Tiramisu Cupcakes turned into Kahlua Cupcakes with 7-Minute Frosting

Crap... CRAP CRAP CRAP! To make a long story short: I voted for Black Forest. Tiramisú won. The Tiramisú Cream thing didn't turn out well at all. I ended up turning them into Kahlúa Cupcakes with 7-Minute Frosting. Here's the long version...

ingredients for Kahlúa Cupcakes (the base for Tiramisú Cupcakes) beating egg whites...
...to soft peaks
folding egg whites into the batter
the finished smooth batter
1/2 full and ready for the oven

The cupcakes came out great...

Here's where it got irritating... The original Tiramisú Cupcake called for making Tiramisú Cream using raw egg yolks and whites along with mascarpone cheese. I didn't really want to use raw eggs, so I decided to make a whipped cream/mascarpone topping instead. As you can see, it didn't look very appetizing, and it was too thin to put on the cupcakes.

So... I decided to use the original Tiramisú Cream recipe even though it meant using raw eggs. I wanted to at least give it a try. (The recipe is at the bottom of the post if anyone else wants to attempt this.)

I whipped egg whites to stiff peaks.

I whipped egg yolks and sugar until fluffy, then added 8 ounces of cream cheese.
I folded the whites into the cheese mixture.
...ONCE AGAIN... SOUP!!

Then I just said eff it and made an adapted version of the 7-Minute Frosting from the "White Mountain Chocolate Cupcakes" recipe in Cupcakes! by Elinor Klivans.

Here are the cupcakes in the cupcake carrier I got for my birthday. It's from the ABC Catalog.After 2 failed frosting attempts, my boyfriend came over and cheered me up by telling me how good the 7-Minute Frosting was! Then I went in my room and found my cat sleeping and looking cuter than ever!

Cupcake recipe can be found in the post for Kahlúa and Cream Cupcakes.

Tiramisú Cream

recipe from Crazy About Cupcakes by Krystina Castella.

3 large eggs, separated
4 tablespoons granulated sugar
8 ounces mascarpone cheese or cream cheese
2 tablespoons Kahlúa or amaretto

1. With an electric mixer on medium-high speed beat the egg yolks with sugar until fluffy. Add the cheese and beat until smooth. Stir in the liqueur.

2. In a separate bowl with clean beaters mix the egg whites until shiny stiff peaks form.

3. Fold the egg whites into the cheese mixture until well blended.

7-Minute Frosting

recipe adapted from Cupcakes! by Elinor Klivans.

1 1/4 cups granulated sugar

1/3 cup water

3 large egg whites

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

1 tablespoon Kahlúa

1. Put the sugar, water, egg whites, and cream of tartar in a heatproof bowl or the top of a double boiler with at least a 2-quart capacity and beat with a handheld electric mixer on high speed until opaque, white, and foamy, about 1 minute.

2. Put the bowl over, but not touching, a saucepan of barely simmering water. The top container should sit firmly over the pan of hot water.

3. Beat on high speed until the frosting forms a soft peak that stands straight up when the beaters are lifted, about 7 minutes.

4. Remove the bowl from the water, add the Kahlúa, and continue beating for 2 minutes to further thicken the frosting.

Strawberry Cupcakes with Strawberry Whipped Cream Frosting

My second batch of cupcakes for my Memorial Day cookout were strawberry cupcakes with strawberry whipped cream frosting. Here are the recipes: cupcake recipe, frosting recipe (both recipes are in the comments)

First let me start off by saying this. While you are making the strawberry sauce for the cupcake batter, it would be wise to stay in the kitchen. I left the kitchen for about 5 minutes. I thought everything would be fine with the lid on and the temperature on medium-low. However, while I was preoccupied in the other room, it seems a small explosion happened inside the sauce pan.

The batter was much thicker than any other cupcake batter I've made.cupcakes ready for the oven...They rose beautifully in the oven.They turned slightly golden brown around the edges and had a perfect domed shape.I topped them with a strawberry whipped cream flavored with strawberry yogurt.These cupcakes were not nearly as delicious as the comments on flickr said they were. One of my tasters actually likened the flavor to a hamburger bun, point being that they did not taste like strawberries at all. Everyone else said they tasted good, but personally I disagree. My boyfriend raved about the whipped cream frosting, but I did not like the texture. I will never make the strawberry cupcakes again, but I would probably make the whipped cream again but omit the gelatin.