Dark Chocolate Cupcakes
filled with Dulce de Leche
frosted with Chocolate Frosting :)
Before last quarter I had only read about dulce de leche in various food blog posts. These posts ranged from critiques on dulce de leche ice cream to sharing recipes for dulce de leche cheesecake squares. I could only guess what dulce de leche was — some type of thick, milky caramel? Either way, I didn’t think I was missing out on too much.
One lovely evening, a friend and I were having dinner at the CoHo when a menu item caught our eye:
“Churros with dulce de leche”
When I mentioned that I had never had dulce de leche before, my friend automatically decided that this treat was a must. The churros were center-filled with dulce de leche and were absolutely delicious. What attracted me most to dulce de leche was the smooth, creamy texture paired with the milky caramel taste. I’ve always adored the taste of caramel, but never enjoyed the ooey-gooey stickiness of it. Great texture plus the caramel taste? Dulce de leche was basically a dream come true for me!
I’d been hankering to make some cupcakes all quarter last quarter. I finally came up with an idea that I thought was worthwhile, which is what I present to you today:
Dark chocolate cupcakes filled with dulce de leche — frosted with chocolate frosting
YUM. :)
I used Beantown Baker’s Dark Chocolate Cupcake recipe and a random chocolate frosting recipe I came up with on the spot. I bought the dulce de leche at Whole Foods.
After baking the cupcakes and letting them cool for a bit, I cut a cone-shaped chunk out of each cupcake, filled the hollowed centers of the cupcakes with dulce de leche, replaced the top of the cupcake, and lightly frosted the top of each cupcake.
My cupcakes turned out a little more dry than I had anticipated (I actually made a huge mistake while mixing the batter, realized it half way through, and did my best to make up for it.. But the dryness was definitely a result of my mistake). Otherwise, I would consider my cupcake baking spree for the quarter as a success. :)
Well, it’s a new quarter now, and I’m hoping for lots of sunshine and looking forward to all of the activities that get to take place in ideal weather: running, climbing, tennis, and sand volleyball. I’m really excited for all of my classes, and even more excited for whatever baking adventures I might embark on.
Oh man. I can’t wait. :)
Lessons to take away from this blog post:
1) If you haven’t tasted it before, go get some dulce de leche this instant. If you have tasted it before, still go get some. Now.
2) Pay attention when you’re mixing cake batter.
3) Always take advantage of lovely weather.
Thanks for reading! Stay happy. :)
