Tiramisu Cupcakes

In honor of my Grandfather's 85th birthday we took him to dinner at the Olive Garden and what goes better with an Italian dinner than tiramisu? I'd been wanting to try this recipe and this was the perfect opportunity. I used the recipe from Shelly Kaldunski's book Cupcakes but used the presentation found in Pamela Clark's book also entitled Cupcakes. First let me tell you these are by far the most expensive cupcakes I've ever made. After a trip to the liquor store to purchase Kahlua and Amaretto I then headed to Publix for the mascarpone and whipping cream needed for the icing. The icing alone breaks down to ~$1.00 a cupcake! But they were so worth it! I'm glad that I took the time to layer the icing and the cupcakes rather then to just ice them, it made it more like traditional tiramisu rather than a cupcake. They were delish!





Tiramisu Cupcakes from Cupcakes by Shelly Kaldunski:

Yellow Cupcakes

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
3/4 cup sugar
6 tbsp. u.s butter (room temp.)
2 large eggs (room temp.)
1 tsp. vanilla
1/3 cup whole milk

1/2 cup strong brewed coffee, at room temp (I used Chock full o' nuts, brewed twice as strong as I would for regular coffee).
1/4 cup dark rum ( I only used half as I don't care for rum)
1/2 cup Kahlua or other coffee flavored liqueur
2 tbsp. Amaretto or other almond-flavored liqueur
1 lb. mascarpone cheese
1 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup confectioners sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 oz. semisweet chocolate grated ( I used a Hershey's Special Dark chocolate bar)

Position rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350. Line a standard 12-cup muffin pan with papers. In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt ( I sifted mine together). In another bowl, using an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat the sugar and butter together until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat until combined. Add flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with the milk in 2 additions, beating on low speed until just combined; scrap down the sides of the bowl as needed. Beat on medium-high speed just until no traces on flour remain, about 30 seconds; do not overbeat.

Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups, filling each about 3/4 full. Bake until lightly golden and a toothpick inserted into the center of the cupcake comes out clean, 18-20 minutes. Let the cupcakes cool in the pan on a wire rack for 5 mintues. Transfer the cupcakes to the wire rack and cool completly, 1 hour.

While cupcakes cool...In a small bowl, stir together the coffe, rum, 1/4 cup of the Kahlua, and the Amaretto. In a bowl, with an electric mixer on medium-low speed, beat the mascarpone, heavy cream, sugar, vanilla, and the remaining 1/4 cup Kahlua until just combined; do not overmix ( I beat mine a little more as I wanted it to thicken up a little more...).

Here's where Pamela Clark's recipe comes into play...

Remove the papers from the cooled cupcakes. Cut each cake horizontally into four ( I only cut mine in thirds). Brush both sides of cake slices with coffee mixture. Join cake slices with mascarpone cream. Spread tops of cakes with mascarpone cream ( I piped the icing on the top using Wilton tip 2D); sprinkle with grated chocolate. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours.