Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 300°F. Line muffin tins with paper liners — use two 12-cup tins or have enough tins to hold all the batter (the Dominican Cake batter should yield about 3 dozen cupcakes, so you may need to bake in batches).
• Using an ice cream scoop, portion the Dominican Cake batter into the paper liners for uniform cupcake size and less mess. Fill the liners level with or slightly below the paper rim if you want flat tops for decorating.
• Evenly distribute the 1 cup of strawberry preserve across the cupcakes: place a small spoonful of preserve in the center of each filled liner so the preserve is contained in the middle of the batter.
• Bake in the preheated oven until the cupcakes are golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the cake portion (avoiding the preserve) comes out clean, about 20 minutes.
• Remove the tins from the oven. Let the cupcakes cool in the pans for a few minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely to room temperature before decorating.
• When fully cooled, top each cupcake with Suspiro. Spread the Suspiro into a flat layer on each cupcake using an offset spatula or the back of a spoon to smooth the surface.
• Finish the cupcakes as you like (additional decorations optional).