Tiramisu has always been a favorite of mine, but it comes with a number of challenges: Raw eggs come with the potential risk of Salmonella infection, it's not particularly portable and it usually needs to be eaten within the day. And this is where Tiramisu cupcakes save the day! These little guys look sophisticated despite being relatively easy to make, do not contain raw eggs and they were easy to take to work, where they were a pretty big hit.
Ingredients:
Batter:
- 1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
- 3/4 cups caster sugar
- 2 medium eggs
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
- 1/3 cup butter (~80-85g)
- 1 shot espresso*
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
Coffee syrup:
- 2 shots espresso*
- 2 tbsp coffee licqueur
- 2 tbsp sugar
Topping:
- 1/2 cup mascarpone cheese
- 1/2 cup whipping cream
- 1/3 cup powdered sugar
- 1 1/2 tbsp coffee syrup
Yields ~12 cupcakes
*If you don't have an espresso maker, you can substitute each espresso shot with 1 tbsp of hot water + 1 tsp of espresso powder.
Pre-heat the oven to 350°F (upper/lower heat).
Add softened butter and sugar in a mixing bowl and whisk until creamy. Add eggs and whisk until well-combined, then add remaining batter ingredients and mix well.
Line a metal muffin tin with paper muffin liners and split batter evenly. Bake for ~20 minutes or until no batter sticks to a toothpick if inserted.
Let cool for a couple of minutes. In the meantime, prepare the coffee syrup by mixing sugar, espresso and coffee licqueur. I used Kahlua, but any coffee licqueur will do. Make sure that the sugar is dissolved, which works best if the espresso is still hot.
With a toothpick, poke holes into the tops of the muffins and apply a generous amount of coffee syrup to the top of each muffin.
Refrigerate the remaining coffee syrup as we will use it for the topping and it needs to be at room temperature or colder in order not to melt the topping.
Beat the whipping cream to soft peaks and set aside. In another bowl, combine the mascarpone cheese, sifted powdered sugar and coffee syrup. Fold the whipped cream into the mascarpone mixture using a spatula.
To serve the cupcakes, apply the topping with a spoon or piping bag and dust with unsweetened cocoa powder (optional). Personally, I prefer Dutch cocoa powder for this purpose, as it is darker and has a stronger taste than other kinds. Cupcakes can be stored in the fridge for a couple of days but should not be kept at room temperature for prolonged periods of time.
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