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!

tiramisu in a cup!

so, Fiona, decided to invite a gang of us over to her housesitting flat for an evening of food, fun and frolics on Sunday evening. it was a fantastic evening! one of those great kind of evenings where everyone contributes something - either food or drinks. there's a nice chill-out feeling as people get together and hang out. love it! my contribution, of course, was dessert. i offered because i wanted to try out this recipe i had found for tiramisu cupcakes. i'm so thrilled because i think these are my favourite i have made to date. the sponge (which involved the process of separating the eggs and mixing them separately then adding back together - bit of a nightmare but definitely worth it) was so light and airy, it was just divine. the topping (involving mascarpone cheese and cream) was also so fabulously floaty that the whole combo was enough to whisk you away on a soft fluffy cloud! i love it when you make a recipe discovery and it actually turns out to be amazing. there were extras left over, so lucky colleagues at work will get the remainder tomorrow. but this is definitely a keeper and one to be made again - perfect for dinner parties because it is a tad more spohisticated than those brighty coloured LSD inspired cupcakes that look like colour explosions and are far more appropriate for fun birthday parties and such. the next meeting of the 'Sunday Club' is 7th October so I've got time to get my thinking cap on and come up with something for then......hmmmmm