Cupcakes are all the rage at the moment with queues snaking round blocks in New York starting at cupcake shops and ending in desire and anticipation, to stalls at every market in London boasting colourful and tempting displays. Whether they are plain sponge with an accessorised topping to those created with seasonal flavours and matching icing they have been revived! Cupcakes are certainly not just for children and here is an “adult” recipe to tempt you into creamy naughty indulgence: Tiramisu cupcakes!
Tiramisu always goes down a treat – it’s a boozy Italian classic (although it originally didn’t include any alcohol) so here’s a way to heighten the fun with its reinvention into cupcakes.
sponge:
250 g self-raising flour
250 g butter
250 g sugar
4 eggs
100 ml espresso
camp coffee (optional)
icing:
200 g icing sugar
50 g butter
100 g cream or mascarpone
50 ml Sherry
cocoa powder sprinklings
You can vary the amounts and taste the icing accordingly for a thicker or thinner icing. The photos show the different effects – the flat icing with cocoa powder on top makes the cakes really look like mini Tiramisus and the swirled icing makes it look like a chocolate flake should be stuck in the top.
how?
1 Heat the oven to 180 degrees
2 Make the espresso and allow it to cool
3 Cream the butter with the sugar
4 Add the eggs one at a time to the butter and sugar beating them in completely
5 Gradually add the cooled espresso and a slug of Camp coffee if you want a real boost
6 Begin adding the flour in portions and combining as you go
7 Once the mixture is combined, dollop two to two and a half desert spoonfuls into the paper cups and bake for 15 to 20 minutes. If you use mini cupcake cases they require about 8 to 10 minutes
8 To check if they are ready, a chopstick or a fork should come out clean
9 And now for the icing: cream the butter with the icing sugar adding the marscapone and sherry gradually. Combine the ingredients and thicken by adding more butter or to have thin icing lessen the amount of butter
10 Once the cakes are iced, sprinkle the cocoa powder on top using a sieve
11 Invite friends over and enjoy them together or snuggle watching a film and eat them all!
