Dulce de Leche Mocha Cupcakes
Hello friends, today we are making Dulce de Leche Mocha Cupcakes! They are chocolate cupcakes filled with dulce de leche, and topped with Dulce de Leche Mocha Swiss Meringue Buttercream.
And there’s a video so you can see how I made these delicious cupcakes! The video is on YouTube, and you can also watch it on this page.
I am making these Dulce de Leche Mocha Cupcakes to celebrate my husband’s birthday! My birthday was exactly one month ago, and I made a Dulce de Leche Mocha Cake to celebrate. So this recipe is pretty much that same cake, but in cupcake form.
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The frosting I used to frost these Dulce de Leche Mocha Cupcakes is a Dulce de Leche Mocha Swiss Meringue Buttercream, which is basically a regular Swiss Meringue Buttercream, with melted chocolate, dulce de leche, and espresso powder added.
And let me tell you, this frosting is absolutely fantastic! It’s a dream! Super fluffy, not overly sweet, light, and creamy!
Swiss Meringue Buttercream is always a good alternative if you are not into super sweet frosting types. It’s like a lightly sweetened cloud of goodness!
I mainly want to cover now some ways to troubleshoot Swiss Meringue Buttercream. It’s not a hard frosting to make, however, there are a few nuances you need to have in mind when making SMBC.
The meringue
Make sure the meringue is at stiff peaks when you start adding the butter in! If the meringue is soft, the buttercream won’t come together, it will be a soupy mess. This is very important!
You can see the proper meringue consistency on the video where I show you how to make these cupcakes. Check it out below!
The butter
Make sure the butter is at room temperature. And this means, the butter shouldn’t be cold, and it also shouldn’t be warm.
If the butter is losing its shape and when you poke it your finger will go right through it, it means it’s too warm for the buttercream.
The butter should be holding its shape nicely, but not be chill. It’s good to remove it from the fridge 1 to 2 hours before starting the buttercream, depending on how warm the kitchen is.
If the butter is too warm, the buttercream will be soupy and runny and never really get a creamy and thick consistency.
And if the butter is too cold, the buttercream will have lumps of butter in it, that won’t go away no matter how much you whip it or let it sit. I’ve made both mistakes a few times, so trust me.
Troubleshooting: If the butter was too warm when making the buttercream and the buttercream isn’t becoming creamy and thick, you can place the bowl in the fridge for 5 to 10 minutes, and then start whipping it again, and see if it becomes thick.
Also make sure that the melted chocolate has cooled down entirely before adding it to the buttercream, because you don’t want the warm chocolate to melt the butter in the frosting either.
Now let’s talk about the dulce de leche! You can make it homemade, or use store-bought.
Making homemade dulce de leche is super easy and only requires one can of condensed milk. I explain it down below on the recipe how to make it.
You can also use store-bought.
Here is my favorite brand of dulce de leche, I get it on Amazon:
If you love dulce de leche recipes, here are some more suggestions for you:
- Chocotorta
- Dulce de Leche Chocolate Cake
- Alfajor Cupcakes
- Dulce de Leche Thumbprints
- Dulce de Leche Vanilla Cake
- Dulce de Leche fudge
- Alfajor Cookies
- Dulce de Leche Bars
- Walnut Chocolate Cake
- Chocolate Dulce de Leche Cheesecake Pie
- Chocolate Bomb
Click here to pre-order my book Fantastic Filled Cupcakes! It includes 60 recipes of filled cupcakes!
If you love filled cupcakes, that’s the book for you 😉
Thank you for reading today’s post. Comment below if you make this recipe, watch the video on YouTube, and tag me on instagram I love to see your creations!
Dulce de Leche Mocha Cupcakes
Ingredients
Chocolate Cupcake
- 1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour (190 grams, 6.75 oz)
- 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (31 grams, 1.125 oz)
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
- 1/2 cup canola oil (107 grams, 3.8 oz)
- 1 cup brewed coffee (240 ml)
- 1 tbsp white vinegar
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup granulated sugar (200 grams, 7 oz.)
Dulce de Leche
- 1 14 oz. can condensed milk (if making homemade. If not, you will need 1 1/4 cup of dulce de leche)
Dulce de Leche Mocha Swiss Meringue Buttercream
- 2 oz chopped chocolate or chocolate chips (56 grams, 1/3 cup)
- 20 tbsp unsalted butter room temperature (283 grams, 10 oz)
- 4 large egg whites
- 1 cup sugar (200 grams, 7 oz)
- 1/4 cup Dulce de Leche (store-bought or homemade, recipe above)
- 1 tbsp instant espresso powder
Instructions
Chocolate Cupcake
- Pre-heat the oven to 350F. Line a pan with cupcake liners or grease it with butter and flour.
- Sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together in a large bowl.
- In another bowl, mix the oil, coffee, vinegar, vanilla and sugar.
- Pour the dry mixture over the wet ingredients. Whisk briefly, until incorporated.
- Distribute the batter evenly in cupcake pan. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean once inserted in the cakes.
- Remove from the oven and let it cool.


Dulce de Leche
- You can use pre-made dulce de leche, or make it at home. To make dulce de leche at home, you take many different approaches.
- My favorite way to make dulce de leche starts with an unopened can of condensed milk. Place the sealed can in a pressure cooker with enough water to cover it plus at least 2 inches.
- Then, bring the water to a boil and cook under pressure for 35 minutes.
- Let the pressure release naturally and let the condensed milk can and water cool down all the way before removing and opening the can.
- When you open the can, it will be a thick darkened caramel inside.
- Place the contents in a container and put it in the fridge until cold and firm.
Dulce de Leche Mocha Swiss Meringue Buttercream
- Remove the butter from the fridge 1 to 2 hours before you start to make this recipe (depending on how warm the kitchen is). We are looking for the perfect butter temperature and consistency. It shouldn’t be hard cold, and it shouldn’t be so soft that is almost melting or losing shape. Cut the butter into thin slabs and set aside.
- Melt the chocolate or chocolate chips in a small bowl by microwaving it for 15 second intervals, stirring in between. Let it cool until no longer warm.
- Meanwhile, put the whites and sugar in a heatproof bowl.
- Place the bowl on top of a small pot with simmering water.
- Whisk the whites and sugar until they temp 140 Fahrenheit. Basically you are looking to melt the sugar granules, and also make it so the egg white is in a safe temperature to be consumed.
- Once you achieve that temperature, transfer the syrup to your mixer bowl.
- Whip with the whisk attachment for about 2 minutes at medium speed, until the mixture looks white, and thicker. At this point, raise speed to high and continue to whip until fluffy and doubled in size. The meringue should have stiff peaks. It can take anywhere from 5-10 minutes to obtain stiff peaks.
- Stop the mixer and check the peaks, so you don’t over whip it.
- Once the peaks are stiff, start adding the butter that should be slightly softened.
- Add one slab of butter at a time.
- Wait for one piece of butter to be incorporated before adding the next one.
- This whole process could take about 15 minutes. At this point, the buttercream should be thick with a frosting consistency. If not, refer to the troubleshooting below on the notes.
- Once the butter is all incorporated add the dulce de leche, melted and cooled down chocolate, and espresso powder to the buttercream.
- Then beat for another minute or until completely incorporated.
- Make ahead:Â This frosting can sit at room temperature for up to 1 day. Store in the fridge for up to 4 days, or in the freezer, for up to 2 months. Remember to package it really well in sealed air tight containers, or in a zip loc bag, before freezing.
- To use it again, simply let it thaw until it comes to room temperature and beat it briefly to make it creamy again.
To assemble
- When the cupcakes have cooled down, use a spoon to remove the center of each cupcake.
- Place the dulce de leche in a piping bag and pipe in the center of each cupcake. Or simply spoon a small amount (about 2 tsp) of dulce de leche in the center of each cupcake.
- Top the cupcakes with the piece of cake you removed from the middle.
- Place the Dulce de Leche Mocha Swiss Meringue Buttercream in a piping bag fitted with the tip of choice.
- Pipe on top of the cupcakes.
- I topped my cupcakes with crispearls by Callebaut.
Storage
- The cupcakes will last up to 5 days in the fridge, well covered.
Cupcakes perfeitos, muito gostosos!!!!!!
gracias 🙂
These look amazing! Hopefully mine come out good too so I can make for my son’s birthday. I’m wondering tho.. can I omit the chocolate and espresso from the frosting and it still be stable? And just as good?
yes it will! it will be perfect!
Okay! Thank you so much!
Que delÃcia, Cá!! Sempre coisas gostosas!!!😋😋😋😋
Obrigada que bom que gostou 🙂
So freaking good!! I made these for a friend to celebrate and oh man, moist, rich, delicious and just so much goodness!! These are definitely on the list to make again!
That’s wonderful to hear thank you!!!