absolutely loved it, it’s just the right size for dessert for two. The only thing I might do differently next time is add some coffee to the zabaglione and mascarpone filling as well, and use rum instead of white wine, but other than that this was perfect. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!
My husband and I loved this! I could hardly tell it was sugar free. I wasn’t sure about how the “cookie” base would taste and it was delicious. I will make this recipe again and again.
Just put mine in the fridge.. can’t wait.. had to control myself not to eat it straight out of the bowl. THANK YOU!
I have bought your recipe book. Even following you for a long time! Love your recipes, I’m moving away from the sweeteners that you use (allergies and sensitivities) how can substitute liquid stevia in to these? The processed white powder stevia gives me issues as well, I think it’s the silica they use to keep it from caking.
Thanks again!
I’m sure this recipe will be a great hit to me. What can I use instead of booze. I don’t do any kind of alcohols or spirits. Thanks
Hi Paola!
I wanted to turn this into a big tiramisu… I was wondering how many of those lil fingers would be replaced by the amount cookie crumble? Would you say it’s like 2-3? Just wondering how many times to Multiple to make a big one!
Made this for my non-keto hubby’s birthday, he couldn’t stop making happy noises as he made his way through his serving. He even got a good chuckle out of the name of your site name (it was basically the noise he made while eating)! Fantastic, thanks!
This recipe is amazing but I am pretty sure that there was a recipe on your website for a full size triamisu not for one serving, with the amount of work it takes I would much rather make a big batch. Can you please post that again? Thanks
Hi Paola,
My spouse and I found out about blog over a year ago; we’re impressed and bought one of your e-books. Your recipes are fantastic and I want to take this opportunity to thank you for that. We love cooking and we’ve been on a keto diet since December 2017 and we feel we added another 20 years to our lives. We now realize how dependent we’re on carbs. Flour and sugar are just a bad as many illegal drugs out there….perhaps even worse because it is so pervasive and socially acceptable. But I digress…I just wanted to say thank you for your efforts and for making your recipes available to all of us….I’ve prepared dozens of your recipes and they/you have changed our lives.
I made this for Mother’s Day. SHE CRIED. This was absolutely spectacular.
Toasting the almond flour is a life hack I didn’t know I needed but won’t go without again. I may just toast the rest and mix up a monster batch of that coffee base to eat with a spoon. So. Damn. Tasty.
One modification: I could find mascarpone at the Walmart NM next to my house and didn’t feel like driving to the nearest ~fancy specialty store~ last night. I used the same beaters to whip 1/4 c cream cheese, 2 t butter, 1 T heavy cream, and 3-5 drops of lemon juice. I couldn’t notice a difference honestly.
Sarah, most Walmart’s do have mascarpone, it’s usually stocked by the specialty cheeses. Look by the smoked Gouda and shedder, Buffalo mozzarella and mozzarella pearls.
Cheddar not shedder. Dang autocorrect!
Hi! I’m not sure if anyone asked this yet – but may I know what the ratio would be if I used coconut flour instead of almond flour? Would I need to toast that as well?
(I just ran out of almond flour but I made this recipe and it was so yummy!) My sweet tooth says thank youuuuu
Sarah: I cannot access mascarpone so I like your substitution. Grazia
Have not made this yet because I also can’t find the mascarpone. Look at my walmart and meijers it’s a hard to find item they dont carry it because they don’t sale enough. Anyways thank for the replacement idea as I also was thinking cream cheese.
Cream cheese isn’t exactly the same, but given the current times it will definitely do ;)!
OMG unbelievable satisfaction to be found here! Thank you! Actually, I didn’t follow your recipe but used it for inspiration. One difference… I forgot to add the espresso to the biscuit layer. Instead, I drizzled some over the finished dessert glass. Oh me oh my! We were making noises all the way through. I will be making the same mistake next time. HBD2Me! Lol
I am so impressed with this recipe! I am not doing keto or particularly concerned about sugar/carb consumption but needed a recipe for my friend and gave this a test run today before our dinner party this week. I for sure thought there’s no way this would taste close to the real thing but I stand corrected. I went the zabaglione route but made a couple minor alternations. For the biscuit base, I used 1 tsp espresso powder and 1 tsp water and ended up using 3 tsp Erythritol. For the zabaglione, I used about 7-8 smidgen scoops of Stevia Select stevia extract powder. I tasted the zabaglione/whipped cream mixture before I chilled it and I’ll admit I was concerned because I felt it had too much of the marsala flavor. However, after letting it sit in the freezer for 30 minutes and topping with cocoa powder, it made for a very convincing tiramisu! The next time I make this, I plan on adding a couple drops of vanilla extract. Thanks for the great recipe!!
Wonderful to hear Saya! And thanks so much for leaving your detailed subs 😉
I love the cheesecake for one and have made it a million times. Thought I would make the tiramisu to shake things up. I’m such a creature of habit. One question….Is the espresso in the recipe espresso powder or is it in liquid form? Thanks!
Hi, I was getting a look at your recipes and I love some of them but I would like to say something about this. I’m italian and I found some mistakes here. The traditional italian tiramisù is not a boozy dessert, the savoiardi are soaked in espresso coffee (made with the coffee pot and with some sugar). You can choose to mix a small quantity of Marsala with the Mascarpone cream but usually is made without. So for making Traditional Italian tiramisu you don’t have to use neither Marsala , nor the whip cream. To get the perfect texture you only have to work the ingredients with the whip for a long time.
Also, the zabaione (which is made with the egg yolks, sugar and Marsala) need to be cooked. This is a big difference with the mascarpone cream used for tiramisu.
I hope you don’t take me wrong if I’ve corrected you! 🙂
No prob! What I meant by boozy dessert is that it has booze in it, and I think we both agree on that xo!
So yummy! And quick to make, too. Thank you!
Hi: I imported this recipe into the Carb Manager app & it calculated the nutrition info & it came up with an incredible amount of carbs; 22 grams! My limit is 14/day on keto. I’m unsure why or if I even should edit based on the nutrition info provided with the recipe. Thanks
Hi Christine! Your app is likely counting the sugar alcohols as regular carbs 😉 xo
How different is the taste between the easy version and the other one?? Has anyone tried the easy version??
Made it today and enjoyed it with whole family. I was amazed at the taste of toasted almond flour. It is just beyond expectations! I will “play” with this recipe in the future and just include different flavours, maybe transform it into cheesecake. Thank you for these amazing recipes! You’ve given me courage to experiment and keep being healthy! Congratulations for all your efforts!
Awesome to hear Lucia! And DEF on the cheesecake! If you search for the cheesecakes-for-1 on the site they use this base too (as do the cookies ‘n cream fat bombs with an ‘oreo’ version) xo!
I don’t see where the substitute for the whine is at, I’m in recovery and love tiramisu, but I won’t risk sobriety can you please address the substitute?
Hi Katie! You just switch it for almond milk (it’s stated in the post) xo!
Hi Paola, Just want to tell you, your taste buds are like mine! You’re amazing!!!!!I just want to try everyone of your recipes; its everything I like, have to try the ice cream and tiramisu!! A M A Z I N G! ! !
Why do you specify “Grass-fed butter”? Isn’t butter just butter from a recipe standpoint, or is there a taste or texture difference?
From a baking standpoint you can use whatever butter you desire. But since this is a blog with an emphasis on paleo and keto grass-fed is a must, as nutritional profile is anything but the same xo!
Is this enough to share? I’m thinking of making it on Valentine’s day. About how much does it make a cup or so?
Hi Christine! It does make about a cup, but it’s very rich. Maybe just double it in case you guys do want to indulge though, and you can always make fat bombs out of the leftovers 😉 xo!
Wow! I made the zabaglione version today. It is absolutely delicious! The flavors are unique, but they work so well together. I used chardonnay and Pyure. I want to try it with marsala wine next time. Thanks so much for your amazing recipes!
Hi, just wondering if you have heard from any of your subscribers about being kicked out of Keto due to artificial sweeteners?
Hi Rayan, I haven’t heard anything of the sort with readers. May I ask why you ask? Erythritol is generally assumed to be fine, also xylitol (though it does have a slightly higher GI) also fine in moderation.
Hi Paola, I have been using honey instead of artificial sweeteners. I just wanted to check in before trying artificial sweeteners. Thanks so much for the response!
Sugar alcohols are not “artificial sweeteners”! Splenda, Equal, Sweet & Low – THEY are completely artificial! I have been on keto for more than a year and bake a LOT using erythritol and xylitol and have NEVER been kicked out of ketosis!!
Only thing I’ve heard from an expert (Dr Jason Fung, The Obesity Code ) is that sweeteners do raise insulin production and therefore he doesn’t advise.
I totally agree with the use of Erythritol and Monkfruit, my go-to for everything 🙂
Paola, This recipe is incredible. I didn’t think I would ever get to eat tiramisu again! Thank you!
Jennifer so glad you enjoyed!! It’s my absolute pleasure and thank you for your note xo!
YAY!!! Another yummy dessert to try. I so enjoyed baking and making desserts the “traditional” way before we went KETO and your site has given me so many opportunities to perfect my “new” baking skills. LOVE your site – it is my favorite of all the Keto sites I follow.
Absolutely delicious, we were surprised!!
This was genius thank you. Made the zabaglione version, very easy and followed to-a-t
SO easy and SO delicious! I’m a big tiramisu fan and was a bit nervous about making the zabagione. But I must say that you literally just beat everything over the water bath and it came out perfect! Very simple.
I was also very hesitant about the almond coffee mix because it tasted terribly soggy, but I just went for it and after it came out of the fridge WOW!! It actually tasted like the cookies dipped in coffee!! HOW ON EARTH did you think of that?! Pure magic Paola! Thank you for another keeper!
HI Emily! That’s so awesome so happy you enjoyed it! And YUP, making zabaglione is super easy (also great to dress up some berries!). xo!
Are the nutrition facts for one serving or the whole recipe? Having a title that says “for one” and servings = 2 is a little confusing. Thanks!
Hi Betsy, the total recipe yields a VERY generous helping of tiramisu (think old-school Italo-American), so I portioned it into two (it’s so rich!). And sorry for the confusion! xo!
You portioned it did the same for the cheesecake-for-1, delicious btw. It really is a big portion (cheesecake factory big portion!). The first time I made it I ate half and it was SO rich, so lately I’ve been making it into fat bombs. I think it’s funny how we get used to indulging with smaller portions.
Anyways! I’ll definitely be trying this one soon thanks!
So the nutrition facts are for half of the recipe? Thanks.
Yes Bonnie!