Tres Leches Cake, they say, is for Cinco de Mayo. I say, any day is a good day for this cake! About 3 years ago, I made this for my stepson’s Spanish class celebration and it was devoured! This past weekend gave me another opportunity to see what all the fuss was about as I didn’t have one bite of the one I sent to school. Since I never ate a slice of it, I thought I would make one to accompany our Cinco de Mayo meal of Chicken Enchiladas ! Those are outstanding, by the way! Fresh Salsa and avocado chunks as a topping create a burst of zesty flavors in each mouthful ! You must give them a try!
The base of this cake is a sponge cake. It’s perfect to allow the absorption of the milk syrup ! If you serve it slightly frozen, it’s like an ice cream cake. That’s easy to understanding considering all that goes into it! So to get started, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. These will be folded in last and very gently! What do you see in the picture below? A mermaid’s tail or a whale’s? I’m not trying to analyze you, I just thought this was a cool pic ! Add 1/4 cup sugar and continue to beat until stiff and a bit glossy.
In a different bowl, beat egg yolks with 3/4 cup of sugar until a light creamy yellow.
Mix in the milk and vanilla.
Pour egg yolk mixture over flour mixture and gently whisk in to blend together.
Gently fold in the beaten egg whites into the other ingredients into it until well combined. Do not overmix!
Spread out batter into prepared pan.
Bake at 375 degrees for about 35 minutes until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
Place foil wrap over pan can crease the edges, then flip it over onto a large rimmed sheet pan. Rest it on a cooling rack until cooled completely..
Using a fork, prick along edges of cake. Then, prick lengthwise at 1″ intervals as shown.
To make the syrup., blend together the sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk and heavy cream in a large measuring cup with a pourable spout.
Pour carefully around the edges of the cake first, followed by the fork tracks. Repeat until syrup is gone, using a consistent poring rate. Some will seep into the foil, but the lipped foil edges are there on purpose. Use a spoon to scoop up any excess syrup and drizzle it over the cake. What you can’t get with a spoon will probably be absorbed by the bottom of the cake while being chilled in fridge.
After chilling in the fridge, ice cake with prepared whipped cream. Place cake back in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
You have a couple of options here. Cut into the portions for serving and place in freezer. I actually used a long piece of dental floss to make the initial cuts through the cake followed by a plastic scraper(or a plastic knife). If you cut brownies while they are hot with a metal knife, it seems to rip the brownies apart as you slice across the pan. We’ve all been there when we are fighting a chocolate addiction. Plastic seems to make a cleaner cut without tearing them up so they appear like a broken pavement. I would, however, allow the brownies to cool for about 10 minutes before slicing. Now, back to the cake. Once the cake is frozen, cover it with either plastic wrap or foil. The pieces can be taken out as needed and thawed about 30 minutes before serving, Don’t forget the cherry on top!
Or, you can just eat it! You know you want a bite of this glorious Tres Leches Cake !Yes, please! With a cherry on top! What are you waiting for? YUMMMMMMM!!!
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 16
- 1 c. all purpose flour
- 1½ t. baking powder
- ¼ t. salt
- 5 large eggs, separated
- 1 c. sugar, divided
- 1 t. vanilla
- ⅓ c. whole milk
- Syrup:
- 1 c. evaporated milk
- 1 c. sweetened condensed milk
- ½ c. heavy whipping cream
- Topping:
- 2 c. heavy whipping cream
- 3 T. sugar
- Whisk together the dry ingredients in a bowl.
- Separate the eggs.
- In a separate bowl, beat egg whites on high until soft peaks form. Add ¼ cup of sugar into egg whites until stiff and glossy.
- In a third bowl, beat egg yolks with the remaining ¾ cup of sugar until;it's a creamy pale yellow.
- Blend the milk and vanilla into the egg yolk mixture.
- Pour egg yolk mixture over dry ingredients and whisk together gently.
- Add this to the bowl with beaten egg whites and gently fold them together until just combined.
- Pour this into a prepared 13" x 9" x 2" pan.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes. Toothpick inserted should come out clean.
- Cover with foil and flip over to cooling rack. Allow it to cool completely before proceeding to the next step.
- Using a fork, prick a line of holes around the edge of the cake, Then, continue to prick continuous horizontal lines 1" apart.
- Fold up the edges of the foil to catch any run off syrup.
- To create the syrup, whisk together the sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk, and the heavy cream. Pour it out of the spout of the meaasuring cup over all of the holes; repeat until no liquid remains. It may stand along the edges of the foil, but you can spoon any excess liquid back onto the cake ifnot absorbed within 10-15 minutes.
- Place cake in fridge and allow it to chill before icing,
- Using a cold metal bowl and beaters that were in the freezer for about 10 minutes, beat the whipping cream until peaks begin to form. Add the sugar and continue to beat until stiff, but not dry.
- Ice top and sides of cake and return to refrigerator until ready to serve.
- After serving, place in refrigerator.
