Tres Leches Cupcakes

 RECIPE

Tres Leches

Cupcakes 

Ready in 3 hours

Makes  12-14 cakes

Ingredients

Cupcakes

• 200 g. (1  cup) granulated sugar

• 113 g. (8 TB) softened butter (can use either salted or unsalted)

• 2 tsp. Mexican vanilla extract (can be substituted with pure vanilla) 

• 2 large eggs, room temperature

• 190 g. (1 ⅓  cups) sifted all purpose flour

• ½ tsp. kosher or sea salt

• 1 tsp. baking powder

• 120 ml (½ cup) whole milk, room temperature

Tres Leches Mixture

• 6 oz. evaporated milk (½ can)

• 7 oz. sweetened condensed milk (½ can)

• 4 oz. whole milk (½ cup)

Chantilly Cream Frosting

• 16 oz. (2 cups) heavy cream 

• 8 oz. mascarpone cheese (for stability)

• 50 g. (½ cup) powdered sugar

Optional Toppings

• Fresh Fruit

• Cinnamon

• Sweetened Condensed Milk

• Sprinkles

• Topping I used - marshmallow hearts from Target 

Tools Needed:

• 1 standard muffin pan

• Cupcake liners (foil liners preferred)

• 1 electric hand mixer

• 2 large bowls for mixing 

• 1 medium bowl for preparing ingredients

• 1 pitcher for tres leches mixture

• 1 Whisk

• Rubber spatula 

• Cake or apple corer, or a wooden spoon/chopstick

• Piping bag

Prepare the Ingredients

1. Sift the flour and baking powder into a medium sized bowl. Whisk together until well combined, and set aside. 

2. Allow the butter, milk and eggs to come to room temperature before baking. Place your cold eggs in a bowl of warm water for 5-7 minutes.  Your butter is best brought to room temperature overnight. If in a pinch, microwave on low heat in 10 second increments until softened to room temperature. Do not let it melt. You can microwave the cold milk for 15 - 20 seconds to bring it to room temperature. 

Prepare the Cupcake Batter

3. Preheat your oven to 350 F/180 C. 

4. Line a standard muffin pan with your choice of cupcake liners. I like using foil cupcake liners for tres leches cakes, as they hold in liquid better than paper liners. 

5. To a large mixing bowl, or the bowl of a stand mixer,  add the softened butter, granulated sugar, salt and vanilla extract. 

6. Beat on medium high speed for 3-5 minutes using a paddle attachment or an electric hand mixer until pale and fluffy. Be sure to scrape the sides intermittently.

7. Next, add in the eggs one at a time to the butter mixture. Beat each egg for 1 minute on medium high speed. 

8. Scrape the sides of the bowl, getting all the batter at the bottom to ensure it's all evenly mixed. 

9. Next, add ⅓ of the flour mixture to the batter. Mix on low speed for about 30 seconds, or until just combined. It is crucial to not overmix during this step. 

10. Follow with adding ½ of the milk. Mix on low until just combined, about 15 to 30 seconds. 

11. Repeat with another ⅓ of the flour mixture and mix on low for another 30 seconds, and then again with the last remaining ½ of milk.

12. End with adding the remaining ⅓ of the flour mixture. Mix in on a low speed, or by hand with a spatula,  and give the bowl a good scrape to ensure everything is well incorporated.

13. Using an ice cream scoop or a spoon, scoop the batter into the cupcake liners until they are ⅔  of the way full. Do not overfill the cupcake liners or your cakes will overflow when they bake. 

14. Bake the cakes for 16-18 minutes. The cakes will be golden and slightly domed when they are done, and will spring back when you press on the center gently. 

15. Allow the cakes to cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then remove them and allow to cool completely on a wire rack. 

Prepare the Tres Leches

1. To a pitcher or medium bowl, combine the whole milk, condensed milk and evaporated milk. 

2. Whisk the mixture together until fully combined and homogeneous. Be sure to scrape the bottom with a rubber spatula to make sure all the condensed milk is mixed in thoroughly.

3. Cover the mixture with plastic wrap and place it into the fridge until the cupcakes have cooled completely and are ready for soaking. 

Soaking the Cakes

1. Place the now cooled cakes back into a clean muffin pan. The pan will assist  with storing and moving the cakes around as we place them into the fridge.

2. Using a cake corer or the end of a wooden spoon, create a large crevice at the center of each cake. If you're using a cake corer, save your cake centers for after the cakes have been soaked and place them back into the cupcakes. 

3. Next, using a tablespoon measure, gently pour 2  tablespoons of milk mixture into each cupcake. You can start with a round of one tablespoon for each cake, and make your way around again with a second tablespoon, giving the milk a chance to soak in before adding more. 

4. Keep adding milk until the cakes have been soaked to your liking. 

5. Gently cover the cupcake pan with plastic wrap, and place the cakes in the fridge for 30 minutes. 

Prepare the Chantilly Cream

1. To a large bowl, add your cold heavy cream and powdered sugar. Make sure your heavy cream is cold and straight from the fridge. 

2. Using a hand mixer, whip the heavy cream and sugar together on medium high speed just  until soft peaks begin to form, about 1.5 to 2 minutes. We aren't whipping the cream completely yet, but just until we are able to gently scoop the cream with a spatula.

3. Next, add in the cold mascarpone cheese. Begin whipping on high speed and mix, beating the mascarpone into the cream until peaks form that are still soft, but stronger and hold their shape. This should take about another minute. 

4. Run a rubber spatula over the cream. It should smooth out any air bubbles and hold the shape of the trail the spatula makes. Your chantilly cream is ready.

5. Cover the frosting  with plastic wrap and chill until it's time to frost the tres leches cakes. 

Frost the Cakes

1. Fill a piping bag with the chantilly cream. Feel free to use any sort of star tip or round tip for decoration; the cream is stiff enough to hold a decorative shape. 

2. If you do not have a piping bag, the chantilly cream can be scooped onto the cakes using an ice cream scooper, or with a palette knife. You can also use the old sandwich bag trick - fill a sandwich bag with frosting,  cut off one of the corners, and pipe the cream onto the cupcakes.  

3. After frosting, top the cakes with fresh fruit, cinnamon, drizzle with more condensed milk, or leave them as is. 

4. Keep the cakes in the fridge until ready to serve. These cakes can be made a day ahead. Enjoy!