Tiramisu Cupcakes

It's book club time again and this month's book was "Eat, Love, Pray" and our dinner theme was Italian (the "eat" portion of the book). I volunteered to make tiramisu but decided to try a new cupcake variation instead. I think I need to make them again now that I know what I didn't do exactly right, but they turned out okay for my first go-around. I would recommend adding ALL the coffee mixture to the cakes since mine weren't as coffee soaked as I would have liked. But the recipe works and is good, just take your time with it and follow it as directed, which is always a little bit of my problem!

Tiramisu Cupcakes (Makes 24 cupcakes)

(18 1/4 ounce) package white cake mix prepared as directed on box.

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

3 tablespoons Kahlua

1/4 cup sweetened condensed milk

1 (8 ounce) container french vanilla cool whip or regular cool whip with some vanilla extract added in.

Frosting (double this if you are going to be piping the frosting on top)

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup butter, softened

2 cups confectioners' sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

chocolate shavings or cocoa powder (to garnish, if desired)

Directions

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

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

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

4. Liquid 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 coffee & then brush liquid coffee onto each cupcake using silicone baking brush.

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

6. Prepare 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.

7. Frost each cupcake with frosting & garnish with chocolate shavings