Tiramisu Cupcakes

After making these the other day, the only word I have to say is: yummmmmmm!  These were delicious and the cupcake batter was perfect!  I can't take credit for the actual cupcake recipe, but the concept is something I've been wanting to do for a long time, and so I decided to take a vanilla cupcake recipe and make a coffee/kahlua syrup to soak it in (similar to tiramisu) and use mascarpone (another tiramisu staple) to make the frosting.  A couple things first: this does call for a vanilla bean, but as you may know, vanilla beans are very expensive (we're talking $13 or more for only 2 at your regular supermarket).  My trick for finding affordable vanilla beans is to check after market stores like Ross and TJ Maxx in their food and spice section (I've found them there for $5 for 2).  Vanilla beans have an incredibly long shelf life and almost never go bad.  And for you Bellingham locals, try Deal Only!  Even cheaper there!  You can also buy them in bulk online for a very affordable price as well.  If you can't get your hands on a vanilla bean, substitute a couple tsp. vanilla extract.  Also, due to the mascarpone frosting, these will only last about a day unless they are refrigerated, so be sure to refrigerate them if you can and they will last a few more days for you!

Tiramisu Cupcakes
makes 18 cupcakes
1 1/4 c. cake flour, sifted

3/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp kosher salt

1/4 c. milk

1 vanilla bean, halved lengthwise, seeds scraped (seeds and pod reserved)

4 Tbs unsalted butter, cut into pieces

3 large whole eggs plus 3 egg yolks

1 c. sugar

coffee kahlua syrup (recipe below)

mascarpone frosting (recipe below)

unsweetened cocoa powder, for dusting

18 chocolate covered espresso beans

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Grease and flour muffin tins or line them with paper liners.  Sift together cake flour, baking powder, and salt.  Heat milk and vanilla (both bean seeds and pod) in a small saucepan over medium 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 mesh strainer into a bowl, and discard vanilla-bean pod.

With an electric mixer on medium speed, whisk together whole eggs, yolks, and sugar. Set mixing bowl over a pot of simmering water (don't let the water touch the bottom of the bowl), and whisk by hand until sugar is dissolved and mixture is warm, about 6 minutes (be sure its not too hot or too long because you don't want to scramble the eggs). Remove bowl from heat. With an electric mixer on high speed, whisk until the mixture is pale yellow and thick enough to hold a ribbon for several seconds when whisk is lifted.

Gently but thoroughly fold the flour mixture into the egg mixture in three batches; stir about a 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 set and edges are light golden brown, about 20 mins. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool completely before removing cupcakes.

Coffee Kahlua Syrup

1/3 c. warm coffee

1 and 1/2 oz. kahlua

scant 1/4 c. sugar

Stir the ingredients together until the sugar dissolves.  Using a toothpick, poke 5ish holes into each cupcake.  Make sure the holes go about 1/2 way deep.  Using a pastry brush, brush the coffee kahlua syrup over each cupcake and repeat for 2-3 layers (it may look like they will get soggy, but they actually absorb it pretty well).  Let the cupcakes soak the syrup up for at least 30 mins before finishing.

Mascarpone Frosting

1 c. heavy cream

8 oz. mascarpone cheese

1/2 c. powdered sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

In a chilled metal bowl (and with chilled beaters), whip the cream and vanilla until stiff peaks form.  In a seperate bowl, whisk the mascarpone and powdered sugar until smooth.  Gently fold the whipped cream into the mascarpone mixture.  Fill a pastry bag with a large round tip (or a ziploc bag with 1/2 in. of the corner cut off) with the frosting.  Pipe over the cupcakes.  Place some (2-3 Tbs) cocoa powder into a fine mesh strainer and lightly tapping the side of the strainer, dust the cocoa powder over the cupcakes.  Top with a chocolate covered espresso bean.