Tiramisu Cupcakes

I am usually not a big tiramisu fan, but there was something about this recipe that I just had to give it a try.  For my daughter’s birthday, the dinner theme was Italian (she loves pasta).  Now mind you her choice of cake flavor was pumpkin and her birthday is in March, who eats pumpkin cake in March… we did, I wasn’t going to be the one to deny her what she wanted, it was her birthday ( I have a pumpkin Bundt cake I make every fall for Thanksgiving and she LOVES it and asks for it all year long~ I will post that recipe another time).  I decided to throw in a couple of cupcake flavors so our guest wouldn’t think I was out of my mind for serving pumpkin cake during spring. 

Since we were having Italian for dinner It inspired me to make my own tiramisu, but in cupcake form, recipe courtesy of who else but Martha Stewart.  As I usually tend to do I tweaked it slightly.  I took some of the left over coffee syrup and made a quick whipped cream filling for the cupcake. It may seem like a lot of components went into this delicious cupcake and it may seem intimidating, but once you pull it all together it becomes a party in your mouth.  Indulge!

Snickerdoodle Cupcakes

My family adores snickerdoodle cookies and when I came across the cookie recipe in cupcake form, I just had to try it.  I have made it a few times now and each time I tried something a little bit different to try and please my own taste.  The first time I followed Martha Stewart's cupcake recipe to a “T”, but chose not to try her seven minute frosting.  I went with a whipped cinnamon frosting instead and it was amazing, but it still lacked something.
With this last attempt I think I finally found ‘the one’.  I added a mascarpone/cinnamon filling (who doesn’t enjoy filling oozing out) and went with a cinnamon butter cream.  I decided to adorn it with a miniature, chewy and adorable snickerdoodle cookie~ in my opinion the best of both worlds.

Snickerdoodle Cookies

I absolutely love this cookie probably my all time favorite, but then again I love all things cinnamon.  This is a recipe that my Mom used and passed down to me.  I have slightly tweaked it a bit, adding brown sugar in the dough and raw sugar to the cinnamon/sugar mixture to roll them in ~ delightful.  I love the fact that it doesn’t use shortening.  I try to avoid using it if at all possible, I just don't care for it.  When making these dreamy cookies, make a dozen or so smaller ones (a little larger than a quarter) to set aside.  I have a recipe (will post soon) for a Snickerdoodle cupcake that you can garnish beautifully with the smaller cookie.  Indulge!

Farfalle with Shrimp & Herbed Cream Sauce

Crab & Shrimp Cakes with Red Bell Pepper & Cilantro Cream Sauce

This dish is probably one of the first that I was proud enough of myself to actually photograph.  I am a huge fan of Blue Mesa Grill in Dallas, but can't get back home enough to get my fix so I thought I would try and recreate one of my favorites.  I LOVE crab cakes and had tried many recipes before this one and after tinkering with it- loved the result.