Dulce de Leche Cupcakes

These dulce de leche cupcakes are sweet and moist, just the way a cupcake should be. They’re topped with homemade meringue frosting and drizzled with more dulce de leche for a perfectly irresistible cupcake. I love making desserts with dulce de leche because they’re all just so tasty. If you enjoyed this dulce de leche cupcake recipe, you’ll definitely love this Air Fryer Dulce de Leche Cheesecake or this Chocolate Tres Leches Cake!

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You definitely don’t have to spend hours in the kitchen making homemade Mexican dulce de leche for this recipe. I tried to make this dulce de leche cupcakes recipe as easy as possible for most beginners. For this recipe, I am using La Lechera dulce de leche in a can because it’s very thick. And that is exactly what we need for these cupcakes, thick dulce de leche. So if you don’t have time to make real Mexican dulce de leche from scratch, La Lechera’s dulce de leche in a can is the best alternative.

Combine the ingredients then pour into cupcake liners and bake.

How To Make Dulce de Leche Cupcakes

1. First, start by preheating the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Cream together the butter and sugar in a stand mixer or in a bowl if using a hand mixer.
3. Add in one egg at a time and continue mixing.
4. Add the oil to the mixer and mix until incorporated.
5. Mix in the vanilla extract and dulce de leche just until combined. Make sure to scrape the sides of the bowl as needed.
6. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.
7. Begin adding the flour mixture and milk little by little into the mixer while continuing to mix. Alternate between the milk and flour mixture until you’re done. Stop to scrape the sides of the bowl if needed.
8. Place the cupcake liners inside the cupcake pan and spray with nonstick cooking or baking spray.
9. Use an ice cream scoop or spoon to fill each cupcake liner 3/4 of the way full with cupcake batter.
10. Bake in a preheated 350 degrees F oven for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cupcakes comes out clean.
11. Remove from the oven and let the cupcakes rest in the baking pan for about 10-15 minutes then transfer to a cooling rack to finish cooling at room temperature.
12. Top the completely cooled dulce de leche cupcakes with homemade meringue frosting and more dulce de leche if desired and enjoy!

How To Make Meringue Frosting

1. Start by separating the egg whites from the yolks. Cold eggs work best.
2. Pour the egg whites into a stand mixer or bowl if using a hand mixer. Mix on high speed until stiff peaks form.
3. In a sauce pan over medium high heat, add the sugar and water. Once the mixture begins to boil, lower the heat to medium low and stir constantly until all the sugar dissolves and the mixture thickens. This will take about 10-12 minutes of stirring to accomplish.
4. Remove the sugar mixture from the heat and immediately begin pouring it into the beaten egg whites in a steady stream down the side of the bowl. It is very important to mix continuously at a high speed while doing this. Pour all of the sugar mixture into the egg whites.
5. Add in the vanilla extract and cream of tartar. Continue mixing at a high speed until the bowl cools down and the meringue frosting is very thick and stable. This can take anywhere from 8-10 minutes of high speed mixing to accomplish. The mixture may look thin and watery at first, but keep mixing and it will thicken.
6. Use a piping bag with a star tip or a zip loc bag if you don’t have one. If using the zip loc bag, cut a small hole at one of the ends and insert the star tip through the hole. Add the meringue frosting to the bag and begin frosting your cupcakes.
7. This makes enough frosting for at least 32 cupcakes with some room for mistakes because not everyone is a whiz at frosting cupcakes.

Tips & Variations

• Keep an eye on your dulce de leche cupcakes after the 25 minute mark. Most ovens cook at different speeds and some are more powerful than others. you definitely don’t want to burn the dulce de leche cupcakes.
• When making the meringue frosting, it is very important to mix constantly at a high speed as you are adding the hot sugar mixture into the egg whites.
• Use a good quality, thick dulce de leche. La Lechera’s brand of dulce de leche worked perfectly for these cupcakes.
• The cupcake batter is a little bit thick but very fluffy. When you pour it into the cupcake liner, the top will not be flat but it will straighten out during the baking process. There is no need to fix or flatten the top of the cupcake batter before baking.
• For the dulce de leche drizzle at the end, I recommend using La Lechera’s dulce de leche that comes in a squeeze bottle.