Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Tres Leches Cake



We've been trying to cut back on desserts, so I haven't been baking sweets recently. Steve is training for a marathon, and we are both trying to get back into shape after the holidays.

One exception was my birthday. I decided that I wanted tres leches cake. Pastel de Tres leches (Spanish for Three Milk Cake) is a sponge cake soaked in three kinds of milk - evaporated milk, condensed milk, and heavy cream. It is light and rich at the same time, usually topped with whipped cream and fresh fruit. The bakeries in our densely Hispanic Los Angeles neighborhood all serve a version of tres leches cake.

The cake came out moist and delicious. The amount of milk mixture was more than necessary, and probably could have been cut by 1/3. I also decreased the 1 cup of sugar for the whipped cream to a 1/2 cup. It made a perfect birthday cake. We topped it with cherries, blackberries and raspberries.

Tres Leches Cake (adapted from All Recipes)


1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 cup white sugar
5 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups whole milk
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 (12 fluid ounce) can evaporated milk
1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
1 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour one 9x13 inch baking pan. Sift flour and baking powder together and set aside. Cream butter or margarine and the 1 cup sugar together until fluffy. Add eggs and the 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract; beat well. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture 2 tablespoons at a time; mix until well blended. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake for 30 minutes. Pierce cake several times with a fork. Combine the whole milk, condensed milk, and evaporated milk together. Pour over the top of the cooled cake. Allow cake to soak in the milk mixture for at least 30 minutes. Whip whipping cream, the remaining 1 cup of the sugar, and the remaining 1 teaspoon vanilla together until thick. Spread over the top of cake. Keep the cake refrigerated.

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