Gretchen's Vegan Bakery

Tiramisu Cupcakes

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Tiramisu Cupcakes are a great way to get your tiramisu fix without all the fuss!

Tiramisu is a decadent Italian dessert with coffee cream and rum soaked sponge cake
And today I have taken those same amazing flavors and packed it all into a cupcake!

tiramisu cupcakes

Vanilla Sponge Cake is baked into perfect tiramisu cupcakes

And it can now be made gluten free & sugar free! *read more below!

Tiramisu Cupcakes

Soaked with coffee infused simple syrup and topped with two different icings but made from only one recipe!

Tiramisu Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Icing , Mocha Buttercream

Tiramisu Cupcakes

It turns out that Kahlua is no longer classified as 100% vegan due to the processing of the sugar.

As with most sugar here in the USA it is put through a bleaching process using animal bone char.
This is definitely not considered vegan and since Kahlua company has verified that one of their sources for the sugar is indeed using animal bone char, this can no longer be used in 100% vegan desserts

But fear not! Kamora Liquor is a vegan alternative that is not only cheaper but packs the same punch as Kahlua!
So be sure to pick up a bottle of Kamora liquor for all your coffee dessert creations! *not sponsored

Tiramisu Cupcakes

 

 

CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL YOUTUBE VIDEO TUTORIAL FOR HOW TO MAKE THESE CUPCAKES

Tiramisu Cupcakes

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Notes for Success:

For the best cream cheese icing taste that is shelf stable no refrigeration needed I use Vegan lactic acid added to my buttercream recipe!

For the chocolate decor you must use tempered chocolate for it to set properly
I have a full video tutorial for How to Temper Chocolate but quite honestly the easy way to go would be to purchase a “non-tempering” chocolate

Make them gluten free by using a 1:1 Gluten Free mix like Bob’s Red Mill *not sponsored
Additionally you can implement sugar free options as well by following my Guide to Sugar Free Baking here!

If you are not too keen on buying 2 bottles of alcohol just to make this recipe

You can always buy the tiny airplane bottles which would be perfectly enough to make this recipe!
My rum of choice for me has always been Meyers Dark Rum but whatever brand you go for make sure it is a dark rum and not white
And it is of good quality since you will notice the quality in the final result if you cheap out here.

For those who do not use alcohol in their cooking and baking, I would like to suggest to skip this recipe altogether

I know, how rude of me to exclude some people!
But since classic Tiramisu is made with a good amount of alcohol I just feel really weird telling you to omit the main part of the recipe.
Alternatively you can check out Ritual Zero Proof rum alternative *not sponsored|

Yield: 12 cupcakes

Tiramisu Cupcakes

Tiramisu Cupcakes
Prep Time 2 hours
Cook Time 25 minutes
Total Time 2 hours 25 minutes

Ingredients

For the Simple Syrup:

  • Water ½ cup (177ml)
  • Granulated Sugar ½ cup (100g)
  • Instant Coffee Granules 2 teaspoons
  • Rum 2 Tablespoons
  • Kamora 2 Tablespoons

For the Mocha Buttercream:

  • 2 Tablespoons instant coffee granules (8g)
  • 1 Tablespoons cocoa powder (6g)
  • 2 Tbs hot water (30ml)

For the Cream Cheese Buttercream

  • 2 teaspoons vegan lactic acid

Instructions

  1. Prepare the cake batter as per the instructions on that blog post.
  2. Scoop batter into lined cupcake molds and bake in a preheated 350°F oven for approximately 18-20 or until springy to the touch when you gently press the centers
  3. Cool the cupcakes in the pan until you can safely touch it then turn them out onto a cooling rack to cool the rest of the way.
  4. For the coffee simple syrup bring the water and sugar to a boil and let it boil for 1 minute.
  5. Remove from heat and add the instant coffee and optional liquors and then let it cool in the refrigerator *this can be prepared up to 1 week in advance
  6. Once the cupcakes have cooled brush each one with a generous soak of coffee/liquor simple syrup
  7. Next prepare the buttercream recipe and divide it into 2 equal parts
  8. Combine the instant coffee & cocoa powder together and then add the hot water whisk smooth
  9. Add the COOLED coffee paste to one half of the buttercream recipe and then add the vegan lactic acid to the other portion
  10. Ice cold cupcakes with a swirl of the mocha & cream cheese icing *see video for how to swirl
  11. Sprinkle with cocoa powder and garnish with optional chocolate decor and chocolate covered espresso bean

Notes

Tiramisu cupcakes must be kept refrigerated if you are using the cream cheese icing.

© Gretchen

 

Reader Interactions

Comments

  4. Walnutz Goldberg

    Please help! Every time I’ve tried this recipe it yields 9 cupcakes instead of 12 (we’re going on 5 times now). I’m barely filling the liners up to halfway and my cupcake pan is not abnormally deep or wide. Please tell me what could be going on!

    • Gretchen

      Really! This is so weird, because when I made them originally, it also made 9! But every time after that (and I have made it ALOT lately!!) It made 11- 12!!
      I recently tested 8 different egg replacers with this same recipe and it made 12 everytime!
      So in a panic that people would be trying to overfill their liners and get overflow with a 9 yield, I changed it to 12!
      I fill mine half full and they rise to double.
      Maybe you are not creaming the butter to full fluffiness? I go about 4 -5 minutes of creaming before adding the rest.
      But definitely fill half full if not a teaspoon more than half and see what you get (let me know!)

    • Gretchen

      Yes! You can bake the cake batter into 2-8″ layers or 3-7″ layers and proceed to build the components of this cake (filling, cream etc..) as a cake.

  7. Carolyn

    Gretchen’s site is AWESOME! I have tried dozens of vegan baking sites to no avail- I waste money & time on cake recipes that fall flat. This recipe works perfectly, right down to the timing. I would love to post a photo of my tiramisu cupcakes, which I made gluten free! (I used a Trader Joe’s blend with xanthum gum.)

    Additionally, her recipe (and test kitchen results for 3 whipping cream brands) is SPOT on! No more wasting ingredients that don’t work. Thank you, Gretchen!

  8. Val

    That looks fantastic and I will make this for a friend’s birthday. In your video, you add ganache icing to the 2 icings but you don’t have the recipe here. Is it simply a 1:1 chocolate and plant milk ratio?

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