Dulce De Leche Cupcakes with Dulce De Leche Buttercream

Name: BEST EVER Dulce De Leche Cupcakes with Dulce De Leche Filling and Buttercream
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 12 cupcakes
Ingredients: 113 grams Butter (unsalted); 100 grams White sugar; 2 Eggs; 1/2 cup Buttermilk; 175 grams All-purpose flour; 2 tsp Vanilla; 1 tsp Baking powder; 1/4 tsp Baking soda; 1/2 cup Dulce De Leche; 100 grams Unsalted butter; 200 grams Powdered sugar; 1/2 cup Dulce de leche; 1 tsp Vanilla; 1/4 tsp Salt

June 30, 2016 *Updated* September 28, 2019 By Veena Azmanov 29 Comments

Recipe Video Print

Best Ever Dulce De Leche Cupcakes

This dulce de leche cupcakes recipe has a light and fluffy vanilla sponge with creamy leche centers topped with rich dulce de leche buttercream. They are an addiction. So you can’t just stop at one. A simple, easy and effortless recipe that works as a perfect treat for kids or adults. Wheater you use homemade or store-bought dulce de leche these are sure to satisfy your sweet cravings anytime.

The Dulce de leche cupcakes recipe have a light and fluffy vanilla sponge with creamy leche centers topped with rich dulce de leche buttercream. They are an addiction, so you can't just stop at one. Simple and easy treat for kids or adults. — Best EVER Dulce De Leche Cupcakes with Dulce De Leche Buttercream, Dulce De Leche Cupcake Recipe

I have yet to find a person that does not love dulce de leche. Seems like everybody loves that creamy, rich, gooey stuff. In addition, if you love cupcakes then you can only imagine what the combination of cupcakes and dulce de leche tastes like. These are the best ever dulce de leche cupcakes!!!

As promised, I want to share with you my dulce de leche cupcakes recipe. Last week I shared with you my Brown Sugar Cupcakes and Caramel Cupcakes. And, I have two more so stay tuned.

I don’t want to brag about my cupcake recipes. So, I’ll just say this, Ziv does not eat cupcakes with the exception of these. Yep, these are the only cupcakes he eats. Therefore, trust me, these are the best ever dulce de leche cupcakes.

As you know, making cupcakes is my job. I do it almost all the time. So my kids are just tired of cake. And yet, they are never tired of this one. Aadi can eat dulce de leche right out of a can. And he loves cupcakes more than regular cakes. So, he will take any cupcake, even the strawberry one and top it with – you guessed it – dulce de leche.

What is Dulce De Leche?

Dulce de leche is the best thing you will ever taste. It’s a creamy caramel-like sauce made by simmering a pot of milk and sugar for a couple of hours until it is reduced to a thick creamy paste-like consistency. It takes forever but so tasty. You can buy this ready in a can or jar in the supermarket. Hence, don’t worry, you don’t have to wait so many hours to eat these cupcakes.

About these Dulce De Leche cupcakes

Why do I call this the best ever dulce de leche cupcakes recipe? First, it has a light and fluffy vanilla cupcake recipe with a soft crumb. Those of you that have tried my cupcakes know you can eat them on their own without any frosting. So delicious. Then we go one step further and fill them with dulce de leche. As if that wasn’t enough, we also make a batch of dulce de leche buttercream to go on top of it.

Tips – try filling these with the leche while they are still warm. I mean just stick a bag of filling into each cupcake and watch how the warmth of the cupcake just melts and infuses the cupcake batter.

So, is it any wonder that these make the best dulce de leche cupcakes? The best part? these can be customized. Therefore, if you think there is way too much dulce de leche for you to handle, don’t fill these with dulce de leche. Just go with the dulce de leche buttercream topping. Alternatively, keep the filling and use a vanilla buttercream topping instead of dulce de leche buttercream. In fact, you must try a meringue buttercream such as Swiss meringue buttercream or Italian meringue buttercream.

And if you think this is still not enough dulce de leche on your cupcake – add some more dulce de leche as a drizzle. Warm a little dulce de leche in the microwave with a few tablespoons of cream to make it pourable consistency and have fun drizzling.

Let’s talk ingredients and substitutes (Save/Pin)

Unsalted butter – I always use unsalted butter. Because I like to control the amount of salt. And yet, if salted butter is all you have, then go ahead and use it just omit salt in the recipe.
Sugar – I prefer white sugar because I want to keep the color of the cupcakes whiter so the filling in the cupcake stands out.
Buttermilk – gives a nice soft crumb to the cupcakes. Buttermilk takes five minutes to make at home so there should be no reason to substitute. Here’s how to make homemade buttermilk in 5 minutes.
All-purpose flour – Yes, we use simple plain all-purpose flour. There is no need for any cake flours or self-raising flour.
Dulce de leche – I do make my own homemade dulce de leche when I need a big batch for a cake order. Otherwise, I just buy a jar from the supermarket for small projects.

Useful Tips and Tools

If you bake often, it would be a good idea to invest in a cake mixer. Because often we try to mix by hand and then we are too tired to give it enough creaming or mixing. So, if you are making this buttercream go head and remove that K-Mix or Kitchen Aid from your kitchen cabinet. And, you don’t have to buy an expensive stand mixer, a simple hand mixer works great too.
Having said that, a simple Bowl, whisk and Spatula with a little extra elbow grease will do too.
Personally, I believe in weighing ingredients by weight, which makes my kitchen scaleone of the most valuable items when baking. The same goes for mymeasuring cups and measuring spoons. It’s always a good idea to have these handy and use them when baking rather than trying to guess measurements.
Also, it is important to buy cupcake linersfrom a trustworthy source to prevent peeling. There is nothing worse than to bake good cupcakes or muffins and then have all the liners peel off.
Additionally, you can use a measuring cup to ensure you divide the batter evenly among all the cupcakes or muffins. That way all your cupcakes will be a similar size. Personally, I love using my cupcake scooper for that purpose.
A good baking tray is always important. Try using a light colored baking trayBaking tray. Another option is to line the baking tray with Parchment Paper for easy clean up just in case of spillage.
Every oven works differently. So the baking times are just guidelines. In case of muffins and cupcakes, it’s often a good idea to rotate the baking tray mid-way the baking so they cook and rise evenly.

How to Make the Best Dulce de Leche Cupcakes with Dulce De Leche Buttercream (Save/Pin)

Bake the cupcakes

Preheat the oven to 160 C / 320 F.
Prepare baking cups or cupcake wrappers in muffin pans.
Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
Add eggs one at a time scraping the sides of the bowl often.
Followed by buttermilk and flour mixture.
Lastly, add in the Vanilla.
Use an ice cream scoop to distribute the cupcakes evenly between 12 cupcakes wraps.
Bake in a preheated oven for about 18 to 22 minutes or until the skewer inserted comes out clean.
Let cupcakes cool completely but do not put them in the fridge.

Fill the cupcakes

Place dulce de leche in a piping bag or ziplock bag.
Make a small hole at the end of the bag.
Using a melon baller make a hole in the center of the cupcake and fill the cavity with dulce de leche.
Place cupcakes in the fridge to cool.

Make the dulce de leche buttercream

Cream butter until light and fluffy.
Add the powdered sugar, continue to whip some more.
Mix in the vanilla.
Finally, fold the dulce de leche – Add half the dulce de leche and mix really well.
When you add the other half, barely mix leaving streaks of the dark line in the frosting.

Pipe the buttercream

Place buttercream into a piping bag with your favorite piping tip and pipe a swirl.
Alternatively, use a spatula to create a dome on the cupcake.
Enjoy!

Learn to make the best Dulce De leche at home from scratch or semi-homemade

Homemade Dulce De Leche

Rich, creamy and golden delicious dulce de leche can take any dessert to the next level. I bet you didn’t know it was so easy to make homemade dulce de leche. Today I give you my secret recipe and two different methods to make this treat. One from scratch using fresh milk and second semi-homemade using a can of condensed milk.

12 Tips for baking perfect cupcakes every single time

Follow the recipe properly with minimum substitutions.
Always use good quality ingredients.
Make sure the ingredients are all at room temperature.
Never over mix the batter.
Use a scoop for baking similar size cupcakes.
Always preheat the oven before baking – a hot oven works best for cupcakes.
Bake cupcakes at the right temperature.
Always bake cupcakes on the center rack one tray at a time.
Never open the oven during baking – no peeking.
Remove cupcakes from their pan no later than 7 to 10 minutes after baking.
Store cupcakes properly after baking. Place them in an airtight container at room temperature. Cupcakes dry in the fridge unless wrapped properly with plastic wrap.
Simple syrup the cupcakes if don’t plan to eat them on the same day.

Frequently asked questions

How do you keep these dulce de leche cupcakes moist?

Bake them until just done – over-baking can dry them out.
Use ingredients like sour cream, buttermilk, yogurt, apple sauce that help keep the cupcakes moist.
Add simple syrup to cupcakes before frosting.

How to bake perfect cupcakes?

Baking perfect cupcakes is not hard to achieve if you follow the above 12 tips for perfect cupcakes.

How to bake fluffy dulce de leche cupcakes?

Moist fluffy cupcakes are all about adding volume to your batter when mixing. Which means that knowing how to mix your batter is important.
Over mixing the batter can collapse cupcakes, thus taking away all that fluffiness. As a rule of thumb, cream butter and sugar until the sugar has almost melted – 2 minutes.
Add eggs one at a time – and make sure each one is well incorporated.
Then, add the flour and liquid – but mix until just incorporated. It is easy to over mix at this stage.

How to prevent cupcakes liners from peeling after baking?

There are a few things you can do – we discussed it in this post — how to avoid cupcake liners peeling after baking.

My cupcakes don’t bake evenly. Why?

There are few things you can do to bake similar size cupcakes – we discussed that in detail here – How to bake same size cupcakes.

How do you cool cupcakes quickly?

You can place cupcakes in the fridge for a few minutes to cool them quickly. I like to place them for just 5 to 7 minutes in the freezer.
Never leave cupcakes in the fridge open for long as they will dry out.

What temperature is best for baking cupcakes?

I like to bake at 160 – 170 C, or 310 to 325 F, or Gas mark 2 – 3.
Depending on how hot your oven temperature is, cupcakes usually take between 18 to 22 minutes. If your cupcakes bake quicker than 18 minutes or longer than 22 minutes, it’s probably best to check if your oven needs calibration.

What other buttercream or frosting can I use for these strawberry cupcakes?

Oh, these cupcakes are delicious with just about any frosting. I have shared with you more than 30 different buttercream flavors here on the blog but these are just a few suggestions.

Over 30 homemade buttercream frosting recipes by Veena Azmanov all in one place.

30 Plus Homemade Buttercream Frosting Recipes

Need a buttercream recipe in 5 minutes? Have a buttercream related question? Wondering what buttercream to use for your cake? It’s all here in one place. 30 plus homemade buttercream frosting recipes for you to explore. With recipes, tips, trick, and troubleshooting, as well as popular questions, answered.

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BEST EVER Dulce De Leche Cupcakes with Dulce De Leche Filling and Buttercream

Author: Veena Azmanov

4.95 from 17 votes

Print Pin Rate

Prep Time: 10 mins

Cook Time: 20 mins

Total Time: 30 mins

Calories: 377kcal

$10

Adjust Servings Here: 12 cupcakes

Description

Equipment /Tools

Ingredients

For the Cupcakes

113 grams Butter unsalted
100 grams White sugar
2 Eggs
1/2 cup Buttermilk
175 grams All-purpose flour
2 tsp Vanilla
1 tsp Baking powder
1/4 tsp Baking soda

For the Filling

1/2 cup Dulce De Leche

For the Buttercream

100 grams Unsalted butter
200 grams Powdered sugar
1/2 cup Dulce de leche
1 tsp Vanilla
1/4 tsp Salt

Metric – US customary

ADJUST SERVINGS HERE – 12 cupcakes

Conversions – Switch between Metric & US for other measurement options

Instructions

Bake Cupcakes

Preheat the oven to 160 C / 320 F.
Prepare baking cups or cupcake wrappers in muffin pans.
Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt
Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
Add eggs one at a time scraping the sides of the bowl often.
Followed by buttermilk and flour mixture
Lastly, add in the Vanilla.
Use an ice cream scoop to distribute the cupcakes evenly between 12 cupcakes wraps.
Bake in a preheated oven for about 18 to 22 minutes or until the skewer inserted comes out clean.
Let cupcakes cool completely but do not put them in the fridge.

Fill the cupcakes

Place dulce de leche in a piping bag or ziplock bag.
Make a small hole at the end of the bag.
Using a melon baller make a hole in the center of the cupcake and fill the cavity with dulce de leche.
Place cupcakes in the fridge to cool.

Make the Dulce de leche Buttercream

Cream butter until light and fluffy.
Add the powder sugar, continue to whip some more.
Mix in the vanilla.
Finally, fold the dulce de leche – Add half the dulce de leche and mix really well.
When you add the other half, barely mix leaving streaks of the dark line in the frosting.

Pipe the Buttercream

Place buttercream into a piping bag with your favorite piping tip and pipe a swirl.
Alternatively, use a spatula to create a dome on the cupcake.
Enjoy!

Recipe Notes

Featured recipe below – Dulce De Leche No-Churn Ice Cream

Recipe Video

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Nutrition Information

The nutrition information and metric conversion are calculated automatically. I cannot guarantee its accuracy. If this data is important to you please verify with your trusted nutrition calculator. Thank you

Keywords – baking, Cupcakes, Dulce De Leche, Dulce De leche Cupcake Recipe, Dulce De Leche Cupcakes, homemade

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About Veena Azmanov

I've always loved cooking, baking, and cake decorating but couldn't afford to attend culinary schools. So, I had to learn my way thru trials and errors.

Here you can find my delicious, healthy, and practical recipes, along with instructional videos and tutorials. In addition, I provide cake decorating recipes, tutorials, and tips on how to start your own cake decorating business.

I also a contributor to two other sites - Cake Decorating Tutorials and East Indian Recipes. (linked below)

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