Happy Cinco de Mayo ~ Tres Leches Cupcakes

It's official. Mexican food is my favorite and Cinco de Mayo is now officially my new favorite holiday! :) I decided to try Tres Leches cupcakes and was pleasantly surprised! I've had good tres leches and bad tres leches so I took awhile before deciding on which recipe to try. This one is fantastic! The cake is a perfect sponge cake - light, fluffy, and delicious - and soaks up the three milks perfectly. Topped with a fresh whipped cream, these cupcakes are the perfect ending to a spicy Mexican night!

You start with a sponge cake from The Pioneer Woman....


1 cup AP flour
1-1/2 t baking powder
1/4 t salt
5 whole eggs
1 cup sugar
1 t vanilla
1/3 cup milk


Then add the traditional mixture of milks....


1 can evaporated milk
1 can sweetened, condensed milk
1/4 cup heavy cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Fill muffin pan with liners.

Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Separate eggs.

Beat egg yolks with 3/4 cup sugar on high speed until yolks are pale yellow. Stir in milk and vanilla. Pour egg yolk mixture over the flour mixture and stir very gently until combined.

Beat egg whites on high speed until soft peaks form. With the mixer on, pour in remaining 1/4 cup sugar and beat until egg whites are stiff but not dry.

Fold egg white mixture into the batter very gently until just combined. Pour into prepared pan and bake until lightly golden brown and tester inserted into each cupcake comes out clean. 

Combine the three remaining milks. When cupcakes are cool, poke holes in each one and slowly pour small amounts of milk mixture over each. (I took the papers off each one and then poured mixture 1 teaspoonful at a time, let it soak in, and repeated pouring for a total of about 3 teaspoons of mixture for each cupcake.)

Let cupcakes sit about 30 minutes to soak up the milk mixture and top with whipped cream. I made mine by whisking 1 pint of heavy cream with about 1/3 cup of confectioner's sugar and 1 teaspoon of vanilla. If you like, you can top the cupcakes with a maraschino cherry. 

These cupcakes are seriously good and I hope you give them a try. They have a slight caramel taste and are just wonderfully light and fluffy. 

If you guys have been paying attention on Facebook, you've seen an announcement about a future giveaway.  Well, I need 15 more followers and I'll be giving away a sweet Cupcake Love Package: 1 box cake mix, 1 tub frosting, a decorator tip, sprinkles, assorted cupcake liners, and a surprise! So, spread the word and tell your friends to join us with either Google Friend Connect or BlogLovin! 

Next weekend, my family and I are going on a little vacation so, in honor of summer and the beach, I'll be making S'mores Cupcakes this week. Yum! Until then, happy reading and, more importantly, happy cupcake-ing!

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