Dreamy creamy tiramisu cupcakes

This is part II of the cupcake extravaganza of 5/23. I know, I held out on you for awhile, but I wanted to stagger my cupcake posts so you wouldn’t get bored. Not that anything about these could possibly bore you—cake! coffee! cream! chocolate! BOOZE! These cupcakes (also from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World) have it all. It amazed me just how much these taste like real tiramisu straight from an Italian restaurant kitchen. It actually wouldn’t be a bad idea to serve these little gems with forks. They're very caloric, but hey, it was a celebration!

For the cupcakes:
1 cup soymilk
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
2T cornstarch
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup canola oil
3/4 cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup strong brewed coffee
1/3 cup coffee liqueur (like Kahlúa)
1T cocoa powder

For the frosting:
1/4 cup Earth Balance
1/4 cup vegan cream cheese
2 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a 12-cup muffin tin or a 24-cup mini muffin tin with paper liners and coat with cooking spray. Combine the soymilk and vinegar in a large bowl and set aside for 5 minutes to curdle. Beat the oil, sugar, and vanilla into the soymilk. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.



Mix until no large lumps remain.



Fill muffin cups 2/3 full.



Bake for 20-22 minutes for regular cupcakes, or 15-16 minutes for minis. When done, let sit in the pan for a few minutes, then transfer the golden beauties to a wire rack to cool completely.



Meanwhile, make the frosting. Cream together the margarine and cream cheese with a hand mixer until just combined. Keep the mixer on low speed and add the powdered sugar 1/2 cup at a time. Mix until smooth and creamy, then add the vanilla. Place in the fridge until a few minutes before you're ready to use it. I should have transferred it to a darker-colored bowl before photographing it; my bad.



In a measuring cup or small bowl, combine the coffee and Kahlúa. Use a small spoon, a paring knife, or (in my case) a melon baller to carve/scoop out a chunk in the center of each cupcake; set those aside. Spoon the Kahlúa mixture into the cavity of each cupcake, making sure that all sides are drenched. You'll use about 2T of the liquid for regular cupcakes and 1T for minis. In the pic below, on the right, you can see what they look like when disemboweled (hehe) and soaked with the liqueur mixture.

Spoon some of the frosting (again about 2T for regular cupcakes and 1T for minis) into the cavity and smooth off the top. Lightly dip the reserved chunks of cupcake into the remaining Kahlúa mixture, and pat back on top of the filling, as you can see on the left.



When all are filled and lidded, top with a layer of the remaining frosting. Put the cocoa powder in a small strainer and dust it over the cakes. I also ended up topping each one with a tiny dollop of the leftover mousse from the hazelnut cupcakes; you could also use chocolate-covered espresso beans, or even just mini chocolate chips, to decorate.



Oh, how I wish I could have gotten a clearer picture! That said, I can quite easily forgive them for being so soft and melt-in-your-mouth. The light, creamy, and very sweet frosting oozes from inside and pairs superbly with the not-too-sugary cupcakes. The coffee-liqueur soak makes them so moist they almost-but-not-quite fall apart. And ooh baby, these are boozy! You can use all coffee if you’re not into that, but the mild bite from the Kahlúa really makes them memorable. I was both touched and thrilled to have multiple friends at that party tell me these were the absolute best thing I’ve ever baked. Wow!



Yield: 12 regular or 24 mini cupcakes. Per cupcake (regular): 312 calories, 11.6g fat (1g sat), 47.2g carbs, 1.4g fiber, 2.5g protein.
Per cupcake (mini): 156 calories, 5.8g fat (.5 sat), 23.6g carbs, .7g fiber, 1.3g protein.

If you like this, you might also like...
Hazelnut cupcakes w/chocolate mousse filling
Pumpkin chocolate chip cupcakes w/cinnamon glaze
Coconut heaven cupcakes