Monday, March 22, 2010

Strawberry and Mascarpone Filled Cupcakes




I cannot go a day without a small morsel of something sweet so it may be surprising that I don't do a lot of baking. This is probably partly because I would most likely eat everything in one sitting if I had dessert in mass quantities hanging out around my house. The baking bug hit me this past weekend and I tried out another Giada recipe that was another delectable delight...as per usual! These petite cupcakes are an absolute dream!


Ingredients

  • 1 box vanilla cake mix
  • 1 (8-ounce) container mascarpone cheese, chilled
  • 1/2 cup thawed and drained frozen strawberries
  • 1/4 cup sugar, plus 1/2 cup
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 cups confectioners' sugar

Directions

Special equipment: 1 muffin tin

Make the cupcakes according to package instructions. Lightly grease the muffin tin and fill the batter almost to the rim of each muffin cup. Bake according to package directions and let cool.

In a food processor combine the mascarpone cheese, strawberries, 1/4 cup sugar, and lemon juice. Process the mixture until smooth. Transfer the strawberry mixture to a pastry bag fitted with a small tip. Push the tip gently into the bottom of a cupcake and squeeze in the strawberry mixture until the cupcake plumps. Continue with the remaining cupcakes.

In a small saucepan bring the 1/2 cup sugar, water, and vanilla extract to a simmer over medium heat. Simmer until the sugar is dissolved. In a medium bowl combine the vanilla syrup with the confectioner's sugar. Stir until smooth. Working quickly, use a rubber spatula spread the icing on the top of the cupcakes. If the icing begins to firm up, place in the microwave for a few seconds to warm up again.


*Recipe courtesy of Giada Di Laurentiis

1 comment:

  1. Does this mean that one should borrow Muffin's Tin, or will any muffin tin be ok? Hope this isn't a repeat..thought I posted it earlier??:?

    ReplyDelete