As many of you know Monica and I are baking our way through Martha Stewart’s Cupcake book. This month’s cupcake choice fell to me and I chose the Tres Leche cupcakes. (Go check out Monica’s little beauties!)
Hmmm, where do I start. I’m trying really hard to be objective but the truth is I wasn’t totally thrilled with these. Martha, me and you can’t be friends if your recipes aren’t working for me!
I wound up making these twice. The first time I halved the recipe and my cupcakes came out hard and rubbery. Okay, no problem perhaps my calculations and measurements were off. I gave Monica a call to see how hers turned and after finding out they were fine I decided to give the recipe another go.
With my second try I decided to make the whole recipe but only bake 6 cupcakes and use the rest of the batter to bake an 8 inch cake. This time around I made certain to beat my egg whites until they were almost stiff (Hi, Donna !!) and they held up when I added the rest of the ingredients. I gave Monica another call and after exchanging notes and photos it appeared that everything went well this time. 
Except for making a cake along with the cupcakes my only change to the recipe was to slowly pour the milk mixture over the cupcakes and cake instead of brushing it on. I stored the unfrosted cupcakes and cake in the fridge over night so they could hopefully soaking up the last of the milk mixture. I frosted them the following evening with cinnamon whipped cream (I followed Monica’s suggestion and added the cinnamon to the whipped cream. YUM!!) though they never completely soaked up the tres leche mixture.
We ate the cupcakes the night after I baked them and they were surprisingly good. The boys even liked them so much 
they asked if there would be more for tomorrow. I told them yes as I still had the cake. The cake; now the cake is a whole other story. It was a disappointment. The bottom of the cake never really soaked in the tres leche mixture and the top, it soaked in too much and was soggy. If you’ll take a good look you can see in the bottom photo a line on the top edge (which is actually the bottom as I flipped out the cake to frost and serve it.) which was a rubbery hard eggy “crust”.
Would I make this again? Yes, just probably not this recipe and at this point I’m not even sure Martha and me can continue our friendship. I’ve made 5 recipes out of Martha’s cupcake book and three out of the five have been a disappointment. Could it be me? Possibly but I’d like to think not as it seem to only have trouble with her (cupcake) recipes. If your looking for the recipe you better mosey on over to Monica's and I’m not even going to suggest buying the book. The majority of the recipes can be found online.
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54 comments:
So the cake version didn't work out, but I think your cupcakes look excellent! I love how soft and pillowy your whipped cream looks. I think next time I make these (if there is a next time) I'll add cinnamon to the whipped cream like you did- it's so pretty.
I'm hoping the next cupcakes we make are winners! I promise I'll pick a good one Ingrid! I'm not letting you give up just yet :-)
As always...nice chatting with you!
They look yummy, but I'm glad for your honesty! Looking forward to seeing what you ladies do next. Hoping you & Martha can patch up your friendship. :o)
elle
I can finish this up!yep, the whole thing..
I do love tres leche, sorry your first batch wasnt so good, but the second batch looks yummy. So moist and tempting....
That's too bad about how they turned out. Maybe this recipe can only work as cupcakes? Either way, I think you're a trooper for giving the recipe a second go!
well, they look good! glad to hear the second batch came out tasting better. Don't give up on Martha! I have trouble with those "stiff peaks" too ;)
cupcakes are better anyway. and good grief, ingrid--i know tres leches cakes are moist, but those are ridiculous! superior creation--love the dollop of frosting too. :)
Sorry that this book isn't working for you, although it helped me decide not to buy it. But, on the other hand, your cupcakes look fantastic!!
OMG, those look to die for! A fantastic treat!
Cheers,
Rosa
I've never seen cupcakes like this before - what are they doused in? Did I understand right that it's milk? (And maybe sugar?)
Oh man they look awesome! Too bad they didnt taste as good! Keep trying there have to be some great recipes in there...it is Martha after all?
The cupcakes look scrumptious! Sorry about the cake bottom. I'm surprised that Martha's recipes aren't working out so well!
I'm glad to discover your blog. Everything looks great. Thanks for all the comments to my blog. Yes, it should have said baking soda. Thanks again.
Your cupcakes look great. Sorry the cake didn't turn out as you expected.
Mimi
well, i'm sorry that it all didn't work out, but it looks absolutely scrumptious adn it sounded like the cupcakes were a hit!
It's a bummer when recipes don't turn out as good as you hoped. Both the cupcakes and cake look pretty.
I think the cupcakes look great, Ingrid. And the dollop of cinnamon whipped cream is the perfect finishing touch.
I do hope you and Martha can patch things up. You're a trooper to do the recipe twice. I think I'd have probably thrown in the towel and called it quits!
Looking forward to whatever you ladies come up with next.
I'm sorry to hear that you and Martha aren't getting along well. I'd like to help with Tres Leches advice, but the only things I can come up with about your cake troubles is that you didn't poke your holes all the way to the bottom of the pan and/or slide a knife around the edges of the cake before pouring on the milk mixture. If you pour the milk over while the cake is warm, it works best. The dryness could also mean that you need to use additional milk. This often is the case at my house. I made a 3Leches just last Friday and had no troubles after adding the additional milk. Try Recipe Girl's recipe. It is a dream!
I think the cupcake looks really nice and delicious. I'm surprised the cake wasn't successful to your liking, sees like a good idea, but I have never made a cake like this.
I'm sure you and Martha will patch things up soon, grins.
Love tres leches cakes and the ideas of having my very own is great! Thanks for asking about the book. I had to put it down for a bit as I am now teaching 2 science classes, only 6 hours per week in the classroom, but still. I think about the plot all of the time so as soon as I get anything worthwhile down I make give you a shout! Thanks!!
It's not you. Martha's recipes are often bummers, for some reason. (I'm going to post tomorrow about one of them, too! Though it's from my archives.)
Ingrid- I have to say this (I hope Martha is not reading this). When I first started baking and cooking, I found that I had a terrible time with her recipes. Now that I have been cooking and baking for ahh. quite a while, I find that I can make them but I have to tweak them a little. See Abby above says it too.
Thanks for your honest feedback...even though the cupcakes didn't turn out, it made for an interesting read! LOL
michelle
Wow! It's so enticing. They are really beautifully made. Another post that made my mouth water again! Nice! Thank you for the never ending sharing of good foods.:) Really appreciate it.:)
Although, you're not happy with your cupcakes, they still look great. Tres leches cake is one of my favorites but I've never made them in cupcake form. These look gorgeous!
3 out of 5 is not very good. Too bad about the cake. It will be interesting to see what the next cupcake brings!
Martha recipes never turn out as I expect them to - so don't feel badly! These look amazing... and I'd imagine they tasted pretty stellar... even if they weren't quite "it".
Hi Ingrid,
Regardless of how they turned out they look good. But I know how you feel. I get terribly frustrated when a recipe doesn't turn out well. Ughhh! Knowing how ticked off I get I probably would have burned her book by now!
They looked really lovely anyway.. Pretty.:)
Stiff.. on of my favorite words, stiff drink, stiff...
I haven't tried this recipe yet, but I had some issues with my tres leches cake from America's Test Kitchen. I did the full cake thing, and mine didn't soak up all the way either. But the cupcakes looked pretty good! I'm sorry Martha's letting you down. :(
That's really disappointing when a recipe doesn't turn out to be as good as you'd hoped. It's super disappointing when it happens several times from the same book. I'm with you, after a couple of tries, if I'm not loving the results, I quit trying recipes from a particular book. And don't you love it when the opposite happens, when you halfheartedly try something from a cookbook you've picked up somewhere and it turns out to be GREAT? Then you want to just keep going. I once bought a used book (I think from the dump!) that was a collection of favorite recipes from people who were in a cooking & crafts book club; I think I paid a dollar for the book, and have made about 15 things from it; everything has been fabulous :) Who would have guessed?
Tres leche cakes can be tricky, but living in Florida (with a couple friends who are great Cuban cooks) I have a recipe that turns out every time. (Haven't posted it yet)
In the end, it doesn't matter- because your cupcakes did turn out! It's a really rich cake and a cupcake is plenty big enough.
Sorry these didn't work out as well as you would have hoped by tres leches cake is really tricky to make and requires some practice. So it's not your fault.
I've actually never made any of Martha's cupcake recipes. It can be so frustrating when a recipe doesn't turn out as expected. At least the 2nd batch came out well, and they really do look delicious!
Aw, sorry this recipe was difficult! Sometimes me and Martha fight, too. At least the boys really enjoyed the cupcakes!
Hi Ingrid, you'll never believe how many times I've tried to halve the ingredients and ended up with a dissapointment.... I suppose you win some you loose some with this regard, as you can't always make all those cup cakes ...eitherway... at least some of it was salvaged and made your boys happy... I was actually thinking of getting Martha's cup cake book btw ...not sure what to do now...?
I'm still too nervous about soggy cake so I've never tried tres leches. I'm glad the cupcakes turned out! Sometimes Martha's recipes don't always turn out. I usually like to use them for ideas.
I'd definitely love one of those right now :)
I heart tres leches. Too bad this recipe didn't work out the way you imagined.
Those look pretty....but I appreciate your honesty about your baking adventures!!!
By the way, thanks for checking up on me! I am still here, just insanely busy with my boys and their sports!@!
I've never tried Martha's recipe, but when I make tres leches, I never unmold the cake. I bake and serve it in a shallow casserole dish and it stays well contained and soaks up all the milk. Your cakes are beautiful!
It's a shame they didn't work out--I like dulche de leche!
Sorry they weren't a winner. Great photos though!
Ingrid,
Thanks for the sweet comments on my blog:
http://getoffyourbuttandbake.blogspot.com
Those cupcakes look fabulous!
I think I will make those very soon.
Thanks again,
Jonna
Hey Ingrid...I have wondered how these recipes would turn out! I do have the book. I probably won't try this particular one out as I don't care for tres leches cake (gasp!). I will try some others out sometime - but if anything, its a good book for decorating ideas.....right?! ;-)
I'm so sad the recipes haven't been very good for you! I have made a few and have mostly been happy, but I think I really like the decorating ideas more than anything. The cupcakes do look good, though!
They look super cute as cupcakes!
Those look insanely delicious! We're supposed to start making tres leches cupcakes at work soon! :D
sorry you didn't like this one so much... i have a good tres leches recipe hidden somewhere..if you are interested in it you can email me and i can see if i can dig it up :)
Don't feel bad about the recipes not working for you- I have a cupcake cookbook I bought because the recipes were so cute and the decorating was so pretty... And every recipe but one that I've tried has turned out awful. I also have a cookie cookbook that the same thing happened with. Very frustrating.
(But your cupcakes are cute!)
I've only tried this kind of cake once but it sounds even better in your photos!
Oh man! Martha and I can't be friends if her recipes aren't working, either! But I'm glad you tried them again and that the cupcakes worked out well!!!
Umm..like major yum to these and snickerdoodle blossoms. Wow, I've missed a few, huh? Your photos are killing me..that macro is insanely dangerous to the booty!
Woah~ I can't believe Martha made a mistake in baking cupcakes! LOL!
But hey, they still look really good... I love milk. :D
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