Tres Leches Cake

Delicious Disney Desserts, p. 19

CAKE

1 ¼ cups cake or pastry flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup canola oil

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

5 large eggs

1 ¼ cups whole milk, divided

1 cup sweetened condensed milk

1 cup heavy cream

1 tablespoon rum (optional)

MERINGUE

4 egg whites

1 cup sugar

For cake:

Preheat oven to 325F. Lightly grease a 13 x 9 x 2-inch cake pan.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a small mixing bowl.

Combine oil, sugar, and vanilla extract in a large mixing bowl. Add the eggs one at a time and mix thoroughly. Stir in ½ cup of milk and gently fold in the flour mixture until just combined.

Pour batter into cake pan and bake for 30 minutes or until it feels firm and an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Let cake cool to room temperature.

This is going to seem like a weirdly stiff cake, but keep reading and you'll see why that's necessary.

Pierce cake with a fork 30 to 40 times. Whisk together remaining ¾ cup of milk, sweetened condensed milk, 1 cup heavy cream, and rum (optional). Slowly pour over cooked cake. 

See? If you're going to douse a cake in three milks it needs to be stuff so it doesn't get soggy.

Refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

For meringue:

In a medium glass or stainless steel bowl, beat egg whites with an electric mixer on high speed until soft peaks form. With mixer running, add sugar in a steady stream, until stiff peaks form.

Spread over top of cake. Broil 1 to 2 minutes until meringue is golden brown. (A scant dusting of powdered sugar will help meringue nicely brown and add crunch.)

For whipped cream topping, combine ¾ cup heavy cream, 1 teaspoon vanilla, and 1 tablespoon sugar in a medium bowl. With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat mixture until peaks form. 

I always mess up meringue, so I went with the whipped cream topping (which I think is more traditional) and it was super-easy!

Spread over top of cake.

My Rating: 4/5 "I'll admit I've had better Tres Leches cakes at restaurants, but it was still super-cool to make one in my own house. It took it to a college event and my Great Plains students were a little scared of it because it was unfamiliar, but the ones who tried it said they'd never had anything like it. Personally, I'm a big fan of this dish and recommend giving this a whirl even if it's new for you. Just eat it quickly - something covered in milk is only going to last a couple of days, even in the fridge!"