Chocolate + Dulce de Leche = Classic

A few days ago, I happened upon some old college photos on my hard drive. With a return to school on the horizon, it was sweet to revisit the high points of those rarely predictable days. One memory that made me smile right away had to do with my first roommate, Maureen.

Although she and I seemed pretty different at first, we hit it off quickly. And before long we were brewing up genius ideas like "ghetto surround sound." This involved carefully (you wouldn't believe the skill) timing our computers to playing a song at the same instant. Let me just tell ya, it worked like a charm =p. Throw in some light-switch raving, and we had ourselves an instant party at any time of day (or more often night)!

Not all the pictures elicited fond memories though. Even after just a few years, plenty of looks (which of course I thought cool or even sexy at the time) now had me cringing. One from a party early freshman year was a particular eyesore. Picture this: red mesh shirt over a black corset, flared black skirt, rubber flip-flops, and almost an inch of blue eyeshadow. What was I smoking? Happily, I've since learned that less is more...and that mesh is only appropriate on Halloween.

I applied a similar lesson in restraint to making these chocolate dulce de leche cupcakes for my friend Mimi's birthday party. A rich chocolate buttercream was just waiting to be piped, but at the last moment I saw with clarity that the dulce de leche topping, despite its humble appearance, was just what these cupcakes needed and not a thing more.

I'm sure you've all had similar experiences. Please do share them with moi. What have you cooked or baked that turned out just right when you chose to deviate from your original plan or recipe?

Chocolate Dulce de Leche Cupcakes [Printable Recipe]
Cake adapted from Hershey's
Makes 12 to 14 cupcakes

1 cup minus 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
1 cup white sugar
6 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 large egg, room temperature
1/2 tsp instant coffee powder dissolved in 1/2 cup hot water (or 1/2 cup black coffee)
1/2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar plus milk to equal 1/2 cup
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 - 1 1/2 cups dulce de leche (I make mine in the pressure cooker)
milk or cream, if needed to thin out dulce de leche

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease top of a standard muffin pan, then line with paper liners.

In large bowl, stir together the sugar, flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add the egg, milk, coffee (or reconstituted coffee mixture), oil, and vanilla extract. Beat by hand or with an electric mixer on medium speed until well combined.

Pour the batter, which will be thin, to fill the paper liners about 2/3 full. Tap the pan firmly against the counter 2 times to remove any air bubbles. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or just until a toothpick inserted into the middle of a cupcake comes out clean. Let cupcakes cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then remove them to a wire rack and let them cool completely there before frosting.

While the cupcakes are cooling, prepare the dulce de leche topping by stirring to ensure smoothness and adding milk or cream, 1 tablespoon at a time, if needed to thin the dulce de leche to the desired spreading consistency.

Once cupcakes are completely cool, spread the topping on with a spoon or knife, ending by smoothing the stop in a spiral pattern if you like the look.