Strawberry-filled cupcakes

Strawberry-filled cupcakes

        A few weeks ago, my cousin from Jacksonville, Florida,  Tin Catipon-Sanchez, together with her husband Dennis and their  three handsome kids Egan, Gage and Kian came home to the Philippines for the wedding of her youngest brother, Toti.  As a welcome treat to my nephews, I baked sponge cupcakes. I used a paring knife to cut a 1-inch-deep piece from the top of each cupcake, filled each hole with a teaspoon of stawberry jam and replaced the  cutout pieces. For frosting, I tinted the boiled icing pink , piped it on top, and finished it off  with a fresh strawberry.

Who wants Tiramisu cupcakes

Tiramisu cupcakes dusted with cocoa powder

Tiramisu with almonds

Bird's eye view

Freshly baked Tiramisu cupcakes!

          Tiramisu cupcake is a dessert to die for. It is a variation of the popular Italian dessert, tiramisu. This is my favorite among the assortment of specialty cupcakes that my sister bakes.  By the way, my sister is a registered nurse who, despite her hectic schedule at the hospital still finds time to cook and bake. Tiramisu cupcake was always my special request from her. One late lazy afternoon, she donned her apron, ponytailed her mane and announced that she was in the mood to teach me how to bake the t-cupcake.  I guess, finally, she got tired of giving in to my unending requests.  Instead of lady fingers soaked in coffee, which the classic Italian tiramisu is made of, we used small round sponge cakes and poked a few holes on top with a toothpick. Then, the espresso syrup which was a mixture of coffee, water, and sugar, was poured on top until it sifted through the holes and filled the center of the cupcakes. In place of mascarpone cheese, we finished it off, with whipped Cream Cheese frosting, then, dusted the top with cocoa powder. We chilled the cupcakes for about an hour, just in time for dessert after our sumptuous dinner.

Sweets for Summer

These are regular cupcakes.

But we can actually transform these regular cupcakes into ice cream cupcakes!

The waffle cones we used. 

Voila! Ice cream cupcakes that will perfectly suit your sweet cravings, especially during the summer! According to Traditional Chinese Medicine, sweet foods such as cupcakes, IF TAKEN MODERATELY can actually nourish "Qi"(essential energy).

       I've been searching for great recipes for cupcakes for the past weeks to satisfy my family’s sweet palate. Since it is blazing hot here in the Philippines during summer, I thought that a perfect way to represent what summer is all about was to transform our regular cupcakes into ice cream cupcakes! We put some icing inside the cone, placed the cupcake on top, and decorated it with colorful sprinkles. So pleasing to the eye, so delectable to the taste.