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Coffee and White Chocolate Mascarpone and Vanilla Frosting Topped Cakes

Published 22 November 2012 by Veronica Stillwater

Party season is soon approaching! Going all out with the finest handmade chocolate toppers for these delicious coffee and white chocolate mascarpone and vanilla frosting topped cupcakes!

 

With party season soon approaching it's that time of year where everything is that little bit extra special. These cupcakes are definitely special, luxurious and a super indulgent treat.

A rich creamy mascarpone and vanilla topping with half the batch of cupcakes flavoured with white chocolate and vanilla and for the remaining 6 a shot of espresso is added in before baking, so the best of both worlds having 2 different flavoured cupcakes to choose from. Let's not forget the finest handmade chocolate toppers! Pure indulgence and will no doubt have your guests delighted with glee as they may actually think Christmas has arrived early! One of the taste testers this week commented that these were the ultimate sinful treat and a really great taste experience with the mascarpone and vanilla frosting as well as the handmade chocolate topper which finished it off nicely. You will end up with a few more chocolates than necessary as only 12 are needed as toppers, but the good news is they will keep in the freezer until needed again for cupcake toppers for future cupcakes or as a sweet treat on their own. I hope you enjoy this week's recipe.

 

 

For the toppers:

You will need:

Silicone chocolate making moulds

Non-stick saucepan

Spatula

Teaspoon

Small microwaveable bowl

Ingredients:

100g dark chocolate (highest cocoa content possible)

2 tablespoons amaretto liqueur

4 tablespoons double cream

15g butter

2 teaspoons vanilla sugar

30g white chocolate

12 hazelnuts

 

Lightly grease your silicone chocolate moulds with a little vegetable oil. With the exception of the 25g white chocolate, place all the ingredients in the saucepan and heat on a low to medium gentle heat and stir using the spatula to keep the mixture moving. Once all the ingredients have melted and combined to a thick, smooth and glossy thick chocolate sauce, remove from the heat and set aside. Place the white chocolate in the microwaveable bowl and heat in the microwave for approx 1 – 2 minutes.

 

Once reaching the one minute mark, checking on the progress of the chocolate at intervals of 10 seconds up to the 2 minutes mark or until melted. It can be tricky to melt chocolate in the microwave as it is very easy to burn the chocolate. But if you stick to the rule of after 1 minute of cooking time that you check it every 10 seconds its virtually impossible to burn the chocolate. Allow the chocolate to cool a little before pacing a little amount of the white chocolate using a teaspoon into each of the chocolate mould cavities. You can alternatively use a small piping bag with a small plain nozzle if you wish for a more intricate design on the top of your chocolates. Once you have placed a small amount of white chocolate in each of the moulds cavities, again using the teaspoon, pour a small spoonful of the dark chocolate sauce into each, covering the white chocolate and filling almost to the top. Repeat until all are filled. Add a hazelnut to each chocolate, pressing the hazelnut down into the dark chocolate, but press lightly so as not to disturb the top layer of white chocolate. Press each of the chocolates down lightly in the centre using the back of the teaspoon to level out the mixture. Place in the freezer until completely set (Approximately 10 – 15 minutes. You can test one by seeing how easily it releases from its mould, if it's a little tricky, place back in the freezer for a further 5 minutes to harden. It is best to leave the chocolates in the freezer until you are ready to place them as toppers on your cupcakes once baked. 

 

 

 

For the cupcakes:

You will need:

Mixer

12 cup muffin baking tray
12 muffin paper cases
Teaspoon Tablespoon 

Ingredients:
115g butter or margarine
115g sugar
225g self raising flour

3 medium eggs
1 level teaspoon baking powder
120ml milk

150g white chocolate chunks or drops (You can always chop a bar into chunks)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 shot strong espresso (You could use 1 teaspoon of instant coffee)

 

Place the butter and sugar in the bowl and mix until combined, pale and fluffy. With the exception of the espresso shot, add the remaining ingredients and mix until well combined. Place a spoonful using the tablespoon in just 6 of the muffin cases ready in your 12 cup muffin baking tray. With the remaining cake mix in the mixer, add the shot of coffee and mix until combined. The mixture will be slightly runnier than the first and this does not affect baking in anyway as they require the same time to bake. Spoon the mixture into the remaining 6 muffin cases, with all the muffin cases filled, place the cupcakes in the oven near or just above the middle shelf and allow to bake for approx 30 – 40 minutes. Checking at 30 minutes cooking time on their progress. The cakes will appear golden, will have risen, be firm to the touch with some of the white chocolate oozing out.

You can always test by inserting a clean skewer into one of the cakes, if it comes out clean they are ready, if not return to the oven checking with the skewer again at 5 minute intervals. (Always really important never to open the oven door and allow any air in before 30 minutes of cooking as this will allow for the mixture to 'drop' and sink, look through the oven door if you have one that's made of glass to visually check on their progress rather than open the door). Once baked, using oven gloves remove the baking tray from the oven and rest on a trivet until completely cooled. 

 

 

For the frosting:

You will need:

Mixer

Piping bag

Rope nozzle

Spatula

 

Ingredients:

25g butter

750g icing sugar

Seeds from one whole vanilla bean (You can use a teaspoon of vanilla extract as an alternative)

2 heaped tablespoons mascarpone cheese

 

Place all the ingredients in the bowl of the mixer and place a clean tea towel over the machine to cover the surface area of the bowl ensuring the tea towel can not be trapped in the whisk or any part of the machine to avoid the icing sugar leaving a dust trail across the kitchen. Mix until well blended and a creamy piping texture is achieved. Using the spatula, spoon the frosting in to your piping bag ready with the rope nozzle and pipe in a continuous zigzag across the top of each of the cupcakes, keeping the zigzag as close together to not allow any gaps in the frosting so it covers the whole of the top of the cake. You will need to apply moderate pressure and press the nozzle down slightly so that it is close to the surface of the cake so that only a thin layer is applied rather than a really thick one. Once all 12 cupcakes are decorated in this way, add a small peak to one side of the cupcake by applying moderate pressure and working in a clockwise direction with 2 circular rotations, with the second circular rotation on top of the first one and finishing off by stopping applying pressure and pulling the piping bag up and away from the cake quickly.

 

 

Now for the toppers and additional piped chocolate detail:

You will need:

Small microwaveable bowl

Small piping bag

Small plain/writing nozzle

 

Ingredients:

35g dark cooking chocolate

 

Place the chocolate in the microwaveable bowl and heat as per the above instructions in the microwave. Once melted, pour the chocolate into your piping bag ready with the small plain nozzle. It is much easier when dealing with chocolate because of its consistency, to rest the piping bag over a glass with the opening of the bag easily accessible without having to use your hands. Pour the chocolate into the piping bag and pipe 3 chocolate circle ended lines across the top of each of the cakes. You won't need to apply much pressure as the chocolate in a liquid state will free flow from the bag naturally. Pipe a small circle and continue with a line coming from the circle approx 1 inch in length and finish off by adding another circle at the end of the line, repeat for each of the cupcakes until all have 3 of these circle ended lines. Pipe 3 small dots of chocolate on each of the peaks, evenly spaced apart. You will need to move your hand and the piping bag up and down to achieve a small perfecting dot of chocolate before pulling the bag up and away quickly to finish.

Remove the chocolate moulds from the freezer and pressing on the back of each chocolate push them out of the mould to release them. Place one on each of the cupcakes and pipe a zigzag across each of the chocolates diagonally and then diagonally again in the opposite direction to create the criss-cross effect across the top. I decorated them whilst on top of the cupcakes and am pretty confident to do so, if you are not so confident you can always apply the chocolate on to the chocolates on a pieces of greaseproof paper before applying to the cupcakes. Once all 12 have a handmade chocolate topper they are ready to serve and enjoy! Until next week! Happy baking and look out for next week's post with more creative cupcake ideas!