Aloha Luau Cupcakes

My final hurrah at my previous place of employment. We celebrated the end of Summer with a Luau and I got a chance to finally make the cupcakes that had been sitting in my head for a ridiculously long time. I have a list of so many ideas but never seem to have the excuse to make them. And as popular as cupcakes have become, someone usually manages to beat me to the punch. You all are just too damn creative for your own good.

Well I became obsessed with dulce de leche a while back. I found out about cajeta and had to try out the goat's milk version. Next thing I know I was caramelizing everything I could get my hands on including goat's milk yogurt (think caramelized sour cream). The idea of coconut milk was a natural progression and I thought I was oh so clever until I found a recipe right there on Epicurious. gah! There are no original ideas left in my head I guess...


So anyway, I wanted to do a more Asian inspired version of caramel and pears because I love those flavors together and the Luau gave me the perfect excuse to finally bake these puppies. And only I would find a reason to make an Asian- Mexican fusion, right? I have real issues
I know.
But pineapple just seemed too obvious, yeah?


Salted Coconut Milk Dulce de Leche- Lychee Fruit Cupcakes
adapted from Chockylit's Lychee Fruit cupcakes
makes 30 cupcakes

4 cups Cake Flour
2 t Baking Soda
2 cups Turbinado Sugar
4 large Eggs
1 cup Oil
2 t Vanilla
20 oz can Lychee Fruit, drained and chopped
1 1/2 cups Dulce de Leche Coconut Milk (recipe below)

Sift together flour, baking soda, salt and sugar in a medium sized bowl. In your mixer bowl, combine eggs and oil over low medium speed with paddle attachment. Add vanilla. Slowly add in dry ingredients over low speed in thirds. Fold in chopped lychee fruit then the dulce de leche on slow speed until just combined. Do not overmix.

Scoop cupcake mixture into lined cupcake tins 2/3 full. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.


Salted Coconut Milk Dulce de Leche
adapted from Epicurious

2 14 oz cans Unsweetened Coconut Milk
1 1/1 cups Brown Sugar
1 T Fleur de Sel salt

Whisk coconut milk, sugar, and salt in heavy large skillet over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Increase heat to medium-high and boil until mixture is reduced to 2 1/2 cups, stirring occasionally, about 20 minutes. Transfer sauce to a glass/porcelain dish or small jars. Cool completely, chill any sauce that you will not be using immediately.

Salted Coconut Milk Dulce de Leche Frosting
adapted from Chockylit's Salted Caramel frosting

2 sticks/ 8 oz. unsalted Butter, room temp
8 ounces or 1 package of Cream Cheese, room temp
6 cups Powdered Sugar
1 cup Salted Coconut Milk Dulce de Leche

Mix butter and cream cheese in mixer bowl with paddle attachment on medium speed until creamy. Sift 3 cups of powdered sugar into the butter/cream cheese mixture and mix to combine. Add the salted dulce de leche and mix until just combined. Sift the remaining 3 cups of powder sugar, and add until just combined and smooth. Frosting will be soft.




Coming Clean
I decorated the cupcakes with dried Lychee fruit and chocolate shells that I made just using a simple chocolate shell plastic mold from a craft store and a blend of tempered white and dark chocolate.

The coconut flavored dulce de leche was a really nice surprise. You get definite caramel with coconut milk undertones. People had a hard time figuring it out until I told them and then it seemed obvious. We could have eaten the salted dulce de leche over ice cream, we even dipped the leftover chocolate shells in it, it was so good.

The lychee fruit and coconut milk dulce de leche went together so wonderfully and it certainly made an incredibly moist cupcake. The sweet lychee balanced really well against the salted nutty flavor of the the coconut milk dulce de leche. They were way too addictive so consider yourself warned. I highly recommend them if you are looking to try something different and fun that has unique flavor and makes for a great cupcake.