No fork needed to enjoy your favorite Italian treat with these Tiramisu Cupcakes! A light, fluffy vanilla cupcake is soaked with coffee syrup and then topped with a creamy whipped mascarpone frosting.

We had another milestone birthday in the house over the weekend! My son’s girlfriend celebrated her 21st birthday! Happy Birthday K!

In past years my son has made some pretty extravagant cakes for his girlfriend. It all started with a basketball cake that he made for her when she was playing basketball in high school. After that came turtle cake that looked like her pet turtle and a tropical island themed cake decorated with palm trees made out of fondant.

He even sculpted models of her and him sunbathing to put on top! Finally one of the last extreme cakes that he made was a cake shaped like her new Beagle puppy.

As you can imagine these cakes were quite time consuming to make. Unfortunately there was no time in his busy schedule for one of these creations this year. So I took on the task this year.

One of her favorite desserts is Tiramisu so I thought these Tiramisu Cupcakes would be the perfect way to say Happy Birthday!

I searched around for the perfect recipe. I wanted a vanilla cupcake recipe that was light and fluffy since traditional Tiramisu is made with lady fingers. There were definitely some yummy recipes out there but in the end I decided you just can’t beat Martha!

Martha Stewart’s recipe for a light and fluffy vanilla cupcake was the winner! Light, fluffy and delicious!

Tiramisu Cupcakes

Course Dessert

Cuisine Italian

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 18

Total Time 38

Servings cupcakes

Calories 296kcal

Author Nicole Crocker

Ingredients

1 1/4 Cups Cake flour ,not self-rising, sifted
3/4 teaspoon Baking powder
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1/4 Cup Milk
1 Vanilla bean ,halved lengthwise, seeds scraped and reserved
4 Tablespoons Unsalted butter , room temperature, cut into pieces
3 Large Whole eggs room temperature
3 Large Egg yolks ,room temperature
1 Cup Sugar

For the coffee syrup

1/3 Cup Strong freshly brewed coffee
1/4 Cup Sugar
1 Ounce Dark rum or marsala wine

For the mascarpone frosting

8 Ounces Mascarpone
1 Cup Heavy cream ,whipped
1 Cup Confectioner sugar

Garnish

Unsweetened cocoa powder for dusting
Coffee beans or chocolate covered coffee beans for garnishing

Instructions

Preheat oven to 325 Degrees F. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Makes about 16 standard cupcakes.
Sift together cake flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside.
Heat milk and vanilla-bean pod and seeds in a small saucepan over medium heat just until bubbles appear around the edge. Remove from heat. Whisk in butter until melted, and let stand 15 minutes. Strain milk mixture through a fine sieve into a bowl, and discard vanilla-bean pod.
With an electric mixer on medium speed, whisk together whole eggs, yolks, and sugar. Set mixing bowl over a pan of simmering water, and whisk by hand until sugar is dissolved and mixture is warm, about 6 minutes. Remove bowl from heat. With an electric mixer on high speed, whisk until mixture is fluffy, pale yellow, and thick enough to hold a ribbon on the surface for several seconds when whisk is lifted. About 5 minutes.
Gently but thoroughly fold flour mixture into the egg mixture in three batches; stir 3/4 cup batter into the strained milk mixture to thicken, then fold milk mixture into the remaining batter until just combined.
Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each three-quarters full. (I use a 1/4 C measuring cup to fill each one. That way your cupcakes are all about the same size). Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until centers are completely set and edges are light golden brown, about 18 minutes. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool completely before removing cupcakes.

For the coffee syrup

Combine sugar, strong hot coffee and rum together and stir until sugar has dissolved. Set aside to cool.

For the mascarpone frosting

In a medium bowl whip heavy cream until stiff. In a separate bowl mix mascarpone and confectioner sugar together until smooth. Fold whipped cream into mascarpone until well combined.

To finish

Either pierce the tops of each cupcake with a fork several times or you could cut a circle out of the center of each cupcake so that the syrup can soak into the cupcake. Brush tops of cupcakes evenly with coffee-marsala syrup; repeat until all syrup has been used. Allow cupcakes to absorb liquid 30 minutes. Dollop frosting onto cupcakes or fill a pastry bag fitted with a decorating tip and pipe the frosting onto the cupcakes. Refrigerate up to overnight in airtight containers. Remove from fridge about 30 minutes before serving. Dust generously with cocoa powder just before serving and top with coffee bean.