Voila!

I'm Italian by marriage. My husband's family are dyed in the wool second generation talk-with-your-hands Italians. Coming from a fairly conservative family who has always valued peace over sharing exactly what's on your mind, those first few visits to meet my future in-laws were interesting to say the least. Eight years later, I've heard every conceivable embarrassing story about my husband (and shared a few about myself), been witness to a couple million shouting matches (which are really only meant to pass the time and have fun interacting with one another), and been forced to eat a lot of good food (and "no thanks" is not an acceptable answer no matter how full you are).

With all that in mind, Italian food is something that I greatly admire but step lightly with myself–something about my mother-in-law critiquing my aunt-in-law's wedding soup made me not want to even try to recreate anything classically Italian which would surely not measure up to what Nunny used to make. I prefer to side-step the classics by re-inventing them in some way.

This recipe for Tiramisu Cupcakes is really a mishmash of recipes that seemed like they would fit together well. Overall I was pleased with the result but I did make one mistake: the Mascarpone really needs to be room temperature when you use it to make the frosting. I didn't affect the taste in any way but did have a negative impact on the texture of the frosting.

Tiramisu Cupcakes

Basic Golden Cupcakes
adapted from The Cake Book by Tish Boyle

• 3 1/4 cups sifted cake flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 2 large egg yolks
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 1/3 cups whole milk

Preheat the oven to 350F. Add cupcake cups to two muffin pans.

Sift together the cake flour, baking powder, and salt into a mefium bow. Whisk to combine, and set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer, using the paddle attachment, beat the butter at medium-high speed until creamy, about 30 seconds. Gradually add the sugar and beat at hight speed until light, about 2 minutes. Reduce the speed to low and add the eggs and egg yolks one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Beat in the vanilla extract. If you have a splatter shield for your mixer, attach it now (the milk tens to splash). Add the flour mixture at low speed in three additions, alternating it with the milk in two additions and mixing just until the flour is incorporated. Scrape the batter into muffin cups, filling up 2/3 of the cup.

Bake the cupcakes for 15-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool on wire racks.

Espresso Soaking Syrup

• 2/3 cup + 2 tablespoons hot espresso
• 3 oz. Kahlua
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar

Combine all and stir until sugar is dissolved.

Mascarpone Cream Frosting
adapted from Everyday Italian by Giada De Laurentiis

• 3 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
• 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/3 cup mascarpone cheese, room temperature
• 2 tablespoons powdered sugar

Using an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese and butter in a large bowl until light and fluffy. Beat in the mascarpone cheese and then beat in the honey. Spread the frosting over the muffins.

 

 To Assemble  

1. Cut out a cone from the top of each cupcake.

2. Fill each cavity with 2 teaspoons soaking syrup.

3. Replace each top. 

4. Ice the cupcakes, covering up any imperfections left over from filling the cupcakes. 

5. Garnish with a dusting of unsweetened cocoa powder.