Recipe Tres Leches (3 milks) cake

medtran49

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Technically, there are 4 milks in this cake, but the 3 milks comes from the mixture of sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk, and cream (or half and half) that you pour over the cake after it is baked. There is a debate over where exactly this cake originated, but it is agreed that it came from Latin America. Even though there is a lot of sugar in this cake, it is really not that sweet tasting. It can be eaten without the whipped cream frosting as well, which makes it even less sweet tasting. BTW, since it's only the 2 of us, I halve this recipe and cook it in a 9x9 pan, with the cooking time cut down to 20-25 minutes.

Cake ingredients
6 eggs, separated
2 cups sugar
2 cups flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1⁄2 cup milk
2 teaspoons vanilla

Milk Sauce Ingredients
One 14-oz sweetened condensed milk
One 12-oz evaporated milk
1 cup heavy cream (or half and half)

Frosting
Something like Reddi-Whip
OR
2 cups heavy cream
1/2 tsp vanilla
3 Tbsp sugar

Grease and flour a 13x9 inch pan, make sure it is at least 2 inches high as this cake is a high riser. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Beat egg whites, slowly adding sugar, until soft peaks form. Mix in egg yolks and beat for 3 minutes. Mix flour and baking powder together. Also, mix milk and vanilla together. Add 1/2 of flour mixture to eggs/sugar, mix well. Add 1/2 of milk/vanilla, mix well. Repeat last 2 steps. Scrape bowl, mix for about 30 more seconds, then pour mixture into pan and level batter. I do that by picking pan up a few inches, the dropping it on the counter a few times. Works well and doesn't mess up an offset spatula that you have to wash :). Bake for 35-40 minutes until cake is golden brown on top and a tester comes out clean.

For milk sauce, mix all 3 ingredients together with a spoon until well blended. When cake comes out of the oven, poke holes with a toothpick or cake tester all over the cake and pour the milk sauce over, spreading with the spoon to cover the entire cake. If the cake is not level, you may have to lightly press down on it with your fingers or the spoon to level it out so the milk mixture spreads evenly. Let cake cool slightly, then refrigerate until totally cool before frosting.

To frost, either use the can of Reddi-Whip, or whip the cream, slowly adding in the sugar until you get medium peaks, add the vanilla and whip just until mixed in, frost. Cake will obviously need to be refrigerated. I like to use the Reddi-Whip as we eat it when it's just me and Craig since whipped cream sometimes separates if you don't use a stabilizer.

When you are ready to serve, let the cut pieces warm up a few minutes before serving. It is much better if it's not fresh out of the refrigerator.
 
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I have heard of this type of cake before but only because long ago someone else posted a recipe. It does sound very sweet! The only way I'm going to find out is to try to make it. So... that will be on my job list for next week. :D
 
I like to use the Reddi-Whip as we eat it when it's just me and Craig since whipped cream sometimes separates if you don't use a stabilizer.
I'm surprised at how well Reddi-Whip works. I would have turned my nose up at it before I made Emeril's banana cream pie. Besides having the taste you want, it's almost more important that it's easy to distribute to get the texture you want.

Your recipe looks great. I've had this sort of cake before, and you're right in saying that it's not as sweet as you might expect. But, it is still sweet, so I still like to have a cup of coffee when I'm having a piece.
 
I have got as far as making the cake - but no time today to do the rest. Do I need to warm up the cake before adding the milk sauce? I'm thinking it might not soak in properly otherwise. I realise I should have done it when the cake came out of the oven...
 
I have got as far as making the cake - but no time today to do the rest. Do I need to warm up the cake before adding the milk sauce? I'm thinking it might not soak in properly otherwise. I realise I should have done it when the cake came out of the oven...

Yes, I would warm it up a bit.
 
Done!

I halved the recipe - partly because I didn't have the right sized tin but also because there is really only my daughter who will eat this. I think my tin was too big for the mix really so the sponge didn't have quite he height it should have. But anyway....

The sponge after baking:

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The sponge after 'drinking' the three milks. This is a very thirsty cake!

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Decorated not too well - piping is not my forte. I sprinkled grated chocolate over the top.

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Then I decided to go free-form instead and mixed up the topping adding more cream, roughly chopped glacée cherries, and icing sugar:

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This looked quite good when cut into squares:

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I would add rum or cachaca if you can find it, maybe amaretto. Coconut rum might be good too.

Surprising isn't it how not sweet it is given all that sugar in the cake and the SWC milk.
 
I would add rum or cachaca if you can find it, maybe amaretto. Coconut rum might be good too.

Surprising isn't it how not sweet it is given all that sugar in the cake and the SWC milk.

Amaretto would be lovely! Yes its surprising re the sweetness. The basic sponge is not super sweet though.
 
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