Chocolate Dulce de Leche Cupcakes

I believe I owe my followers an apology. It has been 2 weeks since my last post and I know that is ages in the blogging world. With no better excuse than I have been super busy, I'm sorry! I have been getting my food blog fix by reading on the go, (what did we ever do without smart phones!) but I feel awful for not getting this post out sooner.

 

These cupcakes were for a friend's birthday, she asked for the best frosting I could think of. All I could think of was this jar of Dulce de Leche in my pantry. I dragged my husband to the fancy grocery store, oooh about 2 months ago, because I HAD to have Dulce de Leche. It has been sitting in the pantry since. I kept waiting for the right time, the right recipe, the right occasion. Well now is as good a time as any and what better way to use it than for a birthday!

Chocolate Dulce de Leche Cupcakes

Cupcakes:
2 and 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 and 2/3 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup butter, softened
2/3 cup cocoa
1 cup water
1 and 1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp baking powder
2 large eggs

Frosting:
1 and 1/2 cup butter, softened
3 tbsp heavy cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 cups confectioners' sugar
1 cup dulce de leche

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two cupcake pans with cupcake liners, set aside. Sift together flour, cocoa, baking soda, salt, and baking powder, set aside. In a large bowl beat butter on medium till creamy. Add in sugar and blend till fluffy or about two minutes. Add in vanilla and blend, scrape sides and bottom of bowl as needed. Add in eggs one at a time, blending thoroughly after each addition. Alternate adding water and flour mixture to butter mixture. Beat mixture till completely blended. Pour 1/4 cup batter into each cupcake liner and bake for 20-25 minutes. Let sit in pan for 5 minutes, then let cool completely on metal rack.
 To prepare the frosting, in a large bowl, beat the butter on medium speed till creamy. Slowly sift in confectioners' sugar and mix on low till completely incorporated. Add in heavy cream and vanilla, mix till incorporated. Add in dulce de leche and beat on medium speed for 2-3 minutes or until frosting is smooth and fluffy, scraping sides and bottom of bowl as needed. Fill a pastry bag fitted with your favorite decorating tip and frost cooled cupcakes. 

Dulce de Leche recipe was adapted from JoytheBaker.com

This pic was just for me to compare my old way (left) of frosting a cupcake versus the new way (right).  Which is your favorite? Or does it not matter since the moment you get the cupcake you want to eat it anyways?

A tip I read about recently for cupcakes, if you only have one cupcake pan, cover the batter and place in fridge till the first batch has completed baking. Add 2-3 minutes of baking time for the second batch. I own two cupcake pans so I don't need to do this, but it is good to know! If you do own two cupcake pans, something that I do is rotate the pans halfway through the baking time. This ensures an even bake on all the cupcakes as the middle of the oven is always warmer than the sides.

Happy Baking!