Tuesday 10 June 2008

la vie en rose with rose tiramisu cupcakes!

so what could possibly be better than seeing life through rose-coloured glasses? taking it one step further of course and enjoying it with rose-flavoured tiramisu cupcakes, of course!
i'm off to a friend's house later to help her celebrate her birthday and what better than something slightly pink, pretty and rose-flavoured? as you know i have been dying to use that new rose syrup i just bought and the thought of light, delicate tiramisu tickled with the delicious heady aroma of rose...well it seems to me a perfect summer birthday treat.

and for toppings well...when you read the back of this chocolate wrapper how could you not let it adorn a rose-flavoured tiramisu cupcake...i mean, the words themselves had me seriously salivating!

i had to have a sneaky taste of the chocolate on its own and it really was lovely...subtly rose-flavoured (and let's face it...that's the way you have to go when using rose...otherwise i think you might running the risk of inebriating yourself...it's just so heady...yeah, i know i keep saying that but i can't think of any other word to aptly describe the effect of roses). the pistachios offered a subtle crunch...will definitely buy this again just for the pure eating enjoyment!

so now for the recipe...this is similar to the tiramisu i made before a long time ago and of course the only real alterations were the substitution of rose syrup for vanilla essence or anything else that seemed a flavouring. i contemplated whether to use the coffee syrup to flavour the sponge but then thought that it would give a nice contrast...the bitterness of the strong coffee and the aroma of the rose. it did! was really happy with the final result. there was a strong enough hint of rose and yet the cupcake remained light and airy and delightfully delicious!

Cupcake

6 eggs, separated
3/4 t. cream of tartar
1 c. sugar, divided into 2
3 T. water
3 t. rose syrup
1/8 t. salt
1 c. sifted plain flour

in a mixing bowl, beat egg whites with cream of tartar until foamy.
using 1/2 cup of the sugar add the sugar 2 tablespoons at a time, beating the egg whites constantly until glossy and they stand in peaks.
in a small bowl, beat egg yolks until thick (about 3-5 mins)beat in remaining 1/2 cup of sugar, water, rose syrup and salt.
sprinkle sifted flour over whites and fold in gently.
add beaten egg yolk mixture and fold in.
fill cupcake cases 2/3 full and bake in a preheated oven for 15 mins.

Coffee Syrup

1/2 c. icing sugar
1/2 c. water
5 t. coffee powder

in a saucepan, combine water, icing sugar and coffee powder.white stirring, bring to the boil, then remove from heat.
allow to cool.

Icing

2 c. mascarpone cheese
1 c. icing sugar
3/4 c. double cream

beat together the mascarpone and icing sugar until well combined.
add cream and beat until fluffy.

Assembly

poke holes into cooled cupcakes...i find a fork doesn't make big enough holes.
the syrup has trouble seeping through so i use a knitting needle!
spoon 3 teaspoons of coffee syrup over each cupcake...allowing syrup to soak through.
ice with mascarpone cheese icing and drizzle with rose syrup.
top with chocolate bits, shavings, sprinkles or whatever takes your fancy!

for those of you interested in finding out more or ordering the chocolate used in this recipe, you can go check them out at Skelligs Chocolate Company - check out their other amazing flavours too!

16 comments:

Faery said...

Ok I'm here ... dizzy, I've flown too fast... Ok I L-O-V-E these, definitely, tiramisu and rose yuuummmm, they are so beautiful.

Nikki @ NikSnacks said...

WHY WHY why!? do your cupcakes look so adorable!? I <3 tiramisu more than almost any dessert (red velvet cake and vanilla ice cream and creme brulee are all fighting for the top spot).

Charlotte said...

Gorgeous looking desserts! I love how you have set them out in the photos!

Unknown said...

hi faery...they were really good. i was so pleased how well the flavours combined! a big hit at my friends birthday!

hey nikki, thank u :) and i adore tiramisu too it ranks very high up there with some of my favs...

thank you charley! it came in a moment of inspiration to use the roses to set off the cupcakes!

G said...

Magical cupcakes! Fairy, where did you get that chocolate? I... must... have... some...

G said...

Ah... Avoca... got it. I was reading from most recent post backwards. Thanks!

Unknown said...

hi blog princess, it is delicious chocolate...i just love the hint of the taste of turkish delight in it! i could eat boxes of this stuff...very dangerous!

Steph said...

mmm.. where did you buy that chocolate? I love how your frosting is tinted and to die for!! mascarpone + double cream!

Unknown said...

hi steph,
i bought the chocolate at an Avoca Shop here in Ireland. however the company have their own website http://www.skelligschocolate.com/index.html so maybe you could order from there. they have lots of other funky combinations as well, such as irish sea salt chocolate bars and gin and tonic chocolate bars!

Anonymous said...

Gorgeous styling and I think the title is absolutely perfect! And honestly who doesn't love tiramisu :)

Anonymous said...

Well well well, it would seem that great minds think alike! I just churned out a pistachio and rosewater cake this weekend - and here I come and have a look, and who else is playing around with the same flavours?!? :)

As always, these look soooo lovely. And if it's a plant (rose), it's like a vegetable, and healthy, right?! ;)

Unknown said...

thanks lorraine...and i know...tiramisu is just such a general crowd-pleasing dessert!

hey fifi, great minds do think alike! just peeked at your cake and it looks divine...i'm with you on the changing around of recipes...it's fun and a great journey of discovery!

Hopie said...

Wow, rose-pistachio! Their products look delicious. I hope they ship to France! Of course what you do with their products looks even MORE delicious (if that's possible) :-)

Unknown said...

hi hopie, they do ship overseas from ireland to anywhere in the world so you can definitely get your floury hands on some rose and pistachio chocolate!

Sophie said...

Your cupcakes are so so pretty! I love how each one of them looks like it's wearing a cute little outfit - yummy ingredients too! :)

Unknown said...

hi sophie...thanks...some days it's easy to get creative on photographing food...other days i get a mental block. it's a challenge...but a fun one!