Author Notes
Though I've always rejected the cupcake hype, this recipe was born out of a potluck request for vanilla cupcakes. Never one to leave well enough alone, I opted for a spin on one of my favorite desserts, Alfajores. Light vanilla biscuits sandwiched together with dulce de leche/manjar blanco and rolled in coconut are here rendered as vanilla cupcakes stuffed with caramel and topped with cinnamon coconut buttercream. A search for similar cupcakes led me to a blog called "Cupcake Bakeshop", I give full credit to them for the method of assembly. The cupcake recipe on its own is a keeper, in terms of light and fluffy vanilla cupcakes. Excuse my poor photography skills! —shortnsweet
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Ingredients
- Cupcakes
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3/4 cup
unsalted butter, room temperature
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1 2/3 cups
sugar
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2 large
eggs, room temperature
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2 2/3 cups
flour
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1 1/2 teaspoons
baking powder
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1/4 teaspoon
salt
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3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons
milk
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2 teaspoons
vanilla extract
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1/2
vanilla bean, seeds scraped out
- Filling and Frosting
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1
can sweetened condensed milk (avoid the pull-top cans)
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1 1/2 sticks
butter, room temperature
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1/4 cup
milk
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1/2 teaspoon
vanilla
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2 cups
powdered sugar
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2 cups
coconut, sweetened and flaked
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2 teaspoons
cinnamon, or more or less to taste
Directions
- Cupcakes
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
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Beat butter until softened. Add sugar and beat until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
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Add eggs, one at a time, beating until well combined.
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Measure the flour, baking powder, and salt into a medium bowl and whisk to combine.
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Measure out the milk and vanilla and stir to combine.
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Scoop batter into cupcake cups about 2/3’s full. Bake cupcakes at 350 degrees for about 22-25 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.
- Filling and Frosting
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For the Manjar Blanco/Dulce de Leche: Boil a pot of water and immerse sealed can on its side. Keep water at a boil for 2 hours, refreshing the water as needed--it's ok if it goes down to a simmer as you add more water, just keep the can from getting dry. Let cool before opening--hot caramel can be messy!
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For the frosting: Beat butter briefly, then scrape down the bowl. Add the milk, cinnamon, vanilla, and powdered sugar, and beat until smooth. Add coconut and mix until combined, careful not to overmix.
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To assemble cupcakes: 1) Let them cool out of the pan for an hour. Then, using a small paring knife, cut a cone out of the top of the cupcake. Cut off the bottom of the cone, leaving behind the cupcake top (and the bottom of the cone, for a small snack/taste test...)
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2) Fill the hole with caramel--I usually put a small spoonful in each one to ensure evenness, then go back and top up with the leftovers. Put the top back on the cupcake.
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3) Frost the stuffed cupcake with the coconut buttercream, and sprinkle with cinnamon if you're feeling fancy.
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