Dulce de Leche Cupcakes

I stumbled upon this website the other day and found a recipe for Dulce de Leche cupcakes and decided that I needed to try them.  Baking has been interesting here due to the way the oven in our house works.  It's basically a glorified broiler, so I'm having to learn a bit along the way.

A friend came over and helped me make these.  First, we tried the old fashioned method for making dulce de leche which involves poking some holes on the top of a can of sweetened condensed milk and letting it simmer in a pot of water for hours, but it didn't work out so well for some reason.  Then, I stood over the stove stirring the condensed milk for over an hour to make dulce de leche, but I made it too thick.  Once it cooled it was more like dulce de leche fudge.  It tasted amazing, but it was not going to work for frosting.    The third, and final method, was pouring condensed milk into a microwave safe container and microwaving it in very small increments of time until it became dulce de leche.  This method worked, but made my microwave an absolute nightmare to clean.  *All that to say* If you live near a store that has dulce de leche in a jar, I would definitely take advantage of it!  :)  If you're like me and can't find a jar of dulce de leche anywhere near you, here's a link to an article that tells you all of the different ways to make it. 

Here's the recipe:

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, softened

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

3 large eggs

1 1/2 cup buttermilk

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 to 3 cups powdered sugar

Directions:

Place racks in the center and upper third of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F.  Line two cupcake pans with paper or foil liners.  Set aside.

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.

Add half of the flour mixture to the egg and butter mixture.  Beat on low speed and slowly drizzle in the buttermilk.  Beat until just incorporated.  Stop the mixer, scrape down the bowl and add the rest of the dry ingredients.  Beat on low speed until just incorporated.  Remove the bowl from the stand mixer and finish incorporating with a spatula.  Try not to over mix the mixture.

Divide the batter between the prepared cupcake pans, filling each liner about two thirds full.  Bake for 18 to 20 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.  Cupcakes should be completely cooled before frosting.

To make the frosting:

Place cream cheese in the bowl of an electric stand mixer.  Beat on medium speed for about 30 seconds, until very soft and pliable.  Stop the mixer, scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the butter and dulce de leche.  Beat on medium speed until well incorporated.  Stop the mixer and add the salt and powdered sugar.  Beat on medium speed for about 3 minutes, until fluffy and lighter in color. Generously spoon frosting on top of cupcakes, or use a large frosting tip to pipe on frosting.