Tres Leches Coconut Cupcakes with Dulce de Leche Buttercream Frosting

I lived in El Paso, Texas almost two years before moving here to Germany. It was there that I fell in love with tres leches cake, or three milk cake.  The cake is Latin American in origin and is so aptly named because it is a spongy cake that is soaked in three different types of milk.  Traditional recipes call for evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk and heavy cream.  And the cake has enough of each three milk so as to not be soggy.  It is delicious.

Our house in El Paso was literally two minutes away from a Mexican grocery store that sold these cakes in bulk.  Whenever I had a party to go to, I'd always get this cake.  I miss it!  So, in celebration of Cinco de Mayo, I decided to make tres leches cake for a potluck at work.  Instead of making a big cake, I decided to make cupcakes and I found this fabulous recipe online via Google.  Turns out, it's a recipe off of the Food Network.  Folks, I have never tasted a more delicious cupcake in my life.  Ever.  Not only was the cake good, but the frosting.  Oh, the frosting.  It is out of this world.

There are slight modifications to this recipe.  Instead of using heavy cream, the cake recipe calls for coconut milk and I was instantly sold on this because I love anything with coconut in it.  And the frosting requires you to make dulce de leche (which is like caramel), which I'd never done until last night.

I'll be honest...this was time-consuming and took a lot of work for cupcakes, but it was worth it.  Next time, I think I'm just going to make this into one big cake.  

I received tons of accolades for these and thank goodness I allowed myself to try one, otherwise, I never would have known just how good they were.  I injected enough of the three milks to ensure that they were soaked, yet not soggy.  And I piled on the frosting, as you can see.  Forgive me for my lack of frosting-piping skills.  It was my first time doing it!  Guys, you have to make this.  You just have to.  You will not be sorry! 

 

Tres Leches Coconut Cupcakes

with

Dulce de Leche Buttercream

{from FoodNetwork.com}

For Cake:

1/4 cup shortening

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 cup sugar

3 eggs, separated

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup evaporated milk

1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk

1/2 cup coconut milk

1 cup lightly toasted flaked coconut (Mounds or Angel Flake brand)

For Dulce de Leche Buttercream:

1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk (Eagle brand)

2 egg yolks

3/4 cup sugar

3 tablespoons cornstarch

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup water

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

14 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened to room temperature

1 cup powdered sugar

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large mixing bowl, cream the shortening, butter, and sugar until light and fluffy on medium speed; add egg yolks 1 at a time, beating until all the yellow disappears. Add the vanilla. Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt. Add alternately with the buttermilk to the creamed mixture beginning and ending with the flour.

In a small bowl, beat the egg whites on high speed until stiff peaks form. Fold into cake batter.

Fill standard paper-lined muffin cups 3/4 full. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes. Transfer cupcakes to wire rack that has been placed over a baking sheet to cool.

While cupcakes are still warm, stir together the evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk, and the coconut milk. Using a meat injector needle, inject each cupcake in several different spots with about 1/2 to 3/4-ounce of the mixture. Or, poke several holes in the top of each of the cupcakes with a 1/4-inch wooden skewer. Pour the milk mixture over each cupcake while they are still warm, filling each hole. Refrigerate for 2 hours or overnight before icing.

For the Buttercream:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. To make the dulce de leche, pour the sweetened condensed milk into a glass pie plate and cover with foil. Place in a larger roasting pan where pie plate can sit flat. Pour hot water into the roasting pan to a depth of about halfway up the pie plate. Place in oven and bake for 1 hour 15 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool. Stir until smooth.

Place egg yolks in a medium mixing bowl. Stir the sugar, cornstarch, and salt together in a small, heavy saucepan. Whisk in the water first, then the dulce de leche and bring to a boil over medium heat. Boil for 1 minute, whisking constantly. Remove from heat. Gradually whisk the dulce de leche mixture into the 2 egg yolks. Stir in the vanilla. Strain through a wire mesh strainer into a small bowl and set aside to cool completely.

Beat the butter on high speed in a large mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Beat in the cooled dulce de leche mixture. Beat in the 1 cup powdered sugar until smooth and spreadable.

Frost each cupcake with a generous amount of dulce de leche buttercream. Refrigerate any remaining buttercream for another use. Sprinkle each cupcake with toasted coconut

Enjoy!

And boy am I going to make more of these soon!