Gulab Jamun Tiramisu

5 from 4 votes

Oct 14, 2022, Updated Oct 29, 2023

Layers of rose flavored mascarpone cheese topped with coffee soaked gulab jamun, dusted with cocoa powder and garnished with edible gold leaves and pistachios, this Gulab Jamun Tiramisu makes a delightful festive dessert!

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Tiramisu meets gulab jamun in this fusion festive treat. Layers of rose flavored mascarpone cheese topped with coffee soaked gulab jamun, dusted with cocoa powder and garnished with pistachios makes this Gulab Jamun Tiramisu a delightful dessert.

gulab jamun fusion dessert arranged in martini glasses with diyas in the background

Fusion Indian desserts are my favorite and if you have been following me for a while, you definitely are very well aware of that. Come Diwali and I end up making several fusion recipes in my kitchen, and there are many which you guys have loved over the years like motichoor ladoo cheesecake jars, rasmalai cake jars and so much more.

Continuing with the tradition, for this year I am sharing Gulab Jamun Tiramisu. If you love both gulab jamun and tiramisu then you cannot miss this one. Personally, I love a well made gulab jamun and tiramisu and so combining the two seemed like a good idea.

And it actually combined well together. Rose flavored mascarpone topped with coffee soaked gulab jamun and dusted with cocoa powder, this Gulab Jamun Tiramisu makes a delightful dessert for the festive season.

Ingredients

Heavy cream: for this recipe I have used heavy cream which is available at most grocery stores. Use a cream which has a fat percentage of 35%.

Mascarpone cheese: since the name tiramisu is involved in this fusion dessert, I had to use mascarpone cheese. You can find it at most grocery stores.

Gulab Jamun: make it at home or use store-bought gulab jamuns. With the festive time being so busy, I suggest buying it from a sweet shop.

Coffee: the gulab jamuns are dipped in a coffee mix which is flavored with rum extract. I used rum extract so that this dessert can be enjoyed by everyone but you can use coffee liqueur as well if you are serving it to adults only or want to make it with alcohol.

Flavor enhancers: Rose water, cardamom, pistachios all add flavor to this dessert.

ingredients for making gulab jamun tiramisu arranged on board

Step by Step Instructions

1- To the steel bowl of your stand mixer (or use a hand mixer) add 1 cup heavy cream (note: chill the cream and bowl for 20 minutes before using). Now, using the wire whisk attachment, beat the cream until it forms stiff peaks. Be careful to not overbeat else cream will separate.

Remove the whipped cream from the steel bowl and transfer it to another bowl.

2- To the same steel bowl, now add 1 cup mascarpone cheese along with 3 tablespoons sugar, 2 tablespoons rose water and 1/2 teaspoon cardamom powder.

3- Using the paddle attachment, beat at medium speed for 1 to 2 minutes until it is all nicely combined.

4- Now, start folding the whipped cream into the mascarpone cheese. Fold in parts, moving the spatula in one direction (and don’t mix very vigorously) until all of the whipped cream is combined with the mascarpone. Set aside.

step by step picture collage of making gulab jamun tiramisu

5- Cut gulab jamuns in half. Prepare 1/2 cup of strong coffee. You can make it any way you like. I added 1 tablespoon instant coffee to 1/2 cup hot water and prepared the coffee. Then add 1/4 teaspoon rum extract (for non-alcoholic version and this is what I did) or 1 tablespoon coffee liqueur for an alcoholic version.

Take your serving glasses, I have used martini glasses. Fill half of the glass with the prepared mascarpone and cream mixture. Now take some cocoa powder and dust it over it.

6- Take 1/2 piece from cut gulab jamuns and dip it into prepared coffee mixture and then remove.

7- Place the coffee dipped gulab jamun over the filling in the serving glass. If using a large martini glass like I did, you might have to use 1 full gulab jamun (2 cut pieces). But if using small glasses you can just use one half.

8- Now fill the glass with the remaining mascarpone cream mixture. Dust more cocoa powder on top. Place another half of coffee dipped gulab jamun on top. Garnish with pistachios, dried rose petals and edible gold leaves. Refrigerate for few hours before serving.

Serving Size

The glasses that I used here were quite big so every glass had a total of 1 & 1/2 gulab jamun in it. You can make this in much smaller glasses and use only 1 gulab jamun per serving or even half per serving.

If making in smaller glasses like 4-5 oz glasses, there’s no need to do layers. Fill the glass with mascarpone and cream filling, then dust with cocoa powder, place a half cut coffee soaked gulab jamun on top and garnish with pistachios, dried rose petals and edible gold leaves.

This is a heavy dessert so serving in smaller glasses will be a good idea.

Make In Advance

This gulab jamun tiramisu is a great make-ahead dessert. You can prep the entire thing a day in advance and keep your glasses refrigerated. If you want, you can do the garnish of rose petals, nuts later but it’s totally fine if you keep the entire thing including the garnished

gulab jamun tiramisu served in martini glasses and topped with cut pieces of gulab jamun

Tips & Notes

If you don’t have or can’t find mascarpone cheese, you can use cream cheese instead. Although, mascarpone is preferred but the version with cream cheese will also turn out good.
If you can’t find rum extract just skip it. Plain coffee will also go.
This recipe can serve up to 8 people if you serve it in small glasses (around 4 oz). I could make only 4 glasses since the martini glasses that I used were quite big.

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