Tiramisu Cupcakes

Tiramisu Cupcakes with Mascarpone Whipped Cream Frosting

 

What would I do without cupcakes?  What would the world do without cupcakes?  We would be forced to create full sized desserts, of course... and where's the fun in that?  Cupcakes are portable, sharable, customizable, easy to decorate and there are no utensils needed to eat them!  If I had to create full sized layer cakes for all of my baking adventures I would be stuck with a giant cake that would sit in my fridge with three slices taken out of it and then be thrown away.  With cupcakes, I can bring some to work, share with friends and keep just as many as I want to keep at home. 

Think about it... if I make a batch of 24 cupcakes, the decorating possibilities are ENDLESS!  I can put filling in some, I can top them with different frostings, different swirling or decorating techniques, and I could even top each of the two dozen cupcakes with a different variety of sprinkle!!  And yes, I do have that many sprinkles...

Don't even get me started on cupcake liners either.... I'm sort of obsessed.  Does anyone else have this problem?  I'm at the store, planning to make a batch of cupcakes, and even though I have a bazillion liners at home already, if I see a pattern that I don't have yet, I HAVE to buy them.  Yes, I HAVE TO.  Sometimes I will even plan a new cupcake flavor or decorating style based on the new liners that I found.  Please tell me I'm not the only one that does this!

These Tiramisu cupcakes are definitely making it onto my permanent rotation of cupcakes creations.  Everyone at the event told me they loved them and the classic Tiramisu dessert translates perfectly into cupcake form, minus the lady fingers, which I don't think anyone missed. 

This cupcake is your basic white cupcake.  The center is removed, soaked in coffee liqueur syrup and stuffed back in with a little bit of frosting inside.  The topping is a Mascarpone Whipped Cream flavored with a little Kahlua as well.  In my recipe I've added an additional option for making a stabilized whipped cream in case you want to make these ahead of time. 

Ginger Peach Teacakes

Peach Teacakes with a Ginger Liqueur Glaze, Ol' Sport!

Which potluck item would be appropriate for a Great Gatsby themed 20's housewarming party?!  I racked my brain...  I knew I wanted to make sweets, and of course, cupcakes are always on the top of my mind.  I even went shopping for cupcake liners to get some inspiration.  Well, I did manage to find the cutest cupcake liners that were grey, black and yellow and super elegant. I thought I would be using those, but I made a last minute change and wanted to do something smaller and more bite sized for the party. So I landed on mini cakes, tiny, cute, teacakes. 

Now, I may be taking some liberties in calling them teacakes, because what really makes a teacake a teacake?  I typed that exact question into my search engine.  I got results for traditional English teacakes, which aren't very cute at all, more like a yeast-based bun with dried fruit.  The South will refer to a large, dense, cookie-like treat made with butter, flour, eggs, milk and sugar as a teacake. BUT, in the rest of the United States a teacake is usually a single-layered, lightly spiced cake, often made with buttermilk, topped with a glaze and sometimes they contain fruit.  Ding! Ding! Ding!  We have a winner.  And by just doing a glaze on top, instead of frosting, gave me a chance to play around with my royal icing and piping techniques that I so rarely use outside of work.