Tiramisu Cupcakes...and Vanilla Cupcake Recipe

Tiramisu Cupcakes...When I first noticed the recipe for tiramisu cupcakes on Martha Stewart's website, I thought they sounded wonderful. It never crossed my mind to make tiramisu in cupcake form. Why, the idea was brilliant! So I bookmarked it...I even told others about the idea, but never made the cupcakes myself. That is.... until recently.

This is yet another one of those recipes that has been bookmarked for SUCH a long time.... probably well over a year:). I knew I wanted to try the cupcakes when I initially made the homemade mascarpone... but then I stumbled upon the homemade ladyfingers. And well, most of you know the rest of the story...I ended up making a tiramisu cake instead:).

But I never forgot the cupcakes... and recently decided to make them. I had some egg yolks that needed to be used up....and it's also probably one of the reasons why I ended up making the tiramisu cupcakes when I did. For me, it's always a struggle when it comes to using up leftover egg yolks. Very glad I could use them in this recipe.

The actual vanilla cupcake was nice and tender....a really good recipe for a basic vanilla cupcake. I ended up cutting the amount of sugar in mine and liked it just fine. But if you want, you can use the whole amount by checking out the original recipe. Also, I added a bit more coffee( mine wasn't so strong) to the syrup. I prefer to poke large holes in the cupcakes and then use a teaspoon to drizzle a bit of the syrup over the cupcakes. If you just brush the tops, the middle doesn't really get moistened while the top of the cupcake can get sort of soggy...especially if you heavily brush them or dip them in the syrup. On a few of the cupcakes, I ended up using a cupcake corer...felt it was probably the best way to get the cupcake moistened. It also allows you to get a bit of extra frosting in the middle...sort of as a surprise. As much as I don't care for frosting in general, I felt the frosting in this recipe was what made the cupcakes. In any case, these are just ideas to keep in mind. But regardless how you make them, the cupcakes are delicious....frosting and all:). It's a different sort of cupcake....an elegant sort of cupcake. A cupcake that's moist and tender...with just the right amount of sweetness. It's the the type of cupcake you want seconds of....but maybe that's not such a good thing:).

If you like tiramisu, you'll probably like these cupcakes. The cupcakes are quite the dessert to make for special occasions. This recipe is making its way to the top of my list for favorite cupcakes...right along with my coconut cupcakes:). Hope you enjoy...

Note: If you don't care for the coffee flavor, try making a fruit based "tiramisu".... berries are a wonderful choice. You can also add some pureed berries in the frosting....and use some chambord.

Tip: This would be a great recipe to make when you have some extra egg yolks that need to be used up. You can also freeze the cupcakes in advance...and frost them later. Dust with cocoa just before serving.

You will need: adapted from Martha Stewart

~Original makes 18 cupcakes( I got about 12 cupcakes since I filled them a bit higher than 3/4 full and used less sugar)

Vanilla Bean Cupcake

1 1/4 cups cake flour*, sifted

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

pinch of salt

1/4 cup milk

1 vanilla bean, halved lengthwise, seeds scraped and reserved

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature, cut into pieces

3 large whole eggs plus 3 egg yolks, room temperature

3/4 cup sugar

*As as substitute for cake flour, I used 1 cup +2 TBS all-purpose flour plus 2TBS cornstarch

Coffee-Marsala Syrup

1/3-1/2 cup very strong coffee/espresso, cold

2-4 TBS marsala (you could use kahlua), or to taste

2 TBS sugar

~Stir together coffee, marsala, and sugar until sugar is dissolved.

Mascarpone Frosting.~I made half of the recipe since I had to try one plain:)... and so I was left with 11 cupcakes. But if you are using a cupcake corer you might want to make the whole amount.

1 cup heavy cream

8 ounces mascarpone cheese, room temperature

1/2 cup confectioners' sugar, sifted

coffee to taste, optional*

2-3 TBS marsala(or kahlua), or to taste

* this is optional, but I like to add it for more flavor

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

Additional

Unsweetened cocoa powder, for dusting

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degs.

1. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners.

2. Sift together cake flour, baking powder, and salt.

3. In a small saucepan over medium heat, heat the milk, the scraped vanilla seeds and the split vanilla-bean pod.

4. Heat just until bubbles appear around the edge. Remove from heat and whisk in butter until melted. Let it stand about 15 minutes....or until the mixture has cooled down.

5. Strain milk mixture through a fine sieve into a bowl. Discard vanilla-bean pod.

6. In a mixer bowl, whisk by hand the whole eggs, yolks, and sugar....for about a minute or so.

7. Set the mixing bowl over a pan of simmering water, and whisk by hand until sugar is dissolved and mixture is warm... recipe says about 6 minutes...I just whisked it until the whole mixture was warm. I didn't want to run the chance of cooking the eggs.

8. Remove bowl from heat. With an electric mixer on high speed, whisk the mixture until it becomes fluffy, pale yellow, and thick. When the whisk is lifted, you should be able to hold a ribbon on the surface for several seconds.

9. You want to fold gently, but thoroughly fold the flour mixture into the egg mixture. Do this in 3 batches.

10. Remove 1/2 cup of the batter and fold in the strained milk mixture.... then fold this milk mixture into the remaining batter until just combined.

11.Fill each lined cup with batter...about three-quarters full. Bake for about 20 minutes, rotating tins halfway through...or until centers are completely set and edges are light golden brown. Cool completely on a wire rack before removing the cupcakes.

12. Using a skewer, poke holes in tops of the cupcakes or use a cupcake corer. Using a spoon, drizzle some of the syrup on each of the cupcakes. Start off with a tiny bit of the syrup...do all of them and then go back and repeat until all syrup has been used. This way you don't run out of the syrup before you finish the cupcakes. Allow cupcakes to absorb liquid before frosting.

13. Dollop or pipe frosting onto cupcakes.

14. Refrigerate for a few hours or overnight in airtight containers.

15. Dust with cocoa powder just before serving.... you can also shave some chocolate if you like.