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!

Adapted from Martha Stewart's Tiramisu Cupcake recipe


Ingredients 
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  
Coffee-Marsala Syrup, recipe follows  
Mascarpone Frosting, recipe follows  
Coffee flavored mousse Filling, recipe follows  
Unsweetened cocoa powder, for dusting

Directions 

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.   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. 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. 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.  To finish, I took some of the center out in preparation for the filling and drizzled each of cupcakes evenly with coffee-marsala syrup; repeat until all syrup has been used. Allow cupcakes to absorb liquid 30 minutes. Add filling to each and then dollop frosting onto cupcakes; refrigerate up to overnight in airtight containers. Dust generously with cocoa powder and chocolate shavings just before serving.

Coffee-Marsala Syrup

Ingredients 

1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon freshly brewed very strong coffee (or espresso)  ~1 ounce marsala (I personally used a sweet red wine in place of the marsala and loved it)
1/4 cup sugar

Directions 

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

Mascarpone Frosting

Ingredients 

1 cup heavy cream  

8 ounces mascarpone cheese, room temperature  

1/2 cup confectioners' sugar, sifted

Directions 

With an electric mixer on medium speed, whisk heavy cream until stiff peaks form (be careful not to over beat, 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.

Coffee Cream Filling

Ingredients

1 cup heavy cream

¼ cup coffee syrup

½ cup confectioners’ sugar sifted

Directions 

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