The One With the Tiramisu Cupcakes

My sister-in-law, Emily, turned 25 last week. That makes it officially 5 years that we've known each other. And a whole lots has happened in those years. We got married within 3 weeks of each other to brothers that are often mistaken for twins. To this day, many people are unsure which girl married which boy. And less than a year later we were both pregnant with our first baby. Now Ellie and her son, Cyril, are best buds. And her second little one, Liam, was born just 4 months after Olivia. We've even lived together at Steve's parents' house for a summer. It's definitely fun having someone close by to share all these experiences with. And I just love that our kids are close in age and get to see each other often. I always wished for cousins like that.

Anyway, she loves tiramisu and requested some for her birthday party. And so I thought I'd attempt Tiramisu Cupcakes.

I should start out by saying that I don't really eat Tiramisu often, so I wasn't really sure what I was going for. But these turned out pretty good, if I do say so myself. Now, I am no connoisseur of this fancy dessert, so if you are, you may want to look elsewhere for a recipe. However, if you're like me and just want to give it a shot, this might work out just fine.

Tiramisu Cupcakes

• 6 egg yolks
• 1 1/4 cups white sugar
• 1 cup (8 ounces) mascarpone cheese*
• 1 3/4 cups heavy whipping cream
• 2 packages lady fingers, 3 ounces each
• 1/3 cup Godiva chocolate liqueur or coffee flavored liqueur**
• Chocolate shavings***

*You can probably find this in the special cheese section near the deli of your local grocery store. If you need help finding it, tell an associate you are looking for Italian cream cheese.
**I didn't have any coffee liqueur and so I used chocolate instead. I think it made the cupcakes delicious, but if you're going for more authentic tiramisu, use coffee liqueur. 
***You can use a vegetable peeler to shave chocolate off a chocolate bar, or you can melt chocolate chips onto a plate, let them cool and solidify, and then use a peeler to get the little curls.

Combine egg yolks and sugar in the top of a double boiler, over boiling water. Reduce heat to low and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and whip until thick and lemon yellow colored.
Add mascarpone to the egg yolks and whip to combine.
Clean your beaters and dry them off. In a separate bowl, whip your heavy whipping cream until stiff peaks form when you remove your beaters. Using a spatula, gently fold the egg yolk mixture into the whipping cream, being careful not to over process.

Fill a cupcake baking pan with cupcake liners. I used the foil ones because they are little more sturdy, which is a good thing for this creamy cupcake.

Tear one lady finger into 1/2 inch pieces to line the bottom of each cupcake liner. Use a pastry brush or a folded cupcake liner to brush liqueur on top of the lady finger layer. Spoon a heaping tablespoon of the egg yolk and cream mixture on top of the lady finger base.

Add another layer of lady fingers, again tearing one lady finger into 1/2 inch pieces. Brush this layer with liqueur.

Finally, add your final layer of cream. I used a pastry bag and Wilton tip 1M to make it look a little fancier and get the cream to stand up instead of just falling into the cupcake. Sprinkle with chocolate shavings.

Refrigerate for several hours to overnight to let them set.  You could also put these in the freezer to give them a more ice-creamy feel. Either way, they're pretty good. And a good alternative dessert to the classic cupcake. How fancy and fun would these be for a bridal shower?

 

 I linked this recipe up at Tastetastic Thursday #17 on A Little Nosh.