Tiramisu cupcakes

As Curtis' birthday was nearing, I asked him what his favorite cake was. He told me several different kinds and one was tiramisu. Since we were going out, I decided that I wanted to make something that didn't require me cutting and serving, but something that could be self served. Because of my stipulations, I decided to make tiramisu cupcakes. No one ha ever done that, right? Wrong. Google has everything. Unfortunately, I didn't like any of the recipes so I combined 5 different recipes and added some extra love. The result was an incredible tiramisu cupcake that looked amazing and tasted even better.
However, due to life, I never wrote down what I did so the blog post never got written. Then my grandma had a birthday party and I was in charge of the dessert. I decided to attempt at repeating the process and was again successful.
For those who don't know what tiramisu is (like my grandparents and cousins), its a coffee soaked scone like cake with a layer of creamy custard and topped with whipped cream. There are different versions, but this is my favorite. Plus I had an Italian taste them and as he went back for seconds he said that they were amazing and were just as good as the ones in Italy.

Note: this is an easy recipe but requires multiple steps and a good chunk of time...but it's so worth it.
Tiramisu Cupcakes (makes 12)
Layer 1 (lady finger cake part):
4 eggs separated
2 Tbsp + 2/3 cup sugar
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
Preheat oven to 400F. Beat egg whites until soft peaks form, then add 2 tbsp sugar. In a separate bowl, mix the flour and baking soda together. In another separate bowl, beat egg yokes and 2/3 cup sugar. Add half of the egg white mixture to the egg yoke mixture. Once incorporated, add all of the flour/baking powder mixture and gently mix. Then fold in the remaining egg white mixture. Fill lined muffin tin with batter about 1/2 full. Bake 8-10 min or until slightly golden brown. Allow to cool.

Layer 2 (coffee soaking mixture):
3/4 cup strong coffee-not hot (I used instant espresso)
2 tbsp
3 tbsp sugar
Mix together until sugar is dissolved.

Layer 3 (creamy custard part):
4 egg yokes
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup milk
4 oz mascarpone cheese (found in the specialty cheese section of most grocery stores)
Whisk eggs, sugar and milk together. Cook over medium heat until mixture comes to a boil. Chill in fridge (or freezer if you want to rush the process) until completely cooled. Once it is cooled, add the 4 oz of mascarpone cheese)

Layer 4 (whipped cream topping):
12oz heavy whipping cream
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
4oz mascarpone cheese
Approx. 1-2 cups powdered sugar (I didn't measure it, I just added until I liked the taste of it)
Using a hand mixer or kitchen aid, whip the cream on med high until soft peaks form. Continue whipping while adding vanilla and sugar. Once the whipped cream tastes good and looks good, add the mascarpone cheese. Put all the contents in a gallon size zip-lock bag and store in fridge until ready to use.

Assembly instructions:
Remove the lady finger cupcakes from pan. Using a fork, poke a couple of holes in the lady finger cake part. Spoon in the coffee mixture until the cake part can't soak up any more or the coffee mixture is gone. Spoon cooled custard part on top of the cake. Cutting the corner of the ziplock bag containing the whipped cream mixture, squeeze contents onto custard. Note: if custard isn't completely cooled, then the whipped cream part will slide off. Dust with chocolate powder and sprinkle with chocolate shavings. Place in fridge for at least an hour. Enjoy!