Dulce de Leche Cupcakes

You guys, I think I’m in love…

… with these cupcakes, and the frosting on these cupcakes.

I hope your sweet tooth is ready to go after those dulce de leche cheesecake bars, because I’m back with some dulce de leche cupcakes!

The manager I work with on Saturday mornings at the restaurant is leaving today to pursue other things. He wasn’t really happy with where he was, I hope it wasn’t because I was always such a pain in the derriere 😛 So since it was his last day today, I made him these cupcakes! He loved the last ones I made  and even claimed them as “the best cupcakes I’ve ever had!” Too bad he was hung over from last night and didn’t try any. Nevertheless though, he was super impressed with the appearance. Man, I’m gonna miss working with that guy, he was so chill. The next manager has big shoes to fill! 

Ok now onto the cupcakes! You’re dying to read my detailed descriptions of them aren’t you? Well, I’ll cut the suspense now 🙂 

Can we talk about the frosting first? I love frosting, I eat it off my finger, a spoon, cake, cupcakes, ANYTHING, you name it and I’ll eat it with frosting. Normally though, I’m not easily impressed with frosting, sure it tastes good, but only if it’s made properly! So it takes quite a bit to knock me off my feet. But this frosting, omg THIS frosting made me fall head over heels IN LOVE. It’s the silkiest, smoothest frosting ever! And it goes by the name of swiss meringue buttercream. I HATE normal buttercream, but this, this, is thebomb.com. 

Underneath a silky bed of buttercream is a brown sugar cupcake hiding a well of golden dulce de leche. 

To be honest, the cupcakes themselves weren’t amazing. They weren’t soft and fluffy like a normal cupcake, they were a bit heavier. And the texture was a bit dry, but that could be my fault, maybe I baked them for a minute too long or something. 

When you combine all the elements together though, you get ONE AMAZING CUPCAKE. I didn’t think I could love something this much. I mean, it doesn’t even have chocolate in it! Make em, you won’t be disappointed.

PS: I think I should change my name to the cupcake monster. I’m so much better at making cupcakes than cookies.

Dulce De Leche Cupcakes

Ingredients

Cupcakes:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt (reduced this to one pinch of salt)
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened ( I used salted and it was fine)
1 cup brown sugar (I didn’t know if this meant packed or not so I packed 1/2 c and just scooped another 1/2 c without packing)
1/2 cup granulated sugar (I used scant 1/2 c)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 large eggs
1 1/2 cup buttermilk

Dulce de leche Swiss Meringue Buttercream:
4 egg whites
1 c sugar
1 3/4 c butter, cubed and at room temp ( I used salted butter and it was fine)
2/3 c dulce de leche

Filling:
Extra dulce de leche 

Topping:
Dulce de leche
Water 

How To

 Cupcakes:

Preheat to 350 degrees F.  

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, add butter and sugars.  Beat on medium speed until fluffy and pale brown, about 3 minutes.   Stop the mixer, scrape down the sides of the bowl and add one egg.  Beat on medium for one minute.  Add the remaining eggs, one at a time, beating for one minute between each addition.  Stop the bowl and scrape down the sides as necessary. Beat in vanilla extract.

Switch to rubber spatula. Add half of the flour mixture to the egg and butter mixture.  Stir slowly and slowly drizzle in the buttermilk.   Mix until just incorporated.  Scrape down the bowl and add the rest of the dry ingredients. Stir until just incorporated. Do not overmix!

Divide the batter between the prepared cupcake pans, filling each liner about two thirds full. I used an icing scoop for this step.  Bake for about 15-17 minutes or until a cake tester inserted in the center of one of the cakes comes out clean.  Let rest in the cupcake pans before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.  

Buttercream:

Whisk the egg whites and sugar over a simmering pot of water until the mixture reaches 160 degrees.

Transfer to a mixer and whisk on high 10 minutes, until the meringue reaches room temperature (the bowl should feel neutral/barely warm when touched). At this point, the mixture should hold soft peaks.

Add butter, a few cubes at a time until all butter is mixed in. Add dulce de leche and mix until combined.

Topping:

Mix dulce de leche with water until it’s drizzable.

Assembly:

Cut a hole at the top of each cupcake, spoon in some dulce de leche. Replace the cake parts that were cut out to the top.

Pipe icing on with a 1M star tip, I went with my standard rose pattern. Now drizzle on some of the dulce de leche water mixture. 

Adapted from: Cupcakes from Joy the Baker, frosting from Confections of a Foodie Bride