Those who know me I’m not a sweet tooth but that I am a huge fan of baking. Like, have watched every episode of the Great British Bake Off multiple times. Seen every Holiday, Spring and Kids Baking Championship on Food Network. Totally have a Christmas shirt that says “We whisk you a Merry Christmas” baking loving nerd. So any chance I get to play and create a new bakery treat is a good day for me. Not every country will feature them but for Mexico I knew I needed to do something featuring two of the best dessert goods to come out of our southern neighbor’s kitchen: Churros and Dulce de Leche. If you are a fan of either of these things, this dessert is for you. Or if you like cheesecake, which if you do, you and I just became best friends, this dessert is also a good treat for you.
We’re going to make this dessert a little easier by using a box mix as a base but we are going to kick it up a couple of levels. You aren’t going to use the other ingredients exactly that are on the box but you are going to bake them as instructed. Pro tip: if you want to really make a box mix taste like a bakery treat, always add one more egg and use melted butter instead of oil.
Another tip is using a silicone baking pan for your cupcakes. Professional pastry chefs use silicone molds all the time for baking for several reasons. 1. it leaves no lines. 2. it prevents sticking. 3. you can refrigerate, freeze and bake in all these containers safely. While silicone isn’t necessary and a regular muffin pan works fine too, silicone is really easy to use. Spray the pan before pouring in the batter to whichever option you are going with. Use muffin liners if you are going standard muffin tins and proceed to bake as instructed on the box.
Now onto the icing! Cream cheese icing is my absolute favorite with not being a sweet tooth. That little tang is the perfect offset to something sweet. We’re making that and then gonna kick it up with dulce de leche.
If you aren’t familiar with dulce de leche is a confection from Latin America prepared by gradually heating sweetened milk to create a substance that derives its flavor from the Maillard reaction, turning it a tan, almost caramel color. Dulce de leche is Spanish for “candy [made] of milk”. Dulce de Leche is known as “manjar de leche” or just “manjar”. It’s creamy, luscious and just plain sexy. As an upgrade to this recipe, you can make your own dulce de leche, which can be found here . Or if you are pressed for time, you can pick some already made sauce up at your local grocery store in the international section.
Finally, because churros are known for a little bit of a crispy crunch to them, these are gonna be topped off with a simple garnish made from flour tortillas, a little spray oil and cinnamon sugar. I used my air fryer for this, which is quick and simple. You can use a toaster oven, your regular oven or even toast these up in a frying pan.
One last quick note, these cupcakes have a surprise center to them of more icing. So if you are an icing lover, go forward young soldier. But if you are not, omit the center part and leave the cupcake whole. I like doing a lot of icing on my cupcakes because it’s more indulgent and looks more professional. So enjoy! And let me know what you think!
Churro Cupcakes with Dulce de Leche Cheesecake Frosting
Serves: 16
Ingredients
- 1 Vanilla Boxed Cake Mix-Mix Only
- 4 Eggs
- 1/2 cup melted butter
- 1 cup water
- 1 1/2 Tbsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp vanilla
Frosting
- 2 4oz blocks of cream cheese
- 2 sticks of butter, unsalted
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
Dulce de Leche Filling
- 1 cup of Cream Cheese Frosting
- 1 1/2 tsp Dulce de Leche Sauce
Tortilla Garnish
- 3 flour tortillas, taco size
- 1 1/2 cup Sugar
- 2 Tbsp Cinnamon
- Oil spray
Additional Dulce de Leche sauce for Garnish
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In large mixing bowl, combine cake mix, eggs, melted butter, water and vanilla. Using a hand mixer or stand mixer, thoroughly incorporate using whisk attachment and scrape sides of bowl. Add cinnamon and continue mixing until everything is combined and lump free.
Spray muffin pan with baking spray and evenly pour batter into each cup. Bake for 17-22 minutes in oven or until golden brown. Remove and allow to cool completely.
In large mixing bowl using whip attachment, cream butter and cream cheese together at medium speed. Once combined, add vanilla and mix until combined. Change mixer speed to a lower speed and gradually add powdered sugar until completely combined and smooth.
Place 1 cup of the cream cheese frosting in small bowl with dulce de leche and combine. Place aside.
Once cupcakes are cooled, use a teaspoon or apple corer to take the center of the cupcake out. Do not go all the way through to the bottom. Place a teaspoon of the dulce de leche frosting inside.
Pipe or swirl cream cheese frosting on top of the cupcakes. Drizzle additional dulce de leche sauce on top of each cupcake.
On a cutting board, cut tortillas into thin strips. Place in air fryer or oven and toast until golden brown. In an air fryer, 4 minutes at 370 and in an oven 8 minutes at 400.
Combine cinnamon and sugar in a small bowl. Spray toasted tortillas with pam and toss in cinnamon sugar. Top each cupcake with 3 or 4 pieces. Enjoy!