TIRAMISINI

"Some say, challenging more generally accepted ideas about the provenance, that tiramisu was invented in a casa chiusa (a house of ill repute) to give the working girls a pick-me-up, as the name (tira-mi-su) suggests. Whatever its inception, this one reverts to the original formulation - although in dinkier format. This is not because I am a huge fan of the cute - you know that - but because it means you have a tiramisu worth making for fewer people (you don't need a partyful), and in less time. By which I mean very much less time, since, unlike the big, trifle-style tiramisu, these tiramisini - think coffee-soaked Savoiardi sponge fingers, topped with the familiar, whipped Marsala-spiked mascarpone in small-portioned martini glasses - don't even need to sit overnight before being ready to eat. Photo by Petrina Tinslay...."