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

Chocolate Cupcakes with 7 Minute Frosting

After a little jeep crisis, I went to Ames to spend the afternoon with my little cousin.  I made her tie-dye cupcakes for her birthday, and after she ate them she said I should be on Cupcake Wars. 

So, I told her I would come over and we would have our own cupcake war during Spring Break.

 So we made some chocolate cupcakes with my grandma's favorite 7 minute frosting.  My grandma puts this on all of the cakes she makes... And it tastes like fluffy marshmallow cream.  

We also painted some adorable bird houses.  I bought these for $1 at JoAnne's right before I headed to Ames.  Great buy! 

My cousin's is on the right.  I personally think hers ROCKS.  I love the clouds on the roof!

But anyway... back to the cupcakes. 

Just made a simple chocolate cupcake.  I can't even remember where we got the recipe.  But any chocolate cupcake works with this white 7 minute frosting. 

Frosting: 

Ingredients

• 1 3/4 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup water
• 4 egg whites, room temperature
• 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Put all of the ingredients except the vanilla in a double boiler and whip with a handheld mixer for seven minutes.  I didn't time it, but I think it might have been a little longer than 7 minutes. 

It will be light and fluffy.  Add the vanilla and some food coloring.

Swirl the good stuff on!

Nom nom.  These were tasty.

Baby Shower and a Getaway

 I helped plan a baby shower for my dear Elizabeth this weekend.  It was fun to get together, but I hadn't gotten much sleep in the last few days, through no fault but my own...  But everything went off without a hitch! Even though it snowed about 4 inches while we were there.  (No joke)

I made some mini quiche and mini cupcakes for the occasion. 

 We had cinnamon rolls and a yogurt parfait bar too!

 Elizabeth got some great gifts! And she even has two more showers to go! 

 In other news... I'm headed to Sayulita Mexico on Tuesday! Check out the amazing view.  

 The more I read about the little coastal surfing town the more I love it!! 

Lavender Cupcakes with Lemon Filling and a Honey Cream Cheese Frosting

 I've been holding on to some lavender I bought at Seed in the East Village before Christmas.  I had a recipe for cookies, but I just hadn't had the perfect opportunity to make them.  

Today when I was leaving church I concocted a crazy cupcake flavor no doubt swirling around my brain because I've been watching too much Cupcake Wars... 

 Lavender Cupcakes.  Pretty cut and dry. 

 But then I thought about this amazing lemon curd I made in Florida when I was visiting some friends.  mmmm.  Lemon.  But how do I top this prize? A purple cream cheese and honey frosting.  Couldn't have made it better myself... er...

 I pretty much followed the recipe from Yummy Mummy's blog with a few alterations.  

 

 Filled those suckers with some lemon pie filling. (cheaper than curd, but not as yummy... and it doesn't even touch the yummy-ness of homemade lemon curd.  But I knew if I made homemade lemon curd that none of it would make it into the cupcakes.)

 I didn't have lilac honey, but I had a honey bear from the downtown farmers market this summer.  I would trade local honey for specialty store lilac honey any day.  I added a little more powdered sugar because the frosting wasn't quite stiff enough to pipe. 

 They were a hit at the pot luck! (you can see the lilac specks in this picture! yum.)

 I got plenty of tweets about them... And one of my co-workers even said she would serve this at her imaginary cupcake dream shop and call it the Alisa Cupcake. 

In the future I might grind the lilac buds down a little to encorporate the lilac taste into the cupcake a little more.  However, I'm not sure I would want a stronger lilac taste.  They way it was, it just gave you that, "what is that? I think I like it" taste.  

Lemon Filled Lavender Cupcakes (adapted from yummymummykitchen.com)

• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon dried lavender flowers
• 1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup self-rising flour (or substitute all purpose flour + 1.5 tsp baking powder + 1/4 tsp salt)
• 2 tablespoons milk

• Preheat the oven to 350°F; line a 12 count muffin pan with paper liners.
• Put the sugar and lavender flowers in a food processor. Process briefly to combine.
• Tip the lavender sugar into a bowl with the butter and beat together until pale and fluffy.
• Beat the eggs into the butter mixture, one at a time, then sift in the flour and fold gently. Stir in the milk, then spoon the mixture into the muffin cups.
• Bake for about 18 minutes until risen and golden and a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean, then transfer to a wire rack to cool.                                                                                   

Filling
lemon pie filling
Use a paring knife to remove a "plug" from your cupcakes. Fill hole with lemon filling.

Frosting
1 stick butter, room temperature
8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
1.5 teaspoons honey (available at gourmet food stores and lavender farms)
3 cups confectioners' sugar

Beat butter, cream cheese, and honey together until combined. Beat in sugar until stiff enough.
Frost cupcakes.

Guest Blogger: My Mom Makes Cupcakes!

I’m Alisa’s mom. I taught her to bake. Then she took that skill and made it an art. She inspires me. 

So today I channeled her and came up with the perfect Christmas confection: Candy Cane Cupcakes!

First, I made two cupcake batters: a vanilla and a red velvet. Yes, I could have put red food coloring in half of a white cake mix, but where’s the fun in that? 

And I crushed two candy canes. A mortar and pestle would work better, but I made do with my chopper.

Into the cupcake pan, I spread a thin layer of red velvet batter.

Then a layer of vanilla batter.

Then a sprinkling of crushed candy cane.

Then another layer of red velvet batter, another layer of white batter, and a final layer of red velvet.

I baked them for 25 minutes at 350 degrees. With a large star tip, I piped cream cheese frosting and finished with a final sprinkle of crushed candy cane.

Inside, they look like candy canes:

And they taste like Christmas.

Thanks to Alisa for letting me be a guest blogger, and to the Huffs next door for being taste testers.

Tie Dye Cupcakes with multicolored frosting

Today was my cousin Olivia's birthday, and I LOVE Olivia.  I lay in bed at night thinking about what I should get her and what would make her happy.  She turned 12 this year and is rocking the Ames Middle School. 

My mom and I decided to give Olivia one of the first prototypes for our new craft business.  So my mom made the tote while I designed and created the felt cat.  

 

I'd say that's a pretty sweet library bag for a 12 year old!  

Much more on our business to come in the days ahead... But today I took a craft time-out to make some cupcakes for our family birthday party for Olivia.  

I had made tie dye cupcakes before for my dad's birthday.  I only made 4 of them though, not the whole batch, because I didn't know if my dad would like them.  Turns out he LOVED them, and I wished I had made a whole tin.  This time I was ready to tackle 12 rainbow bright cupcakes.  

I started with a normal cake batter and divided it into 5 bowls.

  After I colored each bowl like a rainbow, red, orange, yellow, green, blue.  I learned last time that purple just gets lost in blue.  No point in having both colors.   

Then I spooned equal amounts of the blue batter into each cupcake paper.  An easy way to make sure you're using the same amount is to use a cookie scoop.  Make sure to not overfill because it's easier to go back and put more of one color in each hole than it is to take some out.  

 Then came a scoop of green.

Yellow, orange, red... you get the idea.

 They got slightly overfilled... That's a little bit like being "over-served." nothing inherently bad about it...

They came out of the oven looking perfect!

 The frosting was the part I hadn't tried before.  Last time I made the rainbow cupcakes I just frosted them in white.  This time I took red, yellow, green and blue food coloring and painted a thick line on the inside of the pastry bag.  Then I carefully spooned the frosting in the bag. 

 The end result was a perfect multicolored stack of frosting!  Pretty professional if I do say so myself. 

 Next time I'll probably use a little less food coloring with the frosting.  A little goes a long way. 

 Olivia ended up with a rainbow face after going to town on the fluffy frosting.

 Everyone was pretty impressed. 

 That's just how I roll. 

 I love how vivid the colors come out after it's baked. 

I'd say another birthday under the belt.  (the slightly looser belt)...