Tiramisu Cupcakes

For some reason I was in the mood for coffee yesterday.   I gave up caffeine in college and I usually hate the bitter flavor of coffee.  As my mom informed me during my wine tasting last night, that means I have more taste buds than those who love the taste of coffee...  

I took full advantage of my strange craving and got a caramel blended thing-a-ma-jigger at Caribou.  Don't ask me what these things are actually called... They're some sort of full fat coffee plus milk plus sugar combo. 

While I was flying high on my coffee buzz, I whipped up some tiramisu cupcakes I had been dying to try for days.  

It was a semi-homemade type recipe using a box mix, which made the cupcakes very fragile.  I might someday try to adapt a real cake mix, but with all the extra steps in the cupcakes: coring the cooled cakes, piping the spiked marscapone into the cupcake, swirling some jacked-up whipped cream over the top, and finally sifting some cocoa powder over the whole shebang...  I decided enough was enough and bought the cake mix.  

This isn't your mama's cake mix recipe though... Well, it would probably be my mom's cake mix recipe, because she isn't a fan of the by-the-box mix either.  You add some coffee (which I had my mom bring in a travel mug because I don't have a coffee maker) some sour cream... Buttermilk.  nom nom nom.  

Ahem...

Anyway, they were a huge hit.  However, I couldn't taste the hint of coffee, so I might suggest a stronger brew or even some coffee flavoring in the mix.  But it definitely gets the essence of the tiramisu in a hand-held container. 

(My goofy autocorrect wants to change Tiramisu to Semiramis...   and Marscapone to Marchioness)

Recipe:

(Taken from www.yourcupofcake.com)

 Tiramisu Cupcakes

Yield: 24 Cupcakes

Ingredients

Cake:

1 box White Cake Mix

2 egg 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

Filling:

8 oz mascarpone

1 tablespoon strong coffee

1/2 cup powdered sugar

Whipped Topping:

8 oz cream cheese, softened

1 cup powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 pint heavy whipping cream

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line pan with cupcake liners.

2. Sift cake mix into a small bowl and set aside.

3. In a large bowl, gently whisk egg whites, egg, oil, buttermilk, sour cream and vanilla.

4. Stir cake mix into wet ingredients.

5. Using half of the batter, fill cupcake liners about 1/3 full.

6. With the remaining cake batter, add the strong coffee and mix. (You may need to add 1 or 2 tablespoons of flour to thicken the batter.)

7. Scoop the coffee cake batter over the regular batter so that each cupcake liner is filled about 3/4. (So you have one layer of vanilla cake and a top layer of coffee cake.)

8. Bake for 16-20 minutes or until an inserted knife comes out clean.

9. Filling: Combine all ingredients in a small bowl using a spoon.

10. Topping: Using a whisk attachment on your stand mixer, beat cream cheese and powdered sugar until smooth. Add vanilla. Slowly add in heavy cream and beat until stiff peaks form.

11. To assemble, cut a cone shaped piece of cake out the top of each cupcake (make sure cakes are cooled). Generously spoon in your filling. Pipe your whipped topping over the hole with the filling and top with chocolate shavings and cocoa powder