Tres Leches Cupcakes

We went to a Mexican Dinner in early November and I was asked to bring dessert. I needed an easy, finger-food...Tres Leches Cupcakes. A yellow cake that is then doused with a mixture of three milks that makes them so moist and so good. I filled mine with a mango filling and topped them with a dulce de leche buttercream. When all was said and done, I don't recommend making the cake into cupcakes. They weren't able to absorb as much of the milk mixture and were dryer than a traditional tres leches cake. But the mango filling was muy delicioso! So this is the recipe I came up with...

Tres Leches Cake with Mango and Dulce de Leche Buttercream

• 1/4 cup shortening
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 eggs, separated
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 cup evaporated milk
• 1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk
• 1/2 cup coconut milk
• 1 cup lightly toasted flaked coconut
  

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Cream the butter and shortening until smooth. Add in the sugar and beat until fluffy. Add in egg yolks one at a time. Mix the vanilla with the buttermilk. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda and salt. Alternate mixing in the dry ingredients with the buttermilk mixture. Begin and end with the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Gently fold in the eggwhites to the cake batter and mix just until combined.
Line a 9x13 pan with foil and grease well. Pour in cake batter and bake 30 minutes or until golden and just set.
Meanwhile, combine the evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk and the coconut milk.
While the cake is still warm, with a skewer or toothpick, poke lots of holes in the cake and pour the milk mixture over it. Let set until cool and then refrigerate.

Mango Filling

• 2 c frozen mango
• 3/4 c brown sugar
• 1/2 water
• 2 T corn starch
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan and stir until thoroughly combined. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until mixture comes to a full boil. Boil for one minute and then remove from heat. Cool completely. Place mixture in a blender or food processor and puree until smooth.

Dulce de Leche Swiss Meringue Buttercream

• 1/2 c (approximately 5) egg whites
• 1 c brown sugar, firmly packed
• 1 1/2 c softened butter

Using a stand mixer is the easiest way to make a Swiss Meringue Buttercream. I just put my sugar and egg whites in the mixing bowl of the mixer and place them over a pan of simmering water. I tend to need two hands to add in the butter...
In a double boiler, mix egg whites and brown sugar. Place over simmering water and cook until mixture reaches 160 degrees. Remove from heat and beat until stiff peaks form. While beating, add in the butter 1 tablespoon at a time. At one point while adding in the butter, the mixture will appear to separate or look curdled. Don't worry! Just keep adding in the butter and keep mixing. It will come together to form a beautiful buttercream.

To assemble the cake: If you want, you can remove the chilled cake from the pan with the foil. For simplicity's sake, I just leave the cake in the pan. Top the cake with the mango filling and chill for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Once chilled, top with the buttercream. If you arent' serving this cake right away, it does need to be refrigerated. Be sure to bring it to room temperature for serving. Enjoy!