tiramisu cupcakes

I’ve recently started watching “Chef’s Line” on Netflix. They did a great week on Vietnamese food the first season and I got totally hooked. Their Italian week inspired me to make tiramisu cupcakes! I used the recipe from here. I followed it almost to the letter since I’ve never made tiramisu before, but the creme texture turned out a little wonky since I used the stand mixer to add the mascarpone to the whipped cream — protip, don’t do that unless you want it to have a weirdly whipped texture. You can see that from the photo below.

Of course, I had to attempt the tiramisu cupcakes again (and give the office some nice little treats after the long weekend!) and I’ve got them looking much, much nicer. And I actually remembered to dust them with cocoa powder for the full tiramisu feel (and taste!)

Tiramisu Cupcakes: Recipe from prettysimplesweet.com/tiramisu-cupcakes/

Ingredients

Cupcakes:

• 1⅓ cups (185 g/6.5 oz) all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp espresso powder or instant coffee powder
• ¼ tsp salt
• ½ cup (1 stick/115 g) butter, softened
• ½ cup (100 g/3.5 oz) granulated sugar
• ½ cup (100 g/3.5 oz) brown sugar (or granulated sugar)
• 2 eggs, at room temperature
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• ½ cup (120 ml) whole milk

Coffee Soaking Syrup:

• ¼ cup hot water
• 1 tsp espresso powder or instant coffee powder*
• 3 tbsp sugar
• 1 tbsp marsala or coffee liqueur such as Kahlua, optional but so good!

Frosting:

• ¾ cup (170 g/6 oz) mascarpone cheese
• ⅓ cup confectioner’s sugar, sifted
• 1 tsp espresso powder or instant coffee powder*
• 1½ tbsp coffee liqueur
• ¾ cup (180 ml) heavy cream
• Cocoa powder, for dusting

Instructions

Cupcakes

1. Remove butter and mascarpone from fridge and allow to reach room temp.
2. Preheat oven to 350 F. Line muffin tin with cupcake liners.
3. Sift flour, baking powder, coffee/espresso powder, and salt into a large bowl. Set aside.
4. Use a standing mixer with a paddle attachment to beat together butter and sugars on medium speed until fluffy, about 3 minutes.
5. Add eggs one at a time, then vanilla extract.
6. Reduce mixer speed to low.
7. Add half of the dry ingredients and milk, then beat until incorporated.
8. Add the other half of the dry ingredients and continue beating until combined. Do not over mix.
9. Divide batter evenly between cups. Bake for 15-20 minutes.
10. Remove cupcakes and allow to cool.

Coffee soaking syrup

1. Make syrup by mixing the coffee/espresso powder and sugar in hot water.
2. Poke the tops of the cupcakes with a fork. Spoon the coffee syrup over the tops. Use all the syrup evenly over cupcakes. Don’t be alarmed if it forms a small puddle, it will soak in.

Icing

1. Whisk together mascarpone, sugar, espresso powder, and liqueur.
2. Use a stand mixer to whisk heavy cream until stiff peaks form.
3. Using a flexible spatula, add half the whipped cream to the mascarpone mixture.
4. Gently mix, then add the remaining half of the whipped cream and mix until well combined.
5. Use them to ice the cupcakes and lightly dust the tops with cocoa powder.