I saw these cupcakes on
Joy The Baker and knew I had to bake them immediately. They just sounded so. freakin. good. And looked so pretty (Of course, much prettier than how mine ended up looking, but hey, I'm trying. I learned I need some bigger tips for my frosting bags so I can make my frosting look like hers... put it on my tab).
Remember our "cooking mentors" from
this post of yore? The Hubby and I had been wanting to get together with Cuz and S for a while now, and this weekend we finally had a day where we could all do dinner together. Cuz and S invited us over, and I asked S if I could bring Dulce de Leche cupcakes for dessert. She said that I could, and also told me that they were going to make pasta. She's such a little liar! Pasta was like 1/8th of all the food we ate. Haha. Seriously, we left their house and felt like we had just been to Italy and back in 4 hours. They had some beautiful antipasti to start off (with too many things to even recount), then homemade pasta with homemade red sauce with yellow and red peppers, and then some sort of hanger/flank/skirt steak with deliciously prepared brussels sprouts!
The antipasti sort of looked like a hybrid of this:
and this:
Not a single thing we ate was any less than to die for. Seriously, my taste buds were on overload! It was so incredibly good. And to top everything off we had french press coffee and my cupcakes. I woke up this morning and was actually pissed off at myself that I did not bring my camera to their house. Everything was displayed so beautifully and I really think that would be the only way you could possibly understand how much wonderful food we had. Plus, I secretly want to recreate the whole meal. And now Adam wants a pasta maker attachment for my kitchen aid. I told Cuz and S that every time we leave their house there are about 5 more things we "need" for our cooking and baking habit.
Anyways, back to the cupcakes. This is how
Joy The Baker describes them:
"These cakes themselves are a brown sugar and buttermilk cake. The addition of brown sugar mocks the dulce de leche flavors just slightly. The cakes are more of a pound cake consistency and not so much a fluffy cake mix cupcake. The frosting is a combination of three fine fats: butter, cream cheese and dulce de leche."
And from what everyone told me who has had the pleasure ;) of eating one, that's pretty accurate. The cake part of it is not very sweet and is definitely pound cake like, so the cake and frosting play off of each other to create this rich but not too sweet flavor. I can't eat the frosting (I just had a VERY tiny bit on my cupcake), but from what I did try, it was amazing.
I, much like Joy The Baker, did not make my own Dulce de Leche. I was a little afraid after she described how to make it, so I threw down 9 bones to buy the premade stuff at Whole Foods. It was definitely more expensive than I thought it would be, but I still think it was worth it. Maybe one day I'll give it a try. I saw in the comments on Joy The Baker's post that there is a
Pioneer Woman recipe to make Dulce de Leche pretty easily.
Start by placing your oven racks in the middle and upper portion of the oven. Then, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line cupcake pans. I decided to do 18 regular sized cupcakes and 24 mini cupcakes. There was still enough batter left to make at least 3 more regular sized cupcakes. Place these aside for later. Next, in a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set this aside also.
Place butter and sugars in the large bowl of a stand mixer and beat on medium with the paddle attachment for about three minutes, until it looks fluffy. Stop mixing, scrape the sides of the bowl, and add one egg. Beat on medium for a minute or so and add the remaining two eggs, one at a time, beating a minute between each. After all eggs are combined into the mixture, scrape the sides and then beat in the vanilla.
Next, add half of the flour mixture to the butter/sugar/egg mixture. Beat on low and then slowly pour in the buttermilk (which, for me, was a milk and lemon juice mixture).
Beat until just combined and then stop mixing, scrape down the sides, and add the rest of the flour mixture. Beat until just combined.
Then, remove the bowl from the stand mixture and finish stirring with a spatula. Do not over-mix.
Take the batter and fill the lined cupcake pans 2/3 of the way full.
For the regular sized cupcakes, I used a heaping cookie scoop to transfer the batter to the lined pan.
For the mini cupcakes, I used a heaping tablespoon to transfer the batter to the lined mini pan.
Bake the regular cupcakes for 18-20 minutes (or until a toothpick comes out clean) and the mini cupcakes for 9-12 minutes or a clean toothpick.
Let the cupcakes cool completely (in the pan or in the pan for the first 5-10 minutes and then on a cooling rack). Don't even think about frosting until they are completely cool to the touch.
While they are cooling, make the frosting. Mmmmm. If I could eat dairy, I probably would have eaten bowls full of this stuff. It smelled SO good. Gah. Stupid lactose intolerance. Haha, that reminds me. Last night at dinner, S said to me about my lactose intolerance, "I really hope they fix that for you, because that just sucks." I totally agree S... actually I couldn't agree more. But I'm not holding my breath. Plus, I really don't want to have to buy all new clothing, which I'm pretty sure would be one of many outcomes of overcoming that problem. ;)
To make the frosting, place the room temperature cream cheese in the bowl of your stand mixture... I know, I didn't want to clean the bowl that quickly either, just do it. It's worth it in the end, I promise. Beat the cream cheese on medium for about 30 seconds until it's soft and almost fluffy. Stop mixing, scrape the sides, and add the room temperature butter and the dulce de leche. Beat on medium until well combined. Stop the mixer and add the salt and powdered sugar. First beat on the lowest speed until the confectioners sugar is moistened, then beat on medium for about 2 1/2 - 3 minutes, until its light and fluffy.
Either spoon or pipe (with a frosting bag) onto the cooled cupcakes.
Lastly, heat a couple of tablespoons of the dulce de leche. I did mine in the microwave in the glass jar, but you could also do it over low heat in a small saucepan.
Then take a spoon and drizzle it over the frosted cupcakes.
Then I, like Joy The Baker, topped them off with "cupcake gems", or round sprinkles. So pretty!
I placed the cupcakes in the fridge for 45 minutes or so to set the frosting.
You can store them in the fridge because of the frosting, or not, but be sure to bring them back to room temp. before you serve.
Dulce de Leche Cupcakes!
For the 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
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 large eggs
1 1/2 cup buttermilk (to make your own, read
this - and you can use regular milk too!)
For the Frosting:
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup dulce de leche, plus more for drizzling
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 to 3 cups powdered sugar
Directions:
Start by placing your oven racks in the middle and upper portion of the oven. Then, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line cupcake pans (makes ~24 regular sized cupcakes). Place these aside for later. Next, in a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set this aside also.
Place butter and sugars in the large bowl of a stand mixer and beat on medium with the paddle attachment for about three minutes, until it looks fluffy. Stop mixing, scrape the sides of the bowl, and add one egg. Beat on medium for a minute or so and add the remaining two eggs, one at a time, beating a minute between each. After all eggs are combined into the mixture, scrape the sides and then beat in the vanilla.
Next, add half of the flour mixture to the butter/sugar/egg mixture. Beat on low and then slowly pour in the buttermilk (which, for me, was a milk and lemon juice mixture). Beat until just combined and then stop mixing, scrape down the sides, and add the rest of the flour mixture. Beat until just combined. Then, remove the bowl from the stand mixture and finish stirring with a spatula. Do not over-mix.
Take the batter and fill the lined cupcake pans 2/3 of the way full. Bake the regular cupcakes for 18-20 minutes (or until a toothpick comes out clean) and the mini cupcakes for 9-12 minutes or a clean toothpick.
Let the cupcakes cool completely.
Make the frosting. Place the room temperature cream cheese in the bowl of your stand mixture. Beat the cream cheese on medium for about 30 seconds until it's soft and almost fluffy. Stop mixing, scrape the sides, and add the room temperature butter and the dulce de leche. Beat on medium until well combined. Stop the mixer and add the salt and powdered sugar. First beat on the lowest speed until the confectioners sugar is moistened, then beat on medium for about 2 1/2 - 3 minutes, until its light and fluffy.
Either spoon or pipe (with a frosting bag) onto the cooled cupcakes.
Lastly, heat a couple of tablespoons of the dulce de leche. I did mine in the microwave in the glass jar, but you could also do it over low heat in a small saucepan. Then take a spoon and drizzle it over the frosted cupcakes. Then, if you want, top them off with "cupcake gems", or round sprinkles. So pretty!
I placed the cupcakes in the fridge for 45 minutes or so to set the frosting. You can store them in the fridge because of the frosting, or not, but be sure to bring them back to room temp. before you serve.
Enjoy my friends! The Hubs said these were the best cupcakes I've made yet. Pretty sure that means you should try them... NOW! :)
Frosting cupcakes is an art and it takes practice. Don’t fret if they don’t look perfect the first time you try, you’ll get better!