Tiramisu cupcakes for two: instead of a big pan of tiramisu, make these vanilla cupcakes with an espresso Kahlua soak and mascarpone frosting!
It's Friday! You deserve a cupcake. I know it's the Friday before Thanksgiving week, and you're probably starting your salad diet (or, ordering stretchy pants (or both)), and a cupcake might be the last thing you need.
But, I shared a teaser photo of these tiramisu cupcakes on my instagram, and you guys demanded them. And I'm totally cool with that.
I love the flavor profile of tiramisu. I love the soft ladyfingers dunked in an espresso syrup made with Kahlua, and I especially love the creamy mascarpone filling.
If you've never had mascarpone, it's like cream cheese, but better. It's sweeter and lacks the tang of cream cheese. I actually prefer it to cream cheese in most applications (except for bagels, of course! Oh, and cheesecake in a loaf pan). If you can't find it, however, just use regular cream cheese with an extra bump of powdered sugar.
While the creamy layer in a regular tiramisu is made up of sabayon plus mascarpone, we're going to skip that part. These cupcakes deliver all of the flavor of tiramisu without all of the work.
This recipe makes just 4 cupcakes, as most of my small batch cupcake recipes do. I hope that's enough for you to meet your tiramisu craving without going over-board.
You can pull a shot of espresso for this, or dissolve the instant espresso powder (I use Medaglia D'Oro brand) into hot water. I've done both and hardly notice a difference. You can also substitute Frangelico for Kahlua.
You might notice a lack of chocolate in this recipe. That's because a chocolate-covered espresso bean on top is all the chocolate I need in my tiramisu. If you feel otherwise (and I'm sure you do), you can finely shave chocolate into the frosting and dust cocoa powder on top.
Tiramisu Cupcakes
Tiramisu cupcakes for two: instead of a big pan of tiramisu, make these vanilla cupcakes with an espresso Kahlua soak and mascarpone frosting!
Ingredients
For the cupcakes:
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 large egg white, at room temperature
- 2 tablespoons sour cream, at room temperature
- 6 tablespoons flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- pinch of fine salt
For the espresso-Kahlua soak:
- 1 shot hot espresso
- ¼ cup Kahlua liqueur
For the frosting:
- 4 ounces mascarpone, softened
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon Kahlua
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4 chocolate-covered espresso beans (optional, for topping)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400, and line four cups in a muffin pan with paper liners.
- In a medium bowl, beat with an electric mixer the butter, sugar and vanilla. Beat until light and fluffy, at least 30 seconds.
- Add the egg white and beat until combined.
- Next, beat in the sour cream.
- Finally, sprinkle the flour, baking soda and salt evenly over the batter, and then beat until just combined.
- Divide the batter between the cupcake liners, and bake on the middle rack for 16-19 minutes. When done, the tops will spring back, and a toothpick inserted will come out clean. (They will brown nicely on top because they're made with butter, not oil).
- Let the cupcakes cool.
- Meanwhile, stir together the espresso and Kahlua.
- Just before serving, poke holes in the cupcakes using a toothpick, and slowly drizzle the espresso mixture into each cupcake.
- Then, beat together all of the frosting ingredients until light and fluffy.
- Spoon the frosting into a piping bag fitted with a 1MM Wilton tip and pipe the frosting on the cupcakes (or, just use a butter knife to frost the cupcakes, too!)
- Top each cupcake with a chocolate-covered espresso bean and serve.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield:
4Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 809Total Fat: 48gSaturated Fat: 27gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 12gCholesterol: 148mgSodium: 350mgCarbohydrates: 81gFiber: 3gSugar: 64gProtein: 8g
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Sarah says
Is there a reason you have to soak the cake just before serving? I’d like to make this and bring it somewhere, will it get soggy if left too long before serving?
Christina Lane says
Yes, just because they would get soggy. I think you could make them, soak them, and then drive to your destination and be fine. Just don't let them sit for more than an hour?
Susanna says
This looks like my next baking project! Will adaptt he recipe with flaxseed egg to see if it works, cross your fingers on that!
I love tiramisu so much, and it's so hard to find good egless recipes, so anyting that is tiramisu flavored works for me!
Natalie says
These cupcakes are so cute and I can't wait to try this recipe ♥
Kim Minji says
oh hi, I want you to ask something. if I use coffee with sugar, it will be too sugary?
Christina Lane says
Hmmm....no, I think it would work.
Yo says
What can be used instead of Espresso shot? I do not have an espresso machine.
Christina Lane says
What about espresso powder? Or use leftover coffee?
Kari Swenson says
Would it work to substitute full fat greek yogurt for the sour cream?
Christina Lane says
Technically, yes. But sour cream has fat that's needed in a cake recipe. Greek yogurt doesn't. Sour cream is 40% fat. usually, Greek yogurt is 0-2%. The flavor and texture will suffer. But your cupcakes won't sink or taste bad. Sour cream also has acidity which helps with the rise of the leaveners (baking soda, baking powder).
Neha Dahiya says
This looks like a Delicious recipe. However is the nutrition information correct. It says Calories 2569
What is the calorie for one cupcake?
Thanks
Christina Lane says
That's for the whole batch. It makes 4 cupcakes, divide by 4 :)
Shannon says
Hi there! Just dropping a note in case it's helpful to others. I followed the recipe and baked the 4 cupcakes at 400 F on the middle rack for 16 minutes....but they came out wayyyyy too done (like burnt, bitter tasting, and inedible). Although, the batter on the way in tasted delicious! Now, there certainly could have been some user error (maybe I set my timer wrong?), but I wanted to encourage others to maybe check on your batch a few minutes before 16 min just to be safe! Thanks for the recipe, and I'll likely try again in the future to figure out where I went wrong!
Dena says
Mine were burnt as well! I have made recipes that start with a 400 oven but turn down to 350 as soon as you place in the tray - I will try that next time as these were really good anyway!
Jess says
Hi I was wondering if I made the buns the night before and soaked them and frosted them the next day would that work?
Also wondering if they freeze well?
Thanks! :)
Christina Lane says
I wouldn't freeze the cupcakes once they've soaked..I'm envisioning coffee ice crystals in the cupcakes. You could make the plain cupcakes the night before, though. Then, soak and frost before serving. The only thing I would freeze is the cupcakes, plain.