Sunday, March 13, 2011

pastel de tres leches (three-milk cake)









My friend Melissa asked if I had any suggestions for a dessert to go with a Mexican dinner. I had ripped the following recipe out of a magazine a while back anticipating making it sometime but I hadn't gotten around to it so I gave it to her to try. Lucky me, I got to try it too!! It was really, really good. Really, really rich, too. A little bit goes a long way! Thanks, Melissa! Now I have a dessert for Cinco de Mayo!

pastel de tres leches (three-milk cake) (American Lifestyle Magazine)
1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
6 eggs
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
3 teaspoons Mexican vanilla extract
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 (13 ounce) can evaporated milk
3 cups heavy cream
fresh mangoes, strawberries, peaches, or other fresh fruit, sliced

Spray the bottom and sides of a 9x3-inch springform pan with vegetable cooking spray and set aside. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.
Combine eggs and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer and beat on high speed until doubled in volume, about 5 minutes. Reduce speed to low; add the water and 1 teaspoon of the vanilla. Mix well. On very low speed or by hand using a long spatula, gently fold dry ingredients into the batter.
Pour batter into the prepared pan and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until the cake is firm on top and has pulled away from the sides of the pan. Remove from oven and place pan on a rack to cool for 10 to 15 minutes. Turn the cake out on a serving platter, place a cake plate over the cake, and turn it right side up. Set aside to continue cooling.
While the cake is cooling, whisk together the sweetened condensed milk, the evaporated milk, the remaining 2 teaspoons vanilla, and 1 cup of the heavy cream; set aside.
Using a serrated knife, gently slice off the top skin of the cake and discard. Prick the cake all over with a long toothpick. (This will allow the cake to soak up the milk mixture.) Pour milk mixture over the cake in several batches, allowing it to soak in as much as possible each time. Refrigerate.
When ready to serve, pour the remaining 2 cups heavy cream into a chilled bowl and beat iwth chilled beaters until stiff peaks form. Pipe or spread the whipped cream on the top and sides of the cake and garnish with fresh fruit slices. Serves 8 to 12.

What I have to say- I got a subscription to Food & Wine for $5 so thought I'd give it a try even though we don't drink or cook with alcohol. My first issue features Tres Leches Cake with Strawberries and calls for 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon in the cake batter. I think I'll try that next time!

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