Recipes: Tres Leches and Mixed Fruit
Tres Leches cake is another one of my go to desserts. Its easy, quick, and a crowd pleaser. I first started making it about seven years ago when I bought an Emeril Lagasse cookbook for children. It was essentially a variety of recipes from around the world catered to kids. I'm not ashamed to say that I still use it today!
I was asked to make a cake for a birthday a few days ago in Madrid and I wasn't quite sure what to do. I couldn't do anything too complicated because of time and lack of materials. Growing up, and even today, my family would always go to Diana's Bakery in San Francisco for tres leches birthday cakes. They had two layers, were filled with fruit (strawberry, peach, pineapple, etc.), and iced with a whipped cream frosting. So, I figured I could try to imitate this cake using Emeril's recipe. Below is Emeril's recipe! At the end I will note the changes I made! I'll also attach a link to Dianda's Bakery's website!
Instructions
- 1 tablespoon vegetable shortening
- 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- 6 large eggs, separated
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 cup whole milk
- 1 1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 (12-oz) can evaporated milk
- 2 (14-oz) cans sweetened condensed milk
- 3 cups heavy cream
- 1 tablespoon confectioner's sugar
Instructions
Position rack in bottom third of oven and preheat the oven to 350F.
Lightly grease a 13 by 9-inch baking pan with 1 tablespoon of the shortening. Add 1 tablespoon of the flour to the greased pan and shake it around to coat the entire pan with the flour. Shake out excess flour. Set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachments, beat the egg whites on medium speed until soft peaks form. Reduce the speed to low and gradually add the sugar with the mixer running, beaten until stiff peaks form.
Add the egg yolks on at a time, beating well after each egg is added.
In a small mixing bowl, sift together the flour and baking powder.
Add the flour mixture to the batter in stages, alternating with the whole milk, beginning and ending with the flour. (Do this quickly so that the batter does not lose its volume.) Add 1 teaspoon of the vanilla extract. Pour batter into the prepared pan and place in the oven.
Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Using oven mitts or pot holders, remove the cake from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes..
In a blender, combine the evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk, and 2 cups of the heavy cream. Replace the cover and blend on high for 45 seconds.
Remove 1 1/2 cups of the milk mixture, cover, and refrigerate until ready to serve the cake.
Pour half of the remaining milk mixture over the warm cake.
When the cake has soaked up most of the liquid, pour the remaining half of the milk mixture over the cake, and cool to room temperature. Cover and refrigerate until well chilled, at least 4 hours or overnight.
When ready to serve, beat the remaining cup of heavy cream in the electric mixer until soft peaks form. Add the confectioner's sugar and remaining 1/4 teaspoon of vanilla, and beat until stiff peaks form. Spread the whipped cream over the chilled cake.
Serve the cake with the reserved chilled milk sauce.
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To make a layered cake I made the recipe twice and instead of using a rectangular baking pan I used a round one. I think it was 9-inch. Originally I was going to fill the cake with whipped cream and slices strawberries, cover the whole cake in whipped cream, and then decorate it. But......as I was whipping the cream I spilled some water in the bowl and the cream curdled!!! I had already filled it with some other whipped cream I made and the strawberries, but still, I started panicking. I'm a perfectionist and when something doesn't turn out as I expected, especially when I spent so much time, I get upset and lose my cool. I was almost tempted to throw the cake out! Nevertheless, I had to present the cake, so I had to improvise. I still had some strawberries left and I had bought some kiwis. I also found a can of peaches in the cupboard so I sliced everything up and decorated the cake! Even though it didn't come out exactly as I wanted, it still came out delicious and everyone loved it!
