Tiramisu Cupcakes

Tiramisu is one of my favorite desserts. I love pretty much anything with coffee in it especially desserts. So when I saw this recipe for Tiramisu cupcakes I though oooh yummy and oooh easier than the real thing. Um not really. This recipe is from Martha Stewart's Cupcakes book.
First off the recipe is different in the book than it is on her video online. If I had followed her video I would have done fewer steps. It is a little labor intensive with the three steps of mixing the eggs and sugar, then heating, then beating again. I think I might tweak this recipe a little the next time I make it so its not as many steps.

Here they are ready for the oven. I am a dummy and made 24 when the recipe said in TINY print makes 18. Sooo mine were all a little smaller than I had wanted. I guess then its ok to eat two.

One of the steps was to scrape a vanilla bean into the milk mixture. So worth doing this step. You can see the little flecks of vanilla seed and the aroma is amazing. Tastes way better than adding liquid extract.

They were all nice and poofy in oven and flattened out and even sank in a little. I was worried considering I just got a NEW oven..

They get soaked with a coffee/marsala/sugar syrup. Marsala is an Italian dessert wine. I had a sip to taste it just to see what it was exactly. It's like port. But sweeter. I don't think I will be having a glass anytime soon. Maybe just making lots of Tiramisu with it


This perhaps was the best part of the cupcake. The mascarpone frosting. It was to DIE FOR yummy. Mascarpone, powdered sugar, whip cream and a little vanilla. It was so good we licked the bowl clean after I frosted the cupcakes. My husband even stopped to see if there was leftovers in the bowl. It was that good.

Dusted with a little cocoa powder just before serving and this is what it looks like in the inside after I took a bite!!

You can see that yummy coffee/marsala syrup soaked in.
These are on the top of my list to make again. But with a different recipe for the cake. Less steps so I can eat them faster!!

Tiramisu Cupcake Recipe

Copied exactly from Martha Stewart's Book, Cupcakes

Tiramisu Cupcakes

Ingredients

Makes 18

• 1 1/4 cups cake flour (not self-rising), sifted
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 vanilla bean, halved lengthwise, seeds scraped and reserved
• 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature, cut into pieces
• 3 large whole eggs plus 3 egg yolks, room temperature
• 1 cup sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Sift together cake flour, baking powder, and salt. Heat milk and vanilla-bean pod and seeds in a small saucepan over medium heat just until bubbles appear around the edge. Remove from heat. Whisk in butter until melted, and let stand 15 minutes. Strain milk mixture through a fine sieve into a bowl, and discard vanilla-bean pod.
2. With an electric mixer on medium speed, whisk together whole eggs, yolks, and sugar. Set mixing bowl over a pan of simmering water, and whisk by hand until sugar is dissolved and mixture is warm, about 6 minutes. Remove bowl from heat. With an electric mixer on high speed, whisk until mixture is fluffy, pale yellow, and thick enough to hold a ribbon on the surface for several seconds when whisk is lifted.
3. Gently but thoroughly fold flour mixture into the egg mixture in three batches; stir 1/2 cup batter into the strained milk mixture to thicken, then fold milk mixture into the remaining batter until just combined.
4. Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each three-quarters full. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until centers are completely set and edges are light golden brown, about 20 minutes. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool completely before removing cupcakes.
5. To finish, brush tops of cupcakes evenly with coffee-marsala syrup; repeat until all syrup has been used. Allow cupcakes to absorb liquid 30 minutes. Dollop frosting onto cupcakes; refrigerate up to overnight in airtight containers. Dust generously with cocoa powder just before serving.

Coffee Marsala Syrup

Ingredients

Makes enough for 18 cupcakes

• 1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon freshly brewed very strong coffee (or espresso)
• 1 ounce marsala
• 1/4 cup sugar

Directions

1. Stir together coffee, marsala, and sugar until sugar is dissolved. Let cool.

Mascarpone Frosting

Ingredients

Makes about 2 cups

• 1 cup heavy cream
• 8 ounces mascarpone cheese, room temperature
• 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar, sifted

Directions

1. With an electric mixer on medium speed, whisk heavy cream until stiff peaks form (be careful not to overbeat, or cream will be grainy). In another bowl, whisk together mascarpone and confectioners' sugar until smooth. Gently fold whipped cream into mascarpone mixture until completely incorporated. Use immediately.