Dulce de leche is already one of the best things to have ever been created. BUT DULCE DE LECHE INSIDE OF A CUPCAKE. Incredible, amazing, show topping, spectacular, neve……ok I’ll stop now.

But these were so good. I thought maybe they would end up too sweet because of the dulce de leche, but no, they were perfect.

For me at least. But also I love sweet things so I don’t really know if I’m a reliable source.

Video Tutorial

Making the dulce de leche

To make the dulce de leche for these cupcakes, we’re going to be boiling 2 cans of condensed milk in water for about 3 hours.

Gas and electric prices are at an all time high. So if you don’t want to have your stove turned on for 3 hours, I get it.

You could just buy the dulce de leche, no one has to know.

But if you are making going to make it, here are some tips:

Take the paper wrapping off the cans

Before adding the condensed milk cans into some simmering water, peel the wrapping off. You don’t want to add this into the water.

MAKE SURE THE CANS ARE FULLY SUBMERGED AT ALL TIMES

I apologise for the all caps, but this is important.

The cans need to be fully covered in water during the whole cooking process.

If the water level goes below the cans, there is a chance of them exploding. So make sure not to just leave them to boil in your kitchen. Every now and then keep adding more water into the pot.

Can I boil it for less time?

The longer you boil the condensed milk, the darker and richer the dulce de leche will be.

For me, I feel like 3 hours is perfect.

2 hours is also good though, you will just have a lighter dulce de leche!

Using brown sugar in cupcakes

For these cupcakes, a mixture of granulated and brown sugar is used.

I added brown sugar because I felt like it would give the cupcakes a toasty, caramely flavour. Which would compliment the dulce de leche well.

But also I LOVE BROWN SUGAR IN CUPCAKES.

To be honest, I’ve been adding it to every cupcake I make recently. It just makes the cupcake so much more softer. I love it.

If you wanted to skip it though, I guess you could. Just replace it with the same mount of granulated sugar instead.

The whipped cream

The icing on top of these cupcakes is not actually an icing. I added a dulce de leche whipped cream.

I made this whipped cream to taste. So if you want to add more or less dulce de leche to it, you can.

Or also if you want it to be sweeter, add in some icing sugar.

I didn’t add any icing sugar into it because I felt like the dulce de leche made it sweet enough, but if you wanted to, you could!

If you’re looking for more cupcake recipes, here are some of my favourites:

Dulce de Leche Cupcakes

Ingredients
Makes: 12 cupcakes

To make the dulce de leche:
2 x 397g cans of sweetened condensed milk
For the cupcakes:
125g softened unsalted butter
125ml any flavourless oil (I use vegetable)
125g granulated sugar
125g brown sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 eggs
250g self-raising flour
60ml warm milk
For the whipped cream:
400ml double cream
150g of the dulce de leche

Directions

Making the dulce de leche:
Fill up a large pot with some water, put this onto high heat and let the water come to a boil.
Meanwhile, take the paper wrapping off the condensed milk cans. Once the water comes to a boil, add the cans into this. If the cans are not fully submerged into the water, add more water.
Lower the heat to medium, so that the water is simmering, and leave the cans in here for 2-3 hours. I like to do it for 3 hours, to get a darker dulce de leche. If you want a lighter one, 2 hours is good.
During this, every now and then, keep adding more water into the pot. Make sure that the cans are FULLY covered with the water at all times. If the water level goes below the cans, they can explode.
Once cooked, leave to cool completely before opening.
Making the cupcakes:
Start by pre-heating your oven to 180c/350f. Also add your cupcake cases into your cupcake tin.
In a large bowl, add in the butter, oil, both sugars and vanilla. Beat these together, on high speed, for 5 minutes. If you're making this by hand, just aggressively whisk it for as long as you can.
Add 2 of the eggs into this, whisk these in, then whisk in the remaining 2 eggs.
Now add in the flour and milk. Whisk just until you get a smooth batter.
Pour this batter into your cupcake case. You want the cases to be around 3/4 of the way full.
Bake these for around 25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Once baked, leave them to cool completely.
Making the whipped cream:
Add the cooled dulce de leche into a bowl and whisk, just to loosen it up.
Get 150g of this dulce de leche and add this into your cream.
Now whip this until it thickens and firm peaks form. Leave this in the fridge until you're ready to use it.
Putting everything together:
Once the cupcakes have cooled, cut a hole into the centre of them. Make sure not to cut to the bottom of the cupcakes.
Fill these holes with the dulce de leche. I like to use a piping bag to do this.
Now just decorate the cupcakes however you want. I just added the whipped cream into a piping bag fitted with a star nozzle, and piped the cream onto the cupcakes.
Leave these in the fridge for about 30 minutes, so the whipped cream and dulce de leche has a chance to set a little, then enjoy!

Dulce de Leche Cupcakes

Video Tutorial