Tiramisu Cupcakes

Oh man, I don't even like coffee and I think that these are amazing! I was a little intimidated by the recipe at first, but they turned out to be pretty easy to make, and they turned out awesome.  I am especially a fan of the icing on top, it is so creamy.  If you enjoy traditional tiramisu,  I am completely confident that you will love this cupcake.

I am considering making these again but with a raspberry or a chocolate glaze instead of the Coffee-Marsala Glaze.  When I do, I will definitely let you know how they turn out!

To make the glaze, I had to pick up a few new ingredients.  The marsala wine is an Italian wine and it isn't very expensive at all, which was a pleasant surprise.  And of course, where else would I pick up a hot cup of coffee?

The batter is super light and fluffy, it was really neat to work with.  It produces a really great cupcake, one that is a bit airier than usual.  This helps the cupcake soak up the marsala glaze so the wonderful flavour works it's way into the entire cupcake.

After the glaze soaked in for about half an hour, I finished them off with a dollop of mascarpone frosting and some cocoa. Don't you love that word? dollop! Trust me, this frosting is absolutely delicious!

This recipe is from Martha Stewart's Cupcakes, and it makes 18 cupcakes.

Tiramisu Cupcakes

• 1 1/4 cups cake flour
• 3/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 vanilla bean (cut in half, lengthwise)
• 4 tbsps butter, unsalted
• 3 eggs
• 3 egg yolks
• 1 cup sugar

1. Line your muffin tins with cupcake liners, and preheat your oven to 325F
2. Whisk or sift your flour, baking powder, and salt together
3. Place your milk into a saucepan.  Scrape the seeds out of the vanilla bean, and add both the seeds and the vanilla bean pod to the milk.  Heat until small bubbles appear on the edge the mixture
4. Add the butter, and quickly mix until it is all melted
5. Remove the saucepan from the heat, and let it cool for about 15 minutes
6. Strain the mixture through a sieve into a bowl and throw away the vanilla bean pod. Note: I don't have a sieve, so I removed the pod and then carefully poured the mixture into a small bowl, removing the bits of vanilla bean pod that were left as I poured.
7. Whisk the eggs, egg yolks, and sugar together in a heat-proof bowl. 
8. Place the egg mixture over a pot of simmering water, and continue whisking until the mixture is warm and smooth to the touch
9. Using an electric mixer or hand blender, whisk the egg mixture on high until it is really fluffy. You can check to see if it is fluffy enough by ensuring that it can keep the shape of the egg that falls off of the whisk on the mixture's surface for about 2 - 3 seconds (before it disappears into the fluffy egg mixture again)
10. Fold the flour mixture into the egg mixture carefully, adding about half of a cup of flour each time to the egg mixture
11. When all of the flour is mixed in, mix some of the batter into the milk mixture to thicken, and then add the thickened milk mixture to the batter
12. Carefully mix the batter until it is all combined.  The batter will be extremely light and fluffy.
13. Fill 18 cupcake cups, and bake for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick that is inserted into the cupcake comes out clean
14. Brush each cupcake with the coffee-marsala glaze.  Continue brushing each cupcake over and over until all of the glaze has been used up.  
15. Let the freshly glazed cupcakes sit for about 30 minute to soak up the deliciousness
16. Top each cupcake with a dollop (yay dollop!) of mascarpone frosting, and then sprinkle on come cocoa to make it beautiful.  Enjoy!

Coffee-Marsala Glaze

• 1/3 cup and 1 tbsp of hot coffee (yay for Timmie's)
• 1 ounce marsala wine
• 1/4 cup sugar

1. Combine all ingredients together and mix until the sugar is completely dissolved

Mascarpone Frosting

• 1 cup whipping cream
• 8 ounces mascarpone cheese
• 1/2 cup icing sugar

1. Mix together the mascarpone cheese and the icing sugar
2. Beat the whipping cream until it is fluffy and can hold a peak
3. Add the whipping cream to the cheese mixture, and mix carefully until completely blended
4. Taste test every 30 - 45 seconds, just because you can