The Tiramisu Cupcake

This is a simple rendition of a non-alcoholic Tiramisu cupcake suitable for all audiences. To make a version with alcohol, just add your favorite spirit to the cupcake at step 4.

What you will need:

-Any sponge cake or light vanilla cake batter
-A cup of coffee, sweetened (see step 3)
-Sweet whipped cream or mascarpone frosting (or tub of whipped cream with enough powdered sugar mixed in to sweeten)
-Unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
-Piping bag with large star tip


Step 1:

Mix up your cake batter. Line your cupcake pan with liners, fill with batter, and bake until toothpick can go in and come out clean.


Step 2:

Let cupcakes cool to room temperature.


Step 3:

Sweeten cup of coffee until lightly sweet (just enough to get a hint of sweetness, but not enough to lose the coffee flavor) and let it cool. Use sugar, honey, or anything else you have lying around that might be an appropriate sweetener. My fave: sweeten the coffee with dulce de leche! If you will be serving cupcakes to anyone who is caffeine-challenged like myself, try using decaf.


Step 4:


Once cupcakes are cool, poke holes in the top of the cupcakes with a fork and brush on or spoon on coffee.



Step 5:

Let cupcakes stand long enough for the coffee on the top layer to seep down into the cupcake. If you want strong coffee flavor, add a second (and even a third) layer of coffee and let stand once again until it has all seeped into the cupcake.



Step 6:

Add your large star tip to a piping bag and fill with the whipped cream or mascarpone frosting. Real tiramisu is made with mascarpone frosting, but whipped cream frosting is a nice substitute (and so much cheaper!).


Step 7:


Swirl the frosting onto the cupcakes. If you have an abundance of frosting, this is a good cupcake for heavy-handed frosting usage.


Step 8:

Add cocoa powder to a sifter, sieve, or a wire pasta strainer and sift a thick layer of powder over the top of the cupcakes. This will give it the distinctive tiramisu look.



Step 9:

Enjoy!