Tres Leches Cake

 

 For those of you who are lactose intolerant, I apologize.  I actually apologize from the bottom of my heart.  I love dairy.   My friend just unfortunately found out she has a light intolerance to dairy.  Maybe more than light, but light in the sense that she will still travel miles for frozen yogurt just to pay the price later.  Clearly, we are meant to be friends.  I would gladly suffer for frozen yogurt, cheese platters, and not to mention this Tres Leches Cake.  Oh, the suffering would be 3 fold?  Bring it on!

Tres leches is magic.  The three stars?  Evaporated Milk, Sweetened Condensed Milk, and Heavy Cream.  While it sounds intense and heavy, it's actually pretty light because the cake itself is somewhat light.  Maybe others would disagree, but I wouldn't judge someone if they ate 1/3 of the cake in one sitting.  Am I biased?  When I made it, I could easily be found eating for both dessert and breakfast the next morning.  So yes I'm likely biased. When I wanted to make this cake for a family dinner, my mom complained that it was going to be too rich and too much.  I did what I normally do.  Disagreed, didn't listen, and made what I wanted to!  (Just kidding Mom!) But it turned out great!  (and she agreed with me in the end).

 

What helps making this cake lighter than it normally is, is folding in the whipped egg whites.  After making the batter with just egg yolks, whip the whites to create some air, then fold them in gently so that the batter will be lighter and fluffier.  With this step, you have to be careful to keep the air in your egg whites and to not overmix the batter. Be gentle with them and only fold until they are incorporated!  If you have some spots of whites, that's ok!  Folding in the egg whites will make your cake taller and add some air so it won't be as dense.  And it'll create space so it can soak up all the dairy!!

Cook the cake, and cool it.  Get excited.  Then poke the cake with a fork all over. Go nuts. 
Then.... mix your milks, and soak that sucker!!! Let them soak in for about an hour, then top it with whipped cream.

Hello tres leches.  I love you.  I want to have you with tea during a night cap with friends.  Or during breakfast with some cinnamon on top. Maybe alongside some berries.  Maybe always and all of the time! So good!

The Pioneer Woman strikes again!  Her recipes have yet to fail me:

Ingredients

• 1 cup All-purpose Flour
• 1-1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder
• 1/4 teaspoon Salt
• 5 whole Eggs
• 1 cup Sugar, Divided
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla
• 1/3 cup Milk
• 1 can Evaporated Milk
• 1 can Sweetened, Condensed Milk
• 1/4 cup Heavy Cream

• 1 pint Heavy Cream, For Whipping
• 3 Tablespoons Sugar

Preparation Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9 x 13 inch pan liberally until coated.
Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Separate eggs.
Beat egg yolks with 3/4 cup sugar on high speed until yolks are pale yellow. Stir in milk and vanilla. Pour egg yolk mixture over the flour mixture and stir very gently until combined.
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.
Fold egg white mixture into the batter very gently until just combined. Pour into prepared pan and spread to even out the surface.
Bake for 35 to 45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Turn cake out onto a rimmed platter and allow to cool.
Combine condensed milk, evaporated milk, and heavy cream in a small pitcher. When cake is cool, pierce the surface with a fork several times. 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.
Allow the cake to absorb the milk mixture for 30 minutes. To ice the cake, whip 1 pint heavy cream with 3 tablespoons of sugar until thick and spreadable.
Spread over the surface of the cake. Decorate cake with whole or chopped maraschino cherries. Cut into squares and serve.