How to make fancy dulce de leche cupcakes with caramel filling and caramel toppers.

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If you’re looking to impress, I’ve got just the thing for you! Whether you want to impress some party guests, loved ones, the in-laws, your boss, or someone special, my divine Dulce de Leche Cupcakes are the perfect way to dazzle anyone!

In case you’re wondering what that is, dulce de leche is a Spanish phrase for caramelized milk. So these cupcakes are like the top tier of ultimate caramel desserts! We start with some simple yet sweet cupcakes, stuff them with caramel sauce, top them with perfectly swirled dulce de leche frosting, and finish it all off with some easy caramel cupcake toppers!

These fancy cupcakes taste absolutely luxurious like someone had to take a master baking class just to learn how to make such scrumptious treats. But these charming cupcakes are actually not that complicated to make!

My dulce de leche cupcake recipe is easy to follow along with, it’s just going to take some time to make these fancy treats. However, you can break some of the recipe steps up over a couple of days if needed to help with time constraints. 

With such decadent and divine flavors and textures, this will be your go-to fancy cupcake recipe anytime you’re looking to impress anyone! Ready to try one of these caramel lover’s dream cupcakes? Here’s how to make Dulce de Leche Cupcakes!

Fancy Cupcake Equipment

I’ll start by going over my fancy cupcake equipment. There are quite a few tools and utensils to round up but most of these are just typical baking equipment. The only special tools you’ll need are a silicone mold and make sure to have an apple corer. Here’s everything I use to make my dulce de leche cupcakes:

• Measuring Cup
• Measuring spoons
• Hand mixer
• KitchenAid mixer
• Blending whisk
• Dough scoop large
• Silicone pastry brush
• Cupcake pan
• Gold foil cupcake liners
  • I always prefer foil liners over paper ones because they’re much more sturdy!
• Piping bags
• Piping bag ties
• Jumbo piping tips
• Saucier Drizzle Spoon
• Semi sphere silicone mold
• Apple Corer
• Saucepan with a pouring lip

Dulce de Leche Cupcake Ingredients

Now I’ll break down my surprisingly simple ingredient list for these divine treats! The cupcakes are made with typical cupcake ingredients, and there’s not a whole lot more needed to make the ingredients for the other “layers”. Here are my simple dulce de leche cupcake ingredients:

Cupcakes:

• 2 eggs
• ½ cup plain yogurt
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 ½ cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• ¼ tsp salt
• ½ cup unsalted butter room temperature
• 1 ½ cup brown sugar

Cupcake Filling:

• 2 cup Caramel sauce

Caramel Toppers:

• 1 cup sugar
• ¼ tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup water

Dulce de Leche Buttercream:

• 1 cup unsalted butter room temperature
• ½ can Dulce de leche
• 4 cups powdered sugar

How to Make Dulce de Leche Cupcakes

Drum roll, please! These cupcakes are too fancy not to have a special introduction. As promised, this recipe process is simple to follow along with, it’s just going to take a good bit of time to follow through. 

I find it helps me not feel rushed if I bake the cupcakes one day and let them cool overnight, then finish the rest of the steps the following day. Here’s how to make divine dulce de leche cupcakes:

Making the Cupcakes:

1. First, use the measuring cup and spoons to measure out the cupcake ingredients. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
2. Crack the eggs into a large mixing bowl.
3. Then, add in the yogurt and vanilla extract.
4. Mix the ingredients together with a blending whisk.
5. Next, in a large glass mixing bowl, add in the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
6. Combine the ingredients with a clean whisk.
7. In another mixing bowl, add the brown sugar and butter.
8. Then, beat the ingredients together with a hand mixer until creamy.
9. Pour in the wet ingredient mixture.
10. Blend all the ingredients together with the mixer.
11. Then, add the flour mixture into the large bowl.
12. Beat the ingredients together again until everything is completely blended together.
13. Then, line a cupcake pan with the foil cupcake liners.
14. Next, use a dough scoop to easily distribute even amounts of cupcake batter to each cup.
15. Finally, bake the cupcakes for 18-20 minutes. Check the cupcakes with a toothpick in the middle before removing them from the oven.

Preparing the Cupcake Filling:

1. Transfer the caramel sauce to a piping bag and tie it off with a piping bag tie. Cut ¼ inch from the tip of the piping bag.

Making the Caramel Toppers:

1. First, measure out the caramel topper ingredients.
2. Then, add the sugar and vanilla extract into a saucepan, but do not mix the ingredients.
3. Heat the ingredients over medium-high heat while brushing the inside edge of the pan with water to avoid caramelization building up.
4. Boil the caramel for 5-8 minutes, until the color is a medium umber. Then, remove the caramel from the heat.
5. Next, lay out a sheet of parchment paper and place a semi-sphere silicone mold upside down on top of it.
6. Using a saucier spoon, drizzle the hot caramel over the upside-down mold.
7. Then, gently push the caramel toppers off of the mold without breaking them.
   1. I suggest using disposable gloves for this step.
8. Set aside the caramel toppers until it’s time to decorate.

Making Dulce de Leche Buttercream:

1. First, measure out the dulce de leche buttercream frosting ingredients.
2. Then, prepare a stand mixer with a whisk attachment. 
3. Add the room temp butter to the large mixer bowl.
4. Then, beat the butter by itself for about 5 minutes or until it has doubled in size.
5. Add in the dulce de leche.
6. Beat the ingredients until they’re completely blended together and smooth.
7. Next, add in the powdered sugar.
8. Beat the frosting ingredients one final time on high for 8-10 minutes. Then transfer the frosting to a piping bag lined with a metal piping tip.

Assembling the Cupcakes:

1. First, set out the cooled cupcakes, caramel filling, frosting, and an apple corer.
2. Use the apple corer to cut out the center of each cupcake, but do not discard the cake cut-outs!
3. Then, fill each cupcake with the caramel sauce.
4. Cover up the cupcake centers with the cut-outs.
5. Next, pipe and swirl the dulce de leche buttercream frosting onto each cupcake.
6. Finally, at the last minute before serving, top each cupcake with the caramel toppers, serve, and enjoy!
   1. Be sure to put the cupcake toppers on at the last minute and remove them before storing the cupcakes. Store the toppers in a separate container.
   2. If left on the cupcakes overnight in an airtight container, the toppers will melt!

Storing Dulce de Leche Cupcakes

To store dulce de leche cupcakes with filling: transfer the cupcakes to an airtight container and store them for 4-5 days at room temperature, or in the fridge for up to 1 week. Bring the cupcakes back to room temperature before serving again. Always label the date on the outside of the container to keep up with freshness.

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