Dulce de Leche Cupcakes

I was tasked with making some sort of triple caramel/dulce de leche cupcake for a friend's baby shower this weekend. I decided this recipe would fit the bill perfectly. I decorated them with pink pearls and pink sparkles.

I personally thought these cupcakes were amazing, a great mixture of vanilla bean and dulce de leche without being too rich or overwhelmingly sweet.
Now, people at the shower felt they were very rich and very sweet but there were a bunch of other sweets so it might have just been gummy gut taking over at that point.

The breakdown: vanilla bean cake, dulce de leche filling, dulce de leche buttercream, & dulce de leche drizzle.

yield: 42 cupcakes

ingredients

for dulce de leche

14oz sweetened condensed milk

for vanilla bean cupcakes

3 ¾C all-purpose flour

1 ½ tsp baking powder

¾ tsp baking soda

¾ tsp sea salt

6 eggs, room temperature

3C sugar

1 ½C butter, room temperature

3 tbs vanilla extract

Seeds from 3 vanilla bean pods

1 ½ sour cream

for dulce de leche buttercream frosting

6C powdered sugar

1 ½C butter, room temperature

½C dulce de leche

5 tbs water

directions

1. for dulce de leche: Peel label off of sweetened condensed milk can.
2. Place can in a large (deep) pot.
3. Fill pot with water until can is completely submerged.
4. Cover and boil for 2.5-3 hours, making sure the can is always covered by water.
5. Remove pot from heat and allow can to cool.
6. for cupcakes: Preheat oven to 350°.
7. Line muffin tin with cupcake liners (or grease if you aren't using cupcake liners).
8. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
9. In bowl of a stand mixer, beat eggs and sugar together 2 minutes until light and creamy.
10. Add butter, vanilla bean seeds, and vanilla extract.
11. Mix until well combined.
12. Slowly add dry ingredients until well blended.
13. Scrape down bowl and add sour cream.
14. Beat until smooth and well mixed.
15. Fill each cupcake liner ⅔ full.
16. Bake for 18-20 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.
17. Cool cupcakes completely.
18. for dulce de leche filling: Once cupcakes are cooled, fill a piping bag with a small tip and dulce de leche (reserve a little bit for drizzling on top).
19. Carefully insert the tip into each cupcake.
20. Fill cupcakes with the desired amount of dulce de leche (I counted to 5 slowly).
21. for buttercream frosting: In bowl of a stand mixer, whip butter for 4 minutes on medium-high speed until light and fluffy.
22. Add dulce de leche and water, beating until combined.
23. Slowly add the powdered sugar, scraping down the bowl as needed.
24. Beat on medium-high speed for 5 minutes.
25. Pipe (or spread) frosting onto cooled and filled cupcakes.
26. for drizzle: In a small piping bag, add reserved dulce de leche.
27. Drizzle a little bit of dulce de leche over each cupcake.
28. Enjoy!