Tres Leches Cake

I love, love, love MILK!!! In fact, between my 3 year old and myself, we go through a couple gallons a week! So of course a recipe called Tres Leches (THREE MILKS) Cake would catch my attention.

The first time I ever sank my teeth into a piece of Tres Leches Cake was about a year ago when Ryan took me to this amazing restaurant in New Jersey called Cuban Pete's. (This is now our all-time favorite restaurant.) I remember ordering this cake for dessert. It was an airy, fluffy cake, so moist and just soaked full of milk, yet not soggy at all. A perfect way to end our wonderful dinner that night.

I was anxious to try and make my own Tres Leches Cake. I found this recipe while admiring The Pioneer Woman's website. She has so many wonderful recipes with amazing photos! The posting for her Tres Leches Cake has easy to follow directions and a picture for each step! She could not have made it any easier to make your own cake so I tried it out this weekend. It was delicious! Such a light and airy cake, drenched in sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk, and heavy cream. A milk lovers dream!

I was afraid the cake would become soggy the following day, but it was even better than the day I made it! (It also tastes great for breakfast!!! haha) So check out the recipe below or go directly to the Pioneer Woman's site if you want to see those step-by-step pictures.



Tres Leches Cake
Source: The Pioneer Woman

INGREDIENTS:
1 c. Flour
1-½ t. Baking Powder
¼ t. Salt
5 whole Eggs
1 c. Sugar, Divided
1 t. Vanilla
⅓ c. Milk
1 can Evaporated Milk
1 can Sweetened Condensed Milk
¼ c. Heavy Cream
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FOR THE ICING:
1 pint Heavy Cream, for Whipping
3 T. Sugar

DIRECTIONS:
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 c. 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 c. 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 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 at least 30 minutes. To ice the cake, whip 1 pint heavy cream with 3 T. of sugar until thick and spreadable.
Spread over the surface of the cake. Optional: Decorate cake with whole or chopped maraschino cherries or strawberries. Cut into squares and serve.