Mascarpone Frosting

As you may recall, we had quite a crisis the day before Easter rushing around town looking for marscapone for our Easter tart. In a moment of extreme annoyance after stopping by several stores, I grabbed the only flavor I saw, Tirimisu Marscapone. Why Ralph's thought they should carry that version instead of the plain one is beyond me. Eventually we found the plain kind and this coffee-flavored kind was shelved in the deep dark of the refrigerator. I waited until the holiday dessert feast died down and then I decided to use it.

I thought the coffee flavor would go really well with chocolate cake. Sure I could make actual tirimisu but I don't really know how much I love that stuff, so I decided on something different.

I searched the internet for a way to lighten up the mascrpone, although I figured I could use the same method we used on our tart and just whip it with heavy whipping cream. Luckily, I found a recipe that insisted I add a little sugar (i'm not one to complain!). The mascarpone frosting that resulted was something between cream cheese and buttercream. It was light and airy but rich and delectable. I spread it between layers of chocolate cake and served. Delightful! Unfortunately the coffee flavor was pretty much masked after mixing. If you want the coffee flavor to stand out I recommend that you either steep some coffee in that cream and then strain and chill or add a little espresso to the mixture.

Also, you may notice I'm hiding a lot of the cake from you. That is because it really was not a pretty presentation. The thing is I wanted to make one of those awesome cakes I've been seeing around where they only frost the top and between the layers. I also wanted my cake to be square. What I forgot with this method was that the edges that I cut would not be pretty in the least. So the cake looked kind of haphazard cat and the hat style. It still tasted great but next time I want an unfrosted edge cake I'll use loaf pans for better presentation. This frosting though did have the advantage of being really easy to spread!

I cannot find the recipe I followed. Sorry fellow blogger...

Mascarpone Frosting (with cake)

8 oz mascarpone cheese (coffee flavored okay, you probably won't notice it)

1/2 t vanilla extract (optional)

coffee beans for steeping cream (optional as well, I didn't try this but that's what we do for coffee ice cream so I think the same method would work).

1 C heavy whipping cream

1 C powdered sugar

1. In a stand mixer, mix all ingredients until combined and fluffy. DO NOT OVERMIX or your mixture will turn to butter (I know from experience). Spread on cake of your choice.