Oh My Tiramisu!!

Themed dinner time again!!

This go around it was Italian. While the Chief is very good around the kitchen we opted that he would be making the dinner and I would be baking. He chose to make stuffed shells and braciole, and I chose tiramisu cupcakes. I was a little bit nervous, but oh my they turned out to be amazing!!!




TIRAMISU CUPCAKES

Ingredients
CUPCAKES
1 (18 1/4 ounce) package white cake mix
3 eggs
1/3 cup oil
water

LIQUID COFFEE LAYER
2/3 cup water, boiling
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons instant coffee

MASCARPONE FILLING
1 cup mascarpone cheese (from tub)
3 tablespoons Kahlua (or coffee extract)
1/4 cup sweetened condensed milk
1 (8 ounce) container french vanilla cool whip

FROSTING
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 cups confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
chocolate shavings (to garnish)


Directions
1Make mascarpone filling mix first & allow to chill 4-6 hours or overnight.

2Mascarpone filling: Beat mascarpone, Kahlua and condensed milk until well blended. Fold in cool whip. Chill 4-6 hours.

3Prepare cupcakes as directed on box of white cake mix & bake accordingly. While these are baking prepare the liquid coffee as below.

4Liquid Coffee: Boil 2/3 cup water in microwave (or boil on stove) and stir in instant coffee then powdered sugar & allow to cool to tepid. Once cooled, use a fork to poke holes into cupcakes so that they will absorb the liquid cofee & then brush liquid coffee onto each cupcake using silicone baking brush. ** I usually make 3 fork piercings across top **.

5Fill pastry/icing bag with mascarpone filling & inject about 1 spoonful via bag directly into top-center of each cupcake.

6Prepare Cream Cheese Buttercream Frosting: Beat butter and cream cheese until creamy with hand mixer on low. Slowly add powdered sugar, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Add vanilla and increase mixer to medium. Blend until frosting is fluffy.

7Frost each cupcake with frosting & garnish with chocolate shavings (use dark chocolate bar & cheese grater).

A sweet Cinco De Mayo

In honor of Cinco De Mayo a group we get together with every few weeks decided to have an authentic Mexican food themed dinner. Guests bring a dish to share. I had been wanting to try a recipe for horchata cupcakes and this was the perfect opportunity!

They were a huge hit, and I was amazed at how well they turned out. The frosting was simply amazing. I will no doubt be making these again.





I did not have time to make the horchata homemade. I opted to use a powder mix to make the drink instead and It still had the same taste that the horchata would have. Simply fabulous!

For those who would like to make homemake Horchata, this is for you:

Horchata

1 cup long grain white rice
2 cups skinless almond slivers
1 teaspoon cinnamon
6 cups water

1. wash and drain the rice
2. process rice in a food processer until fine and add to a bowl
3. add almonds and cinnamon to the rice
4. add 3 1/2 cups water and let sit overnight, covered
5. blend mixture using a blender (i had to do it in two batches)
6. add 2 1/2 cups of water and continue blending (again in two batches)
7. strain using a metal strainer
8. strain again using a double layer of cheesecloth

For the Cupcakes:

Cupcakes
makes 24 cupcakes / 350 degree oven

1 stick butter
1-1/2 cups sugar
2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup fresh horchata
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon cinnamon
4 large egg whites

1. soften butter in the mixer on high speed
2. drizzle the sugar mixture in with the butter and beat until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes
3. sift flour, baking powder, and salt together
4. mix the horchata and vanilla together
5. add the flour mixture and horchata mixture to the butter/sugar in 3 parts alternating between flour and horchata and beating well after each addition
6. set aside incorporated mixture
7. in a clean mixer bowl, beat egg whites until soft peaks form
8. fold egg whites into cake batter until incorporated
9. scoop batter into the prepared cupcake pans
10. bake in the 350 degree oven for approximately 20 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean


Finally the AMAZING frosting:

Frosting

2 sticks butter, soft
1/2 cup fresh horchata
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
7-8 cups confectioner's sugar

1. soften butter in the mixer on high speed
2. sift confectioner's sugar
3. add horchata, vanilla, and 4 cups of confectioner's sugar to the sugar and beat until combined
4. add remainder sugar 1 cup at a time until desired consistency/sweetness is reached

Sprinkle with cinnamon and Viola! Horchata cupcakes!!