Cupcakes that taste just as beautiful as they look.

Sometimes when I take pictures of food I have a hard time finding favorites.  Not the case with these tiramisu cupcakes.  I loved how light and pretty they looked and it was hard to edit and pick my favorites.

Oh, and I should mention that Mikey literally could not stop eating these cupcakes.

To quote him (on multiple occasions), something along the lines of:

“This is the best thing you have ever made.”

Need I say more?

Don’t think so.

Another reason you should love these cupcakes is because they begin with a box of white cake mix.  I was ashamed at first, but then decided since there were so many steps and other additions to these cupcakes that it would be OK to use a box.

It’s a perfect choice.

Begin by mixing all these things, MINUS the coffee.

Sift the cake mix and set aside.

Top batter is without the coffee.  You add half the batter to the cupcake liners and THEN add the coffee to the other half, as seen under the top batter picture.

Grab some creamy mascarpone cheese.

 

Combine the cheese, coffee and powdered sugar.

Finally the frosting.  Cream together the cream cheese and powdered sugar.  Then add the vanilla and beat well.  Finish by slowly pouring in cream and let whip until it reaches stiff peaks.

Cut a cone shaped hole into the middle of the cupcake and fill with cheese filling.

Frost with frosting, dust with cocoa powder and serve.  You will make a lot of people happy with these amazing cupcakes!

Recipe: Tiramisu Cupcakes

Ingredients:

For the Cake:

1 Box White Cake Mix

2 Eggs Whites

1 Egg

1/3 Cup Oil

3/4 Cup Buttermilk

3/4 Cup Sour Cream

2 Teaspoons Vanilla Extract

1/4 Cup Strong Coffee

For the Filling:

8 oz Marscapone Cheese

1 Tablespoon Strong Coffee

1/2 Cup Powdered Sugar

For the Frosting:

8 oz Cream Cheese, softened

1 Cup Powdered Sugar

1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract

1 Pint Heavy Whipping Cream

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Line cupcake tins with paper liners.

Sift cake mix into a bowl and set aside.

In a medium size bowl, whisk together egg whites, egg, oil, buttermilk, sour cream and vanilla.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine sifted cake mix with whisked egg mixture.

Using about half the mixture (reserve half)  fill cupcake liners 1/3 full.

With the remaining batter add the 1/4 cup of strong coffee and mix well.  Pour remaining batter over the top of the vanilla batter cupcakes so you have a half vanilla half coffee cupcake.  Place into oven for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

While the cupcakes cool, mix together the mascarpone cheese, coffee and powdered sugar.

Place filling into a small ziplock bag or pastry bag and set aside.

Using a knife, cut a hole into the cupcakes and snip the corner off the plastic baggie. Squeeze cheese into the hole you created in center of cupcakes and let settle.

For the frosting, use the whisk attachment on your stand mixture to beat cream cheese and powdered sugar until smooth.

Add vanilla  and mix well. Slowly pour in heavy cream and beat until smooth and stiff peaks form.

Finish off cupcakes by piping on frosting and sprinkling with cocoa powder or chocolate shavings.

Notes: Frosting will be very light and fluffy so either serve immediately or pipe frosting on right before serving.

For my strong coffee, I used instant coffee and just mixed it with a bit of hot water until it reached a consistency and strength that I liked.  You can brew strong coffee in a coffee maker, make a small cup of coffee in a Keurig, french press or buy a few shots of espresso at Starbucks. there are many options 🙂

You can also make this into a cake. Use two round cake pans and swirl the two different batters together in each pan. Bake. Let cool and put mascarpone layer between the two layers of cake. Frost with whipped frosting and sprinkle with cocoa. Delicious.

I scoured the internet for a recipe that I liked and eventually found this recipe here.