So, I'm not a cake person. As a matter of fact, I'm quite an anti-cake person. I seriously considered substituting my wedding cake with something other than cake, just because I really don't like cake. I ended up caving just for tradition's sake, but if you ask me what the cake tasted like, I can't tell you. It was a gorgeous cake though!
Tres Leches Cake happens to be the only cake I can't say no to. Maybe it's the fact that it's drenched in a mixture of evaporated milk, condensed milk, and heavy cream? Yeah, I think that's definitely it.
Note: This recipe was adapted from the The Pioneer Woman.
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
5 large eggs, separated
1 cup granulated sugar, divided
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup whole milk
1 can (12 oz) evaporated milk
1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk
¼ cup heavy cream
For the icing:
1 ¾ cups heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 ½ tablespoons sugar
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
Add the flour, salt and baking powder into a mixing bowl.
In another bowl, add the egg yolks & 3/4 cup of granulated sugar.
Beat the egg yolks until they turn become velvety and pale yellow.
Add in 1/3 cup of milk and 1 teaspoon of vanilla and stir the mixture together.
In another bowl (make sure it's super clean), add the egg whites. If the bowl has any greasy residue, it could prevent the egg whites from whipping.
Whip the egg whites for a few minutes, until they form soft peaks. Add in 1/4 cup of sugar, then whip the egg whites until they're very fluffy and form stiff peaks.
Add the egg yolk mixture into the bowl with the dry ingredients.
Stir the mixture together until it's just combined.
Then, fold in the egg whites, being careful not to deflate the mixture too much.
Pour the batter into a 9×13″ pan that's been lined with parchment and sprayed with cooking spray. I like draping the parchment over the edges of the pan, so that they form "handles". It makes pulling the cake out super easy.
Smooth out the batter with your spatula.
Bake the cake for 35-45 minutes, until it's golden brown. A good way to check if it's done is by inserting a clean toothpick into the center of the cake. If the toothpick comes out clean, it's done.
Allow the cake to cool completely, then remove the cake from the pan. Run your knife along the edge of the cake that's touching the glass, and then use the parchment handles to pull the cake out of the pan.
Place the cooled cake onto a large platter. Don't worry if the cake tears a bit when you pull it out of the pan, you're going to cover that up with whipped cream anyway.
Mix up the tres leches mixture by combining 1 can of condensed milk, 1 can of evaporated milk, and 1/4 cup of heavy cream. Shake it up to combine the mixture.
To make the icing, pour 1 3/4 cups of cold heavy cream into a mixing bowl along with 2 1/2 tablespoons of sugar, and 1 teaspoon of vanilla.
Whip the mixture until it's stiff and fluffy (about 1 minute on high speed). Place the whipped cream in the fridge, you'll need a little later.
Now to the fun part! Poke a bunch of holes in the cake, using a fork or a toothpik. Then, slowly pour the tres leches mixture over the cooled cake, making sure to douse it evenly. I find that using a basting brush is a good way to work the milk mixture into the edges of the cake. You want to use all but about 1/2 cup of the liquid. Save the rest for serving, if you want. Let the cake soak up the milk mixture for about 30 minutes before frosting it.
Once the cake has absorbed most of the liquid, dollop the whipped cream on top.
Use a spatula to spread the sweetened whipped cream into the cake. You can cover the sides as well, or leave them exposed. It's really up to you.
Now you're ready to serve! Just slice up a square, and devour!
