Guys Love Cooking: Tres Leches Cake
South America serves as the inspiration for this week's recipe. The Guys Love Cooking guys bring a traditional recipe across the Atlantic to welcome a few friends. This autumn is proving to be a great one so far here in Amsterdam. I am pleased to say our heating is still off, and that can only be good news!
Last weekend it was Halloween and we threw a party, not that we really celebrate this day. We thought it was a good idea just for some fancy costumes and for some home decorating. We had ten people over, so we kept the menu pretty simple as we did not have any intention to cook all day. However, we invested time and effort on our dessert, which is our recipe for this weekend. We had a couple from South American coming so we wanted to impress them with a classic recipe from that part of the world. There are quite a few variations of this cake, and I still have yet to taste one I do not like. Tres Leches, for those of you who do not speak Spanish , translates to Three Milks. Reason being is that the cake uses, as the name may suggest, three different milks: fresh milk, condensed milk and whipped cream.The combination of the three together makes the cake soft and fresh. This cake goes well either after dinner with coffee and bitterje, or simply with an afternoon cup of tea.
Tres Leches Cake
Prep Time: 20 minutes Cook Time: 20 minutes Total Time: 50 minutes Yield: 6 servings
Ingredients
Eggs: 6 large Sugar: 225 g (1 cup) Flour: 140 g (1 cup) Sweetened condensed milk: 1 can, 400 g (14 oz) Evaporated milk / coffee milk: 160 ml (2/3 cup) Coconut milk: 160 ml (2/3 cup) Dark rum (optional): 2-3 tbsp Powdered sugar: 1 tbsp Double (whip) cream: 350 ml (1 1/2 cup), stored cold Flaked coconut: 75 g (1 cup) Dark chocolate: 40 g, shredded Pistachio: a few, halves
Method
Start by pre-heating the oven to 160 C (325 F), and line a 33x23 cm (13x9 inch) glass baking dish with baking paper. Seperate the eggs into a medium bowl of egg whites and a big bowl of egg yolks. Mix the egg whites on high speed for 1.5 mins until medium peaks form. Then mix the egg yolks and sugar in high speed for five mins until lightened. Using a spatula, gently fold a third of the egg whites in the egg yolk mixture, and then add the remaining egg whites and fold again. Be careful not to mix too much in order to keep the cake light with bubbles of air later. Now, add the flour using a sieve, sifting it slowly over the egg mixture. Gently fold in again until there are no more white flour streaks. Again, do not mix too much to keep the cake light with air bubbles. Pour the batter into the prepared baking dish and bake for 20-25 mins until puffed and golden. Remove the baking paper and let the cake cool on a wire rack for 20 mins before placing the cake back into the glass baking dish. Meanwhile, combine the coconut milk, evaporated milk (or coffee milk) condensed milk, and rum if desired. Pour the liquid over the cake, and leave it to completely cool for 30 mins. Then cover with plastic wrap, and let cool in the fridge for at least 4 hours or overnight. Toast the flaked coconut until lightly golden. Whisk the double cream with powder sugar until peaks form. Finishing the dish: Top the cake with whipped cream and sprinkle the flakes of coconut, shredded chocolate and a few halves of pistachio.
Notes
Soaking time: 4 hours
