The Foodie Files

So here's the moral of the story from today's Foodie Files...always, always read the entire recipe before you start.  Every word.  Always.  While the Tiramisu Cupcakes I tackled today were delicious and well received, the process of making them probably took a year off of my life.  Seriously...you can't believe how involved these bad boys were.  Had I known I probably would've jumped ship before I got so far in.  That being said, if you have low blood pressure and a couple hours to spare, then by all means give this recipe a-go!  The resulting treats are crazy good.  But don't say I didn't warn you... 

Ingredients:

For Cupcakes....
1¼ cups cake flour (not self-rising)
¾ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon coarse salt
¼ cup milk
1 vanilla bean, halved lengthwise, seeds scraped and reserved
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into pieces
3 whole eggs plus 3 egg yolks, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar

For Coffee Syrup...
1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon freshly brewed very strong coffee (or espresso)
3 tsp Bailey's Irish Cream
¼ cup granulated sugar

For Mascarpone Frosting...
1 cup heavy cream
8 ounces mascarpone cheese, room temperature
½ cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted
Unsweetened cocoa powder, for dusting

Preheat oven to 325 degrees and line standard muffin tins with paper liners.  Mix cake flour, baking powder, and salt.  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. 

Transfer mixture to a double boiler and heat over a pan of simmering water.  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.

Gently but thoroughly fold flour mixture into the egg mixture in three batches; stir ½ 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. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until centers are completely set and edges are light golden brown, about 20 minutes.

Stir together coffee, Bailey's, and sugar until sugar is dissolved. Let cool.  Brush tops of cupcakes evenly with coffee syrup; repeat until all syrup has been used.  Allow cupcakes to absorb liquid for 30 minutes.

With an electric mixer on medium speed, whisk heavy cream until stiff peaks form (be careful not to overbeat, or cream will be grainy).  In another bowl, whisk together mascarpone and confectioners’ sugar until smooth. Gently fold whipped cream into mascarpone mixture until completely incorporated. Use immediately.  To finish, Dollop frosting onto cupcakes; refrigerate up to overnight in airtight containers. Dust with cocoa powder just before serving.

(Serves me right for thinking an Aunt Martha recipe might be simple...she's just too amazing...)