Tres Leches Cake

While talking to my mama recently, I was telling her that we had friends coming for dinner to celebrate Cinco De Mayo, not that I needed an excuse to have Mexican food, my f-a-v-o-r-i-t-e cuisine.   Our friends that joined us for our feast are Indian, so my mama say's "why are they celebrating Cinco De Mayo their not Mexican?"  Hmmm I then had to point out to my sweet mama,  neither am I.  😏

With our nationality taken care of it was time to focus on food, most importantly the dessert.  Tres Leches Cake or as some call it Three Milk Cake has been on my list to make for a long time.   This cake is soooo good!!!  Easy to make. Best made the day before, which is nice if you are having a dinner and you can make it and mark it off your list.  This dessert is perfect for summer or anytime.  

Spongy

Moist

Tres Leches Cake

Best Made The Day Before

Serves: 12

Ingredients:

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

5 whole large eggs, separated

1 cup granulated sugar, divided

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/3 cup whole milk

1 can Evaporated Milk

1 can Sweetened Condensed Milk

1/4 cup Heavy Whipping Cream

Maraschino Cherries, optional.  Drain and rinse in cold water.  Dry really well on paper towels to keep from bleeding on your Stabilized Whipped Cream Frosting.

Preparation:

1.  Preheat oven to 350'.  Spray a 9X13" pan with baking spray.

2.  Sift flour, baking powder and salt together in a large bowl.  Separate eggs.

3.  Beat egg yolks with 3/4 cup granulated sugar on high speed until yolks are pale yellow.  Stir in whole milk and vanilla.  Pour egg yolk mixture over the flour mixture and stir very gently until combined.
4.  Beat egg whites on high speed until soft peaks form.  With the mixer on, pour in remaining 1/4 cup sugar and beat until egg whites are stiff but not dry.

5.  Fold egg white mixture into the batter very gently until just combined.  Pour into pan that has been sprayed with baking spray and spread to even out the surface.

6.  Bake for 35-45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Turn cake out onto a rimmed platter or leave in pan as I did and allow to cool.

7.  Combine condensed milk, evaporated milk and heavy cream in a small pitcher.  When cake is cool, pierce the surface of cake with a fork several times all over the top.  Slowly drizzle all but about 1 cup of the milk mixture, try to get as much around the edges of the cake as you can.  Do this very slowly or the liquid will go straight to the bottom of the pan instead of soaking into the cake.

8.  Allow the cake to absorb the mixture for 30 minutes or so.  I actually covered it and put it in the refrigerator to get cold.   You want the cake to be cold before you put the frosting on.
9.  Make frosting using Stabilized Whipped Cream recipe below.  Frost cake.  Cover and Refrigerate!!!
Recipe adapted from: http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/tres-leches-cake/

Stabilized Whipped Cream

Ingredients:
1 pint heavy whipping cream
1 Tablespoon Jello Instant Vanilla Pudding Mix (dry)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup confectioners' sugar (or to taste)

Put all the ingredients in a large mixing bowl, preferably one that has been chilled.
Mix on low speed until ingredients are combined.
Mix on high speed until soft peaks form, scraping sides of bowl often.
Store tightly covered in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.