International Recipes
Tres Leches Cake
(Cake of Three Milks - Nicaragua)
This cake must be served ice cold. If you do not have a rimmed platter large
enough to hold this cake, then cut the cake in half and serve it on two platters.
Ingredients
Cake
- 9 egg yolks
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups flour
- 1/2 cup milk mixed with 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 9 egg whites
Three-Milk Filling
- 3 egg yolks
- 2 cups cream (or combination of 1 cup creamand 1 cup sour cream)
- 1 (5 ounce) can evaporated milk
- 1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon rum or favorite liqueur
Swirl Frosting
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 cup light corn syrup
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 3 egg whites
Instructions
- Cake: Butter a 13 x 9-inch glass baking pan. Set oven rack in the center
of the oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Beat yolks and sugar until thick and pale, about 1 minute. Add vanilla extract.
Add flour alternately with milk mixture.
- Beat egg whites to stiff peaks. Fold about one-third of the whites into
the batter to lighten it, then fold in all the egg whites until completely blended.
Pour batter into the prepared baking pan. Bake 30 to 35 minutes. Cool on a rack
in the pan. When cool, invert onto a large serving platter with a rim.
- Three-Milk Filling: Beat yolks well. Bring 1 cup of the cream to a boil.
While beating, slowly pour cream into the yolks and continue beating until foamy
and cooled. Add remaining cream and evaporated and condensed milks and beat
thoroughly. Mixture will not peak. Add vanilla extract and rum.
- Swirl Frosting: Bring water, corn syrup and sugar to a boil over medium-high
heat. Cook until it's a clear syrup that can spin a thread (230 degrees
F to 234 degrees F). If sugar browns, it will become too caramelized and frosting
will be stiff.
- Meanwhile, beat egg whites until stiff. Still beating, add hot sugar syrup
in a slow stream; continue beating about 5 minutes or until glossy, fluffy and
stiffly peaked and somewhat cooled.
- When cake has cooled, punch holes in it with the end of a wooden spoon.
Slowly pour the filling over the cake so it can absorb all the filling. Swirl
frosting on sides and top of cake in big strokes.
Refrigerate for at least 3 hours or overnight.