Hazelnut Coffee Cupcakes

Nutella is so in vogue that it's hard to think of doing anything with hazelnuts other than mixing them with chocolate.  It's easy to forget that Hazelnut (I prefer to call her Hazel) and Coffee are coffeehouse soul sisters.  They love their guy pal, Chocolate, but sometimes they need some bestie time.  I'm here to help.

I've created hazelnut coffee cupcakes with vanilla mascarpone frosting that closely mimic the aroma and flavor of a mug of hazelnut coffee.  As you eat, your "mmmm" may transition to a soft acoustic coffee shop soundtrack.  Just go with it!

French Toast Cupcakes Stuffed with Peaches and Mascarpone

For my second recipe inspired by Muffin Tin Chef (my first was potato and egg cupcakes, a cupcake version of Matt's Parmesan hashbrowns), I put the Cupcake Project spin on his French toast made in muffin cups.  I stuffed the French toast with brown sugar coated peaches and mascarpone cheese and topped them with fresh whipped cream and edible flowers.  

Lime, Pineapple, and Mascarpone Breakfast Soufflé with Dulce de Leche

I've never made a soufflé before.  Soufflés sounded like scary, fancy French food - something that Julia Child would have futzed over for months trying to perfect.  I learned, however, that a soufflé (which means "puff up" in French) is just a cake with separated eggs. The beaten egg whites are used to give the cake lift - not so frightening.   My soufflé is even less imposing since it's made in a cast iron skillet.  Breakfast in a skillet is like a man in a cowboy hat. It doesn't matter how handsome the dish actually is; sticking it in the skillet gives it instant appeal.

Each bite of this lime, pineapple, and mascarpone soufflé is like eating warm lime clouds, pineapple sunshine, and a soft dulche de leche breeze.  I see more soufflés in my future.

Tiramisu Cupcakes

Tiramisu cupcakes, because they are served cold, are a refreshing way to beat the end of summer heat.  Making tiramisu cupcakes is not an original idea; many cupcake bloggers have made cupcake versions of tiramisu.  The common way of making tiramisu cupcakes is to start with a basic yellow or white cupcake recipe, flavor it with some rum and coffee, and top it with mascarpone, whipped cream, and cocoa powder.  While I would never turn down tiramisu cupcakes made that way, they miss out on what is to me the key feature of tiramisu - the topping to cake ratio.

Tiramisu has very little cake (ladyfingers) and LOTS of mascarpone and whipped cream topping.  Tiramisu's ladyfingers are like circus ringmasters: they keep everything together, but no one goes home talking about them.  The rum, coffee, mascarpone, whipped cream, and chocolate are the clowns, elephants, contortionists, unicycle rider, and man flying out of a cannon.  You simply won't forget them.  Because my tiramisu cupcakes start with just a small amount of "cupcake" (ladyfingers baked into cupcake wrappers), there is a TON of room for the "big top".

Witness:

Ready to make tiramisu cupcakes?