Tres Leches Cake

I wanted to make Tres Leches (3 milks) cake for a recent birthday gathering, but had to search the internet for a recipe. This is a traditional Latino cake--my sources suggested Mexico, Texas, Miami, or even Equador or Nicaragua as the point of origin. In any case, it must be a relatively new tradition, since sweetened condensed milk has only been around since the 1800's.

This is a sponge cake soaked in the milks. A sponge cake has a firmer, eggier texture than the butter cakes most of us usually make, which I think would fall apart in all the extra liquid. My family really liked it--Len added it to his "top dessert" list which until now contained only cheesecake, apple pie, and hazelnut cake. It tastes light and fresh, but is actually rich with cream, eggs, and butter, so a little goes a long way!

This version of the recipe is my adaptation of several recipes I found online. The source I drew from most heavily is "Tres Leches III" by Marti on www.allrecipes.com.

Tres Leches Cake

8 eggs, separated (Put the whites in your mixing bowl.)
1 tsp cream of tartar
1/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup butter, softened
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 cup milk

2 cups heavy whipping cream or half and half
1 (5 ounce) can evaporated milk
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1-2 Tbsp rum, optional

2 cups heavy whipping cream
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup sugar
fresh fruit garnish, optional

1. Grease and flour a 9" x 13" pan. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large mixing bowl, whip egg whites and cream of tartar until foamy. Gradually add the 1/4 cup sugar and continue whipping until stiff peaks form. Scrape out into another bowl.
3. Cream butter and 1 1/4 cups sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg yolks one at a time, beating well after each addition, then stir in the vanilla. Combine flour and baking powder. Add the flour mixture alternately with the milk, beginning and ending with the flour. Beat for a minute or two.
4. Gently fold the egg whites into the cake batter using a rubber spatula. I added them in three or four increments rather than all at once.
5. Spread the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 30-35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool in pan for 20 minutes.
6. While cake is cooling, prepare the serving platter. I used a jelly roll pan because I wanted the raised edges. Line your platter with heavy duty foil. Turn the cake out onto this platter and let it cool completely. Poke many holes in the cake with a toothpick, skewer, or fork. Pull the foil up around the cake to enclose the sides (see picture). This will help keep the milks near the cake so they can soak in.
7. Whisk together the 2 cups cream, evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk, and optional rum (I forgot it) in a 4 cup measuring cup. Slowly pour milk mixture over the cake. Cover with plastic wrap and put in the refrigerator to soak for at least three hours (overnight is good).
8. At serving time, pull the foil back down. Whip the remaining 2 cups of cream with vanilla until soft peaks form. Then gradually add the 1/3 cup sugar and continue whipping until stiff. Frost cake, decorate with optional fruit, and serve cold.

Enjoy!

Notes:

• We served this with extra fruit on the side.
• It is best frosted just before serving, but the leftovers held up well for several days. I transferred the leftover portion to a glass baking dish so the plastic wrap would not touch the cake.
• Probably not all the milk mixture will soak into your cake. We used a "slurper" (okay, baster) to get rid of the excess before spreading on the whipped cream.

UPDATED AUGUST 2010:

I finally made my second Tres Leche cake, and have a few new tweaks to offer:

• I used half and half instead of heavy whipping cream in the mix of three milks to soak into the cake. It tasted just as good (and rich), so I added that option to the recipe above.
• The cake did a much better job of soaking into the cake than last time. I poked many, many holes in it and used a bit less than two cups of cream. I think my technique made the most difference, though: I flipped the cake onto heavy duty foil, but instead of leaving it on the platter overnight, I put it back into the baking pan. This gave the liquid less room to spread out away from with the cake. The next day I lifted it out and onto the platter.