Mini Chocolate Tiramisu Cakes

These get rave reviews whenever I serve them, so I figured I'd share the recipe. These little cakes are simple yet delicious, easy yet elegant. I guess I'm trying to say I love them. Here's my version. The original calls for a small package of devil's food cake mix, but I buy a normal box and double the recipe. It makes about three pans of cakes, so I typically divide them among a couple of shows for the host to come out dirt cheap on ingredients. Crafty. (Display picture is on the stand of the Trifle Bowl.)

Mini Chocolate Tiramisu Cakes

chefjennylyn.com

1 pkg. devil's food cake mix

1/2 cup sour cream

2 eggs

2 tbsp. instant coffee granules

2 tbsp. water

2/3 cup coffee liqueur (see substitute)

3 cups frozen whipped topping, thawed

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup powdered sugar

2 tsp. vanilla

Cocoa powder (optional)

Preheat oven to 350.

Spray cups of Deluxe Mini-Muffin Pan wiht nonstick cooking spray. For cakes, combine cake mix, sour cream, eggs, coffee, and water. Mix, and divide batter among muffin cups using Small Scoop. Bake 8-10 minutes.

Press tops of cakes with lightly floured Mini-Tart Shaper to make slight indentations. Cool 2 minutes. Remove cakes from pan to cooling rack. Brush tops with coffee liqueur using chef's silicone basting brush; cool completely.

Place whipped topping in large resealable bag; set aside. For filling, combine cheese, sugar, and vanilla, and mix until smooth. Place filling in additional bag. Trim corners of bags, and pipe filling over cakes. Place whipped topping over filling, and sprinkle with cocoa powder.

Coffee Liqueur Substitute:

1/2 cup water, 1/2 cup sugar, 2 tbsp. instant coffee granules, 2 tsp. rum extract

Cook over medium heat until sugar dissolves, stirring occasionally. Cool.

My water is in an Easy Read Measuring Cup, and my coffee granules are in the Easy Read Mini Measuring Cup. As you can see, these are awesome because you can leave them setting on the counter while you pour ingredients. The rum extract is in an Adjustable Measuring Spoon, one of my favorite items. Being able to adjust to two teaspoons instead of measuring twice is very handy! The sugar is in a cup from the Measuring Cup Set. All of this is on the Cutting Board simply because it helps me keep things clean. I cooked the mixture in the 1.5-Qt. Saucepan from the 7-Piece Executive Collection, and that's the Skinny Scraper hanging out inside the pan.

Ok, so the filling mixture is in the Small Batter Bowl, and I'm going to mix it up with the Small Mix 'n Scraper. These pieces go together like peas and carrots... peanut butter and jelly... Fred and Ethel. Notice again that Adjustable Measuring Spoons are incredible.

The Professional Shears are fabulous in the kitchen. They cut everything from packaging to meat, and they'll even cut... through chicken bones. I've never done that simply because it grosses me out, but I've heard it happens. I'm going to mix all of my cake ingredients in the Classic Batter Bowl using the Stainless Whisk, but notice that I've got the eggs cracked into a Prep Bowl. Always do this to prevent a world of problems (bad eggs, shell issues, etc.). Who likes to measure sour cream and other not liquid/not solid substances? That's what I thought, but it's not bad at all with the Measure-All Cup. Love this thing!

See why I love the Measure-All Cup? I just pop ingredients out, scrape them off the outside, and enjoy zero waste with easy clean-up. For the cake part, I have to admit that I've been screwing up for six months now. Um, apparently I didn't read the recipe correctly the first time I made this, and I thought the coffee liqueur (or substitute) went in at this step, and you used extra to brush the cakes. Apparently it's all for brushing the cakes. Interesting that I didn't notice that until I typed it for this blog post. So anyway, I always add 2/3 cups of coffee liqueur into the batter, and I think I'm better for it. That's the Classic Scraper for getting everything out of the bowl, and I'm going to rock batter division out with the Small Scoop.

Small Scoop. Deluxe Mini-Muffin Pan. Pure bliss! If you've been doing jobs like this without scoops, I admire you. I don't think I'd ever make these cakes without this tool. Too messy, aggravating, and "there's got to be a better way"-ing.

The Mini-Tart Shaper can take anything and make it really cool. Example: Buy sugar cookie dough that's already in squares (we all do it), bake them in the Deluxe Mini-Muffin Pan, and shape them into little wells. Fill the wells with a cream cheese/powdered sugar mixture, and add fruit. Miniature fruit pizzas. I could go on and on, but I won't. I'll get back to the task at hand. My flour is in a Pinch Bowl, and I can just put the lid on it when I'm finished. Then I'm ready to go for the next time, which will probably be soon.

Brush the cakes with a little coffee liqueur, pipe in the cream cheese mixture and whipped topping, sprinkle with cocoa, and you're done! This is the Chef's Silicone Basting Brush, an awesome tool that cleans up like a gem. It can go in the dishwasher, and whatever's in it will come right out. I love this for all basting because I never have to worry about bristles coming off in my food. Also, it won't melt when I use it on hot pans. The Cooling Rack, a kichen must-have, ensures everything cools evenly without getting stuck to plates or serving pieces.

If you make these, you should probably do as I do, and add 2/3 cup of coffee liqueur to the cake batter. I don't plan on correcting my error since I've been so happy with my result, but I find it odd that I'm such an idiot. I mean, here I thought I was some kind of kitchen genius or something. Well, I guess this just proves - again - that anyone can be a Pampered Chef consultant. Join my team, and help me be smarter.

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