Tres Leche
It hit me this morning.
I was thinking about my blog, and the Tres Leche cake I made yesterday…..and wondering how I was going to explain that although the cake was yummy, and beautiful, it was just not my thing. I’m just not crazy about it. Several people have told me how great Tres Leche is, how moist and delicious and wonderful….I feel like I should be in love with every bite. But I am not. I started wondering to myself, “what am I missing?”.
That’s when it dawned on me. I am just not cool and worldly enough for foreign desserts. What was I thinking, spending my week preparing all these international goodies? Denial, that’s what it was.
Somewhere deep in the back of my mind, I wish I was one of those cool girls. The ones who prefer sushi to McDonalds. Me, I’ll take a Big Mac over a hunk of raw fish any day.
I wish I was one of those girls who, when you spend the day with them, they take you to all these cool vintage stores that noone knows about. They know the owner by name, and they go right to the rack with the best stuff. Of course, you both leave with awesome, cheap clothes and everyone will be asking where you bought them. And you will say “Oh…this little vintage shop I go to…”.
Cool, vintage shopping, sushi eating girls also listen to really awesome, obscure bands with weird names. They know all the really great dive bars where the bands will be performing, places where I would never be cool enough to go.
Cool, in the know girls are cut out for cool, foreign desserts. A commercialized, Big Mac loving, American Eagle shopping, Britney Spears listening housewife like me just can’t appreciate it properly.
Please don’t misunderstand me. This cake was beautiful and moist, and as far as Tres Leches cakes go, I’m pretty sure this is one of the best recipes out there. I definitely recommend giving it a try. But if you don’t love it, don’t beat yourself up. Just go grab a Twinkie….they make everything right again.
I got this recipe from
The Best of America’s Test Kitchen 2009: The Year’s Best Recipes, Equipment Reviews, and Tastings
America’s Test Kitchen cookbooks are some of the best out there. They also have a show on PBS and they actually experiment on recipes until they come up with the best one. All of their recipes are very detailed and if you follow them, you should get perfect results every time. If you are interested in cookbooks at all, make it a priority to add one of theirs to your collection.
Ingredients
- 1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk
- 1 (12 oz) can evaporated milk
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (my flour was the bleached kind and it
- was fine)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
- 1 cup whole milk
- 4 large eggs, at room temperature (to bring eggs to room temperature quickly, set them in a bowl of warm water)
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Instructions
- Pour the condensed milk into a large microwave-safe bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Microwave on low power, stirring and replacing the plastic every 3 to 5 mintues, until slightly darkened and thickend, 9 to 15 minutes. Remove the bowl from the microwave and slowly whisk in the evaporated milk, cream and vanilla. Let cool to room temperature.
- Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat oven to 325. Grease and flour a 9x13 baking pan. Whisk the flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon in a large bowl. Heat the butter and milk in a small saucepan over low heat until the butter is melted; set aside off heat.
- With an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the eggs in a large bowl for about 30 seconds, then slowly add the sugar until incorporated. Increase the speed to medium-high and beat until the egg mixture is very thick and glossy, 5 to 7 minutes. Reduce the speed to low and slowly mix in the melted butter mixture and vanilla. Add the flour mixture in 3 additions, scraping down the bowl as necessary, then mix on medium speed until fully incorporated, about 30 seconds. Using a rubber spatula, scrape the batter into the prepared pan and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 30-35 minutes. Transfer the cake to a wire rack and let cool for 10 minutes.
- Using a skewer, poke holes at 1/2 inch intervals in the top of the cake. Slowly pour the milk mixture over the cake until completely absorbed. Let sit at room temperature for 15 mimutes, then refrigerate uncovered for 3 hours or up to 24 hours (this gives the cake time to absorb the milk mixture, so the longer it sits, the better).
Top with whipped cream before serving. The recipe recommends making your own, but I used Cool Whip, and it was just fine.
I hope you are cool enough to appreciate this dessert!! Enjoy!!
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You know, I like familiar desserts myself. I live in Guatemala and ALL the cakes are so soggy . . . I like a nice dry cake myself! :) I haven't made Tres Leches, but it is a big hit around here, so I suppose I'll have to try it soon.
I am all about familiar!!! I think next time I would use less liquid for this cake…I am not crazy about soggy cakes either!!
I tried my first tres leches this week. I got the recipe from Joy The Baker….and I wanted to like it SO BAD. But.
But.
Soggy coconut cake just did not do it for me. Nor for the hubby. My 16 month old adored it, though!
Ah well, at least now we can say we tried it, right? Love your site!
Hi, I am from Costa Rica, and I just started to read your blog this week, I love it!! and I love to bake, but I am just on experimenting stage, so, cakes come out great, but I am not a very skillful cake decorator. Well, back to the Tres Leches… Tres Leches is a classic down here, almost every restaurant offers it on their menu as a dessert; we do not consider it much of a cake, even when it is made over a cake base, and it might have some variations; but this is our classic recipe, I hope it helps you.
Cake:
6 eggs
2 Cups flour, all purpose.
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon of vanilla
Milk mixture:
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 can evaporated milk
1 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup rum
Cake:
Preheat oven at 350 F degrees
Sift together flour and baking powder, set aside.
Beat the eggs until they get to three times their volume, slowly add sugar and vanilla and beat to combine, slowly, fold in the flour mixture. Pour over a greased and floured baking pan (of about three liters of capacity), and bake for 30 min or until it passes the toothpick test. Remove from the oven and let is refresh for 15 min, do not remove from the pan, pinch the surface of the cake with a fork, make as much little holes as you can (this is to help it absorb the milk mixture) and pour the milk mixture about a cup at a time making sure the previous cup has been absorbed by the cake before pouring the next one. At the end it will be completely soaked. You can cover it with whipped cream, or you can user Swiss Meringue and decorate with sprinkles, or canned sliced peaches, even fresh strawberries. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours, serve and enjoy.
Milk Mixture:
Pour the ingredients on a Blender and mix until well combined.
Thank you for sharing this article with us! I believe there will be more people like me, they can find many interesting things in this article of you!
I would utilize less fluid for this cake… I am not wild about spongy cakes either. I haven’t made Tres Leches, however it is a major hit around here, so I assume I’ll need to attempt it soon.
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wow, this dish looks delicious, i also want to try it for my family to eat, thank you for sharing the way.
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