If you don’t feel like turning on the oven but still want to make a tasty dessert, I recommend these Christmas Cups with Mascarpone Cream, Digestive Biscuits, and Kiwi. They are very easy to make and you can even prepare them when you suddenly need a dessert for unexpected guests. I used kiwi as a topping, but alternatively, you can use a layer of chocolate and hazelnuts. For the mascarpone cream, I pasteurized the eggs; if you use fresh eggs, you can skip this step.

Difficulty: Easy
Cost: Cheap
Preparation time: 30 Minutes
Portions: 4 cups
Cooking methods: Stovetop
Cuisine: Italian

Ingredients

9 oz mascarpone
2 egg yolks (from medium eggs)
3 oz sugar
1.5 tbsp water
8 Digestive biscuits
0.75 oz chocolate (milk or dark)
0.75 oz hazelnuts
0.25 cup milk
2 kiwi
4 meringues
to taste colored sprinkles
to taste sugar hearts (white)

Preparation

For this mascarpone cream, I pasteurized the eggs according to the procedure you’ll find below.
In a small pot, place the water and sugar. Heat while stirring occasionally with a spoon; the mixture must reach a temperature of 250°F (I recommend using a kitchen thermometer, otherwise consider it ready as soon as you see the mixture boiling vigorously).
Meanwhile, place the egg yolks in a mixer with mounted whisks and beat until they become lighter.
Once the sugar and water mixture reaches a temperature of 250°F, slowly pour it into the yolks while continuing to mix until it becomes lukewarm.
Add the mascarpone and beat with a whisk until you get a smooth and homogeneous mixture.
Sprinkle the bottom of a cup with a diameter of 3 inches and a height of 1.5 inches with a little crushed chocolate and hazelnuts (I placed them in a freezer bag and crushed them with a meat tenderizer). Lay a flat dish, soak a Digestive biscuit slightly on both sides in milk, and place it in the cup.
Cover with a tablespoon of mascarpone cream, make a layer of crushed chocolate and hazelnuts, then another milk-dipped Digestive biscuit, and another layer of mascarpone cream.
Peel the kiwis, slice them into pieces about half an inch thick, use the center part, which is the largest. Cut Christmas trees with a cutter, and place them on top of the cups. Finish by sprinkling chopped hazelnuts and chocolate over the cream and decorating the kiwi tree with sugar hearts, colored sprinkles, and a meringue star.