Chocolate Dulce de Leche Cupcakes

Ahh... dulce de leche: milky caramel goodness.  I've had it inside churros in Costa Rica, in cookies in Ecuador, and in ice cream in places far less exciting than Latin America.  I have been wanting to make a dulce de leche cupcake for a while.  I don't have enough time to make dulce de leche myself (and let's be honest: I'm not brave enough) so I purchased a small can  (La Lechera) of it from the grocery store to make these chocolate dulce de leche cupcakes.

There are really two ways that you can make this.  Either add a couple of tablespoons to your favorite chocolate cupcake recipe, or follow the instructions below.  You'll end up not needing an entire can of dulce de leche, but you can always use it on ice cream, drizzled on top of the cupcakes, as a cupcake filling, or find a spoon to eat it with.

Chocolate Dulce De Leche Cupcakes - Makes about 18 cupcakes

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup buttermilk
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 3/4 cup warm water
• 4-5 tablespoons dulce de leche
  
  
  
  
  1. Preheat the oven to 350 F.  Line cupcake pans with paper liners. 
  2. In a large  bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together.
  3. Add the eggs, buttermilk, oil, vanilla and water.  Beat with an electric mixer on medium-low speed until well combined and smooth.
  4. Spoon in heaping tablespoons of the dulce de leche.  Mix well with the beater.  
  5. Fill the cupcake liners 2/3 full.  Bake for 20-25 minutes for regular sized cupcakes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cupcake comes out clean.
           

These cupcakes come out very moist and have a nice hint of dulce de leche in them.  The frosting of these cupcakes, however, is what makes them special.

Dulce De Leche Buttercream

• 2 sticks (1 cup) butter, room temperature
• 4 cups powdered sugar
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 3-4 tablespoons dulce de leche
• 1 teaspoon vanilla (optional)

1. Using an electric mixer on medium speed, cream the butter in a large bowl until pale and fluffy.  Don't cheat - you want to make sure the butter is nice and soft when you do this, not hard as a rock and straight from the fridge.
2. Slowly add the powdered sugar 1/2 cup at a time to the butter mixture.  It will look somewhat dry when all of the sugar has been added.
3. Add the milk and mix well.
4. Add one tablespoon of dulce de leche at a time and mix well after each addition.  I used 4 tablespoons because I wanted a strong flavor in my frosting.  Be warned that it will make your frosting sweeter with each addition.  

 I brought these cuppies with me to camp and people were still talking about the frosting 2 weeks later.  Mm.... dulce de leche.  I used a wilton 2D tip and pearlized jimmies to give them a little something special on top.  Mini or regular size, these cuppies are a winner!