Pinterest Summer Recipe Challenge: Tres Leches Cake

If you are a Pinterest addict like I am, you'll know that sometimes you pin ideas that you, for all intents and purposes, plan to try at some point. My recipe board, Nyam, is full of those. I decided that this summer, I'm actually going to make use of this board and try these recipes out. My goal is 1-2 recipes per week, and I'm calling it my Pinterest Summer Recipe Challenge. You can find more of my challengers here.

 

So here we go - my finale: Tres Leches Cake.

I've heard about this cake in the past, but for some reason assumed that it would be too difficult to make. On the contrary, it's really simple. This recipe is brought to you by the fabulous Pioneer Woman, whose blog has made her way into my daily blog digest. This is my first recipe that I'm trying out from her, but I've got my eye on a few more that I'll be checking out in the future.

I made this cake for my littlest brother's 21st birthday. I had been trying to find an excuse to make this cake (making it just for a family dinner didn't seem to be justifiable) and I don't even know if my brother knew what tres leches cake was, but too bad - I was commissioned to bake the cake and so I got to choose what kind. So there!

You will need:
1 cup of flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
5 eggs (don't crack em til I tell you to!)
1 cup of sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup of milk
1 can of evaporated milk
1 can of sweetened condensed milk
1/4 cup of heavy whipping cream

Icing:
1 pint of heavy whipping cream
3 Tbsp of sugar
optional: maraschino cherries

You will do:
1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
2. Spray a 9x13 baking dish with non stick spray.
3. Crack those eggs, divide the yolks and whites into separate bowls.
4. In a small bowl, beat the yolks with 3/4c of the sugar until it's well mixed.

stiff peaks

5. Add vanilla and milk to the yolk mixture.
6. In a large bowl, combine your flour, baking powder and salt.
7. Slowly pour the yolk mixture into the flour mixture, mix well.
8. In a separate small bowl, beat the egg whites until peaks form. As you continue to blend, pour the remaining 1/4c of sugar into the whites. You'll want the peaks to stand stiffly, but don't over beat because the whites will "break."

9. Gently fold the whites mixture into the rest of the batter. Don't mix for too long, just long enough for it all to get combined well. You will want the batter to be fluffy and airy.

when done, the cake will smell a little "eggy"

10. Pour the batter into the baking dish, pop into the oven for 35-45 minutes (mine took exactly 35 minutes). Stick a toothpick into it to make sure it's done, if it comes out clean you're good to go.

11. While the cake bakes, combine your evaporated milk, condensed milk and 1/4c of heavy whipping cream. Mix well.  I also added a teensy tiny splash of Bailey's - after all, it was for a 21st birthday cake!

12. Turn the cake upside down into a rimmed platter. Let it cool (20-30 minutes).
13. While the cake is cooling, start the whipped cream topping - on high speed, mix the one pint of heavy whipping cream with 3 tablespoons of sugar, until it's gorgeously whipped. Refrigerate until you're ready to serve the cake.

14. Take a fork and begin to poke holes into the cake.











15. Ever so slowly begin to pour the milk mixture onto the cake. You don't want to dump it all out at once, the idea is to have the cake soak up the milk uniformally. So drizzle in a design, watch it get soaked up, be sure to get all parts of the cake. Don't worry if it seems like the milk is going straight through the cake and pooling around the edges. Pour the entire mixture and come back in 20 minutes, it'll have soaked up all that sweet goodness.

16. When you're ready to serve, spread the prepared whipped cream over the top of the cake. Cut it into squares, serve with a maraschino cherry on top if you like.

 

And that, my friends, is the end of my Pinterest Summer Recipe Challenge. Sound off - which recipes did you try?