Wow, I had a long weekend! Friday night I went out to pick up my friend Miranda from downtown, and she didn't leave until yesterday. That's my excuse for no posts!
I baked some stuff tonight, and will bake more tomorrow night, but for now I'll use an old recipe for a post.
Tres Leches Cake! It translates to "three milks" which in this case, are, heavy cream, sweetened condensed milk, and evaporated milk. The cake is then iced and covered in whipped cream.
I originally found this recipe on Eating Out Loud:
http://www.eatingoutloud.com/2007/03/insanely-good-tres-leches-cake-recipe.htmlI thought it looked
insanely pretty so I decided to give it a shot! I loved how his two layer cake looked, so I didn't go with the 9x13 option or the rectangle cut in half option. I baked mine in 2 9-inch round cake pans. I also found it very interesting to have a cake "soaked" in a three milk mixture.
I let them cool and then "peeled" the tops off the cakes. I "iced" the sides of the bottom layer cake, and created a "lip" to catch the milk mixture. Then little by little I soaked the cake with the milk mixture. Topped it with whipped cream, put second layer on top, and repeated the previous steps. I have to say, I really went at the cake with the poking, so that it would soak up the milk mixture. I was a little afraid that it would look terrible once sliced, but there were no holes whatsoever when it was sliced after being in the fridge, so go nuts with the poking if you want!
I topped the cake with strawberry slices, and it was absolutely delicious. The strawberries really complemented the cake, so next time I think I'll puree strawberries and add them to the middle layer as well, just to make the strawberry flavour really
pop.Tres Leches Cake
from Central Cafe, El Paso TX (as published in Texas Monthly Nov. 1999)
Cake
9 Eggs (room temperature)
1 1/2 Cups Sugar
12 Tablespoons Butter (softened)
2 Cups All-Purpose Flour
1 1/2 Teaspoons Baking Powder
1 Cup Milk
1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1 Teaspoon Cream of Tartar
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Separate egg yolks and whites, keeping whites at room temperature. In bowl of an electric mixer, cream sugar and butter together until pale yellow and fluffy. Add egg yolks and beat until fluffy again, 2 to 3 minutes on medium-high speed. In a separate bowl combine flour and baking powder. In a third bowl mix milk and vanilla. Alternately add the flour mixture and the milk mixture to the butter mixture (a fourth at a time) until all are combined. Beat until smooth after each addition.
Beat egg whites with cream of tartar until soft peaks form and, using a large spatula, gently but thoroughly fold into flour-and-butter mixture. Grease bottom of a 9- by 13-inch metal baking pan. Pour in batter and bake for approximately 25 minutes, until golden brown. Allow to cool. (May also be baked in an 11.5- by 17.5-inch sheet pan for 20 minutes; this size rises very evenly, helpful for inexperienced cooks.)
Three Milks
2 Cups Heavy Cream
1 Five-Ounce Can (5/8cup) Evaporated Milk
1 Fourteen-Ounce Can (7/8cup) Sweetened Condensed Milk
Stir the milks together thoroughly; do not beat. Do not refrigerate canned milks before using.
Cream Icing
2 Cups Heavy Cream
1/3 Cup Sugar
Whip cream and sugar together until stiff. When cake is cool, slice or peel off the thin top crust. Ice sides first, creating a small lip on top to catch milk mixture. Pour milk mixture evenly over top of cake (if necessary, poke holes in cake with a knife or toothpick to facilitate soaking; you will probably need only 3/4of mixture). Finish icing top. (If using an 11.5- by 17.5-inch pan, cut cake in half to make 2 equal pieces. Soak first layer, ice top if desired, and place second layer on top of it. Proceed as above.) Chill cake immediately and allow to set for 2 hours (or overnight) before serving. Serves 12.
