Tres Leches Cupcakes

The DOCC '09 farewell party fell on Cinco de Mayo, so my contribution to the potluck reception was pretty much a foregone conclusion.

Tres Leches Capqueks
thanks to Cat Forp for the Mexican orthographic insight

For the sponge:
8 eggs, separated
1 1/3 C granulated sugar, divided
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 C all purpose flour
3 Tbs corn starch
1 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt

For the syrup:
3/4 C evaporated milk
3/4 C heavy cream
11 oz condensed milk (3/4 can)

Preheat oven to 350F. Line muffin tins with cupcake cups. This recipe makes slightly more than two dozen, so you may wish to set up a tin with mini-cupcake liners for the excess batter.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, vanilla, and 1 cup of the sugar until pale and fluffy. Add the flour, baking powder, cornstarch and salt. Mix until thick and gluey.

Meanwhile, in your stand mixer, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. Add 1/3 C sugar at the end. Don't go too far -- you want your meringue silky, not stiff. Fold meringue into the gluey batter. (Start with a little of the meringue to loosen it up, then gently add the rest.)

Fill cupcake liners about halfway. Bake at 350 F for 15-18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cupcakes should just be darkening to golden brown.

With a small paring knife, carve a cone out of the center of each cupcake as though you were going to fill them with actual cupcake filling. Since you won't be -- the milk soaks into the cake -- leave the cones intact. Don't eat them. :)

Whisk the three milks together in a large measuring cup. The resulting dairy product should be at once creamy, syrupy, and slightly sticky. Pour some into the hollow of each cupcake and replace the cone. When you've finished filling all the cupcakes, go back to the first one, remove the cone, refill with milk, replace the cone, and repeat for all the rest. The sponge will absorb the milk.

(If you make miniature cupcakes, don't bother carving out the cones, just poke the cakes with a toothpick and then douse them in milk.)

Refrigerate. Word has it that these improve the longer they sit.

I frosted mine with a stabilized cinnamon whipped cream:

1 tsp gelatine
2 Tbs cold water
2 cups heavy cream
2 tsp cinnamon (I like cinnamon! Use less for subtler flavor)

Chill the bowl and whisk attachment from your stand mixer in the fridge or freezer. The cream should be cold too. Sprinkle gelatine over cold water in a small bowl. Wait five minutes until it gels up. Pour cream into cold mixing bowl, add cinnamon, and begin to whip with cold whisk. Microwave gelled gelatine for ten seconds to liquefy. Drizzle into whipping cream. Whip totality to soft peaks, then just a bit more to hold the texture of your piping. Don't overwhip. Really, don't ever overwhip.