Dulce de Leche Vanilla Cupcakes

Happy Easter! :)

As happy as Easter, I am delighted to share with you that I have made my first vanilla cupcakes from scratch. My good friend, Kitty has requested for vanilla-ish cupcakes. After searching for recipes, I believe I found inspiration from Magnolia Bakery's Vanilla cupcakes.

The Magnolia Bakery recipes I found in sites use self-rising flour + flour combination. I have no access to self-rising flour here so I researched on how to make it. It also requires 2 cups of sugar and 2 sticks of butter.

One of my best friends, Toni, who's based in LA, mentioned to me that she finds the original too sweet and a bit dry (must with the butter cream frosting?) I value her opinion a lot. So for the sugar, I reduced mine to 1 and 3/4 cups.Also, based from my experiences in using butter alone (in cakes/cupcakes), the output usually ends up on the dry side even if I "undercook" it. So with that, I also added oil in the recipe.

The use of Dulce de Leche as topping was inspired by Estrel's Caramel Cakes. I've been dreaming to try it since Archie's a fan but I was scared to try out chiffon! While I was at the planning stage for these vanilla cupcakes, there was a light bulb moment and I had a strong feeling that Dulce de Leche would be a perfect topping.

And it was! Husband-approved. Yey!

So without further ado, here's my take on Vanilla Cupcakes (inspired by Magnolia Bakery's Vanilla cupcakes):

2 and 3/4 cup all purpose flour
2 1/4 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 170C/350F. Line cupcake pans with liners and set aside. Mix flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

Put softened butter in a bowl. Cream butter until smooth. Add sugar, mix until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time.

Add dry ingredients in 3 parts, alternating with the milk and vanilla. Mix well.

Fill the cupcake liners with the batter, about 3/4 full, pop in the oven, rotate pan halfway through.

Bake for 18 to 20 minutes (or 22 minutes max, in my opinion)

Let cupcakes cool on a wire rack. Serve plain, or with your favorite topping/frosting.

The cupcakes were a bit crusty on the outside, moist on the inside. The crusty part eventually became softer and moist after a few hours.
Note to self: On the next batch, I will add some more oil, maybe 2 more tablespoons, and will try a combination of brown sugar and white sugar to make a moister cupcake.
For the Dulce de Leche, as you can see in the photo, I made it 2 weeks ago and stored in the fridge. Tips and directions can found in Manang's blog :)

Remove label of condensed milk and clean the can. Boil the can of unopened condensed milk for 2 hours in a pressure cooker, or 4 hours in a regular pot.

Fill the pot with water and make sure there's enough water to cover the whole can. About 2 to 3 inches above the can is okay.

After the boiling process, set aside first and leave the can to cool before opening.
Spread over the cupcakes and enjoy! :)