Tres Leches Cupcakes

Spring arrived in the mid Atlantic last week only to be chased away by clouds and cold rain. It's nice again for a couple of days, though, and I'm delighted. Spring is my favorite time of year because the flowers are blooming, the birds are chirping, and the days are getting longer and sunnier and warmer. I know that autumn is a wonderful season, I get it, but I love spring because it's the time of year when I have everything to look forward to. We're on the up and up, if you will. This is the same reason why Thursday happens to be my favorite day of the week -- I love all of the possibilities and excitement on the horizon. Right now I'm most looking forward to completing the semester and digging out from the piles of books and papers and words, words, words that perpetually surround me, but I'm also looking forward to sundresses, the lazy hazy days of summer, and the cocktails out on the deck, patio, or porch. In my circle of friends, this means margaritas -- and plenty of them! I was chatting with my sister about margs the other day, and this led to a small ode to the tres leches cake that she loves so much. I made these cupcakes in an effort to channel some south of the border fun for Dudley's birthday in January, but listening to Miss A wax poetic on the tres leches reminded me that I really need to share these cupcakes.

My mom makes tres leches cake that we all love, and she uses this recipe for Pastel de Tres Leches from Epicurious. I wanted to make these cupcakes because they seemed like the perfect dessert for Dudley's birthday fiesta (or as he referred to it, El Fiasco, but it wasn't a fiasco -- he just thinks he's pretty funny) but I was a little nervous about translating the cake into cupcakes. I'm not a tres leches expert, but I've eaten my mom's version and restaurant versions on many occasions, and this cake is usually sodden with milk. I just couldn't imagine how on earth the cake would be sturdy enough to be enjoyed as a cupcake. I made half of the recipe for the cupcakes and the three milk mixture (sweetened condensed milk, heavy cream, and evaporated milk) and, I have to say, this is a fairly simple recipe. There was no need for the stress about these little cakes. They just SOAK up that milk mixture, so don't worry if you think you might have too much. It takes awhile to get the cakes to soak up all of the milk, so budget some time for brushing on the milk mixture, and be prepared to clean up the sticky drips. I topped the cake with whipped cream and a sprinkle of cinnamon, but I remembered afterwards that (at least in Texas) tres leches is often served with a maraschino cherry on top, and I think that would be cute as well!

These cupcakes were pretty popular at El Fiasco birthday fiesta at the end of January. Dudley's friend Teddy is from New Mexico and he pronounced these cupcakes a good version of tres leches cake. I'm quite sure they'll make another appearance in these parts in the coming warm and sunny months; they're a perfect end to a margarita evening. 

Tres Leches Cupcakes

Martha Stewart Cupcakes

makes about 20 cupcakes (NB: my 1/2 recipe made 9 cupcakes)

Ingredients

6 large eggs, separated, room temperature

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon coarse salt

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1 cup all-purpose flour, sifted

1 can (12 oz) evaporated milk

1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk

3/4 cup heavy cream

Whipped Cream

Ground cinnamon, for dusting

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper-lines foil liners. With an electric mixer on medium speed, whisk together egg whites, baking soda, and salt until soft peaks form. Reduce speed to low. Add yolks and sugar, whisk until completely combined. Fold in melted butter with a flexible spatula. Add flour in four batches, folding until just combined after each. 

2. Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each halfway. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until light golden brown, about 25 minutes. Remove from oven. Immediately poke holes in the tops of cupcakes with a skewer.

3. Whisk together evaporated milk, condensed milk, and heavy cream. With cupcakes still in tins, brush milk mixture over cupcakes, repeating until all liquid has been used. Allow cupcakes to absorb mixture, at least 30 minutes (or up to 1 day in the refrigerator, wrapped tightly in plastic once completely cookl bring to room temperature before serving). 

4. To finish, dollop whipped cream generously onto cupcakes, and dust with ground cinnamon. Serve immediately.