Tres Leches Coconut Cupcakes with Dulce de Leche Buttercream

Recipe courtesy Lorie Roach, Buckatunna, MS

Show: Ultimate Recipe ShowdownEpisode: Ultimate Recipe Showdown: Cakes

Rated: 4 stars out of 5Rate itRead users' reviews (27)

RECIPE
COMMENTS & REVIEWS(27)

Cook Time:
1 hr 45 min
Level:
Intermediate
Yield:
14 to 16 cupcakes

Times:

Prep: 45 min
Inactive Prep: 2 hr 0 min
Cook: 1 hr 45 min
Total:: 4 hr 30 min

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Ingredients

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)

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.

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Comments & Reviews

recipe Tres Leches Coconut Cupcakes with Dulce de Leche Buttercream
John San Francisco, CA 10-30-2009
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Comments on Results with this Recipe and on Making These
Rated: 4 stars out of 5

I made these twice. The first time I followed the instructions exactly and removed them from the oven when a toothpick... inserted in them came out clean. They were underdone, pale, and sunken in the middle. My oven is calibrated and checked with an oven thermometer so that was not the issue. They simply take longer to bake (30-35 minutes). My advice - bake until you have completely golden brown tops. I baked them longer the second time (completely brown tops) but once again, when removed from the oven the centers sank down. Is this intentional ? Maybe so, because they were delicious and light, and the sunken center provided a great place to soak in the the tres leches. But if so the recipe should mention it. The appearance was an off-putter. By the way, the yield was 1 dozen normal size cupcakes. You can forego making the dulce de leche if you can buy it (many Mexican groceries stock one form or another). Whip 4 oz (by wieight) of dulce and 4 oz of unsweetened butter until smooth, add 1/2 cup confectioners sugar and beat again. Voila! Done. And this yields an appropriate amount for 12 cupckes. The amount the recipe makes would frost over Cleveland. Despite the sunken cupcake centers (which bother me psychologically - maybe more protein would yield a better shape(?), (maybe an extra egg white would do it?), but then again, it might compromise the taste). these were light as a cloud and tasted wonderful. Friends raved, so this is worth the trouble. But by all means forego making your own dulce unless you are a glutton for punishment or have been assigned this as penance for a grevious sin. Read more
recipe Tres Leches Coconut Cupcakes with Dulce de Leche Buttercream
Soraya Brooklyn, NY 10-29-2009
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dulce de leche prep time
Rated: 3 stars out of 5

This will cut an hour of prep time: if you are near any spanish specialty food stores buy a jar of dulce de leche imported... from Argentina. It costs about $4.00, but tastes much better than the condensed milk concoction and saves time. Dulce de leche, is a sweet caramel spread popular throughout Latin America and used as a spread for bread, pastries, cakes, crepes and cookies. It is known as cajeta in Mexico, manjar blanco in Peru, Chile and Bolivia, and arequipe in Colombia.Read more
recipe Tres Leches Coconut Cupcakes with Dulce de Leche Buttercream
Mary St. Louis, MO 10-19-2009
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Wasn't worth the effort
Rated: 2 stars out of 5

The inside was soggy and the taste was average. I made it at my apartment and my roommates usually devour what I cook,... especially sweet things. They weren't fans of this; I'm not either.Read more
recipe Tres Leches Coconut Cupcakes with Dulce de Leche Buttercream
Tatiana philadelphia, PA 10-08-2009
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make it easier
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

I'm hispanic and tres leches cakes are a favorite dessert for us. This is the first time I tried it with coconut and loved it... because coconut is one of my favorite flavors. The original recipe calls for heavy cream instead of coconut milk. If you want to make things easier for you, some brands of condensed milk are selling the dulce de leche already made. If you can't find one in your area look for it in a latin supermarket. Also, you can try boiling the unopened can for 1 1/2 hours. Make sure the water is always covering the can, and lay it sideways so it cooks evenly. This is how I always make my dulce de leche and it works out great.Read more
recipe Tres Leches Coconut Cupcakes with Dulce de Leche Buttercream
Noemi Adelanto, CA 06-20-2009
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Cupcakes fell in the middle?
Rated: 4 stars out of 5

I saw this recipe and had to try it. I'm at the cooling the dulce de leche part. I have a question though.....did anyone's... cupcakes fall in the center. If not does anyone have any idea as to why mine did. I want to try again to get a better result. Any ideas....thanks in advanceRead more
recipe Tres Leches Coconut Cupcakes with Dulce de Leche Buttercream
ANNIE New York, NY 03-16-2009
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Delicious but not worth the time...
Rated: 3 stars out of 5

The cupcakes were good but I would never make them again due to the amount of effort and time involved. It definitely took... me a good 5 hours! The actually cake part itself was not very tasty (which really worried me at first since I was almost half way in already!) but with the tres leche it tasted much better., And I agree that the icing was too sweet. The amount of time for cooking and cooling everything after each step was just too much. Maybe with a different cake batter recipe and pre-made dulce de leche it would be worth making!Read more