Tres Leches Cake
- Total Time: 2 Hours
Description
I needed a cake of this description to send to school for the girls and The Pioneer Woman came through with flying colors. You can fancy it up by taking it out of the pan and icing it on a platter, decorating with cherries or fruit, or sprinkling with a garnish – it was easiest for me to leave it in the pan, frost it with whipped cream as recommended and sprinkle it with cinnamon. You need to allow for time for the cake to cool completely, I actually made it the day before and iced it the day it was going to be served…it was a huge hit – enjoy!
Ingredients
1 c. flour AND 1 1/2 t. baking powder AND 1/4 t. salt
5 eggs, separated
3/4 c. sugar (to be mixed with the yolks)
1 t. vanilla AND 1/3 c. milk
1/4 c. sugar (to be mixed with the whites)
After the cake has baked and cooled:
1 can (370 mL) evaporated milk AND 1 can (300 mL) condensed milk AND 1/4 c. cream
For the Icing:
1 or 2 c. whipping cream (you only need 1 cup if you leave it in the pan and only ice the top) whipped with 2+ T. icing sugar
cinnamon for sprinkling or cherries or fruit to garnish
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350 and generously grease a 9 x 13 pan – if you have a pan with higher sides I highly recommend using it! Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt in a large bowl and separate the eggs so that the yolks are in a medium bowl and the whites are in the bowl of your electric mixer.
Beat the egg yolks and the 3/4 cup of sugar (I used my hand-mixer), for a few minutes until the mix is a pale yellow and thickened, then stir in the vanilla and milk. Pour the egg yolk mix into the flour mix and stir gently to combine. Use your electric mixer to beat the egg whites until soft peaks form, then add in the 1/4 cup of sugar and beat again until stiff peaks form. Fold the egg white mix into the batter and then pour it all into your prepared pan and smooth out the top – the batter will be slightly springy…not a regular texture. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean and/or the middle temperature reaches 200 degrees, then either turn it out onto a platter to cool or leave it in the pan to cool completely.
Whisk together the 2 cans of milk and the cream in a bowl or pitcher with a pouring spout. When the cake is cool, pierce the surface all over – this is something the kids love to do! – I find a skewer works better than a fork. Slowly drizzle all but about 1 cup of the milk mixture over the cake, do this as evenly as possible and make sure to get all of the edges. If you use all of it, your cake could be soggy! Allow the cake to sit and absorb the milk for at least half an hour (I also did this the day before), and then ice it with as much whipped cream as you wish. Decorate right before serving, and I also highly recommend that you give yourself time to refrigerate the cake (before or after it’s iced) for a few hours before serving…there’s something heavenly about this cake chilled!
- Category: Cakes, Make-ahead
