"I Do" With Tiramisu

Mmm...tiramisu...literal translation - "pick me up" - so appropriate. The very word inspires visions of lavish surroundings, faraway elegance, and a quiet moment of indulgence all to myself....

I think I love freehand piping decorations! They all come out so different and unique!!

....ok, I'm back. The second cupcake I served at the bridal shower Tuesday night was a Tiramisu Cupcake from Martha Stewart that I found on Pinterest. The bride's two favorite desserts are anything minty and Tiramisu. You've already read about the mint chocolate chip cupcakes and now I'm gonna share these beautiful little treats with you. First of all, the cake is absolutely fabulous - light and spongy- and very reminiscent of ladyfingers. In fact, I will probably use this cake again as a base for other flavors. For the coffee, I used a dark roast (is there any other kind) Folgers and brewed it extra strong for a full-bodied, rich flavor. The icing is a whipped mascarpone creation that basically melts in your mouth. Finally, the cupcakes are dusted with cocoa (I used dark). Now, normally I would dust them much more liberally but since these were for a shower and the colors were pink and green, I didn't want to put that much dark brown on top and take away from the theme or decor. The overall result was....well, it was a treat for sure. Such a great representation of the traditional dessert. The bride said that it was probably the best cupcake she had ever eaten. High praise, indeed! The looks on the faces of the ladies - surprise, excitement, and pure joy - when I told them about the cupcakes is the very reason I do what I do!

The recipe (original found here):

• Tiramisu Cupcakes
• 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 (I used 2 teaspoons vanilla extract)
• 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
• Mascarpone Frosting
• 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 in a small saucepan over medium high 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. (I omitted this step because I used extract instead of a 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 a 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, brush tops of cupcakes evenly with coffee-marsala syrup; repeat until all syrup has been used. Allow cupcakes to absorb liquid 30 minutes. Dollop frosting onto cupcakes; refrigerate up to overnight in airtight containers. Dust generously with cocoa powder just before serving.

Who wouldn't want to eat this little beauty?

Well, that's it for now. I won't get much baking in this weekend as I'm spending Saturday at the beach (woohoo!) with friends. Until next time....happy reading and, more importantly, happy cupcake-ing!