I had been in a non-baking rut. If that's a thing!
With Dohful orders, new product launches, and the coffee videos being uploaded on Instagram, it had been a long long time that I had done any real baking.
And ever since the new studio was completed, and we arranged all my baking paraphernalia together, I had been dying to get my hands buttery and get baking again.
So as soon as I got the chance, I decided to bake the one thing I had been wanting to try out since long - the Tres Leches Cake. The cake is so called because of it being soaked in three kinds of milk, resulting in a super moist, melt in your mouth kind of cake.
And don't believe me if you wont, but it is seriously impossible to go wrong with this cake. It is so hard to mess up, that it forms the perfect dessert for any dinner party or get together you're hosting.
Plus this cake is mandatorily refrigerated overnight so you can do all the preparation a day before. And viola, you have the dessert ready in just minutes.
What would a perfect Tres Leches Cake be like?
The Tres Leches is a super airy and light cake that is baked till its golden brown on the top and completely cooked from within. The cake needs to absorb a lot of liquid (the three milks, remember) so the airyness is needed to hold all this liquid.
The final result is moist, not dripping wet and light, not at all dense with subtle flavours and fruity freshness.
Baking Equipment needed
Sheet Pan - This cake is typically made in a rectangular baking dish that isn't very deep, but you can use any rectangular or square dish (yes, your brownie pan will also do!).
Hand Mixer - Though this cake is not very difficult to mix by hand, the butter and sugar definitely need to be creamed together nicely for the cake to become airy and light. So a hand mixer is recommended, but you can definitely achieve the same result with a hand whisk as well.
Spatula/Wooden Spoon - To mix in the final batter.
Mixing Bowls - To mix the batter in.
Weighing Machine, Measuring Cups & Spoons - To measure all the ingredients precisely.
Ingredients
For the Cake -
- Milk - 100 g
- Curd - 100 g
- Sugar - 150 g
- Butter (room temperature) - 100 g
- Flour - 200 g
- Baking Soda - 1/2 tsp
- Baking powder - 1 tsp
For the Soak -
- Milk - 3/4 cup
- Condensed Milk - 1/2 cup
- Cream - 1/2 cup
For the Toppings -
- Whipping Cream - 1/2 cup
- Cinnamon powder - 1 tsp
- Fresh Strawberries (or any tangy fruit)
Method
- Pre-heat your oven to 350℉ or ~180℃.
- We'll start with mixing the milk and the curd in a bowl. After the two are mixed, we'll add the baking soda and baking powder in this milk + curd mixture and set it aside to bubble up. This will make our cake batter really airy and light.
- Next, we will cream the butter & sugar together till it is light and pale yellow in color.
- Now we'll add the flour and the milk + curd mixture to this in parts. I usually add it in 1/3rds. I start with 1/3rd of the flour, mix that in, then 1/3rd of the milk + curd mixture, then flour again, rotating between these two till the whole batter is mixed.
- Lightly grease your sheet pan (since the cake is soaked & served in the same pan, we don't need to line it with any butter paper etc.)
- Pour the batter in the pan and spread it evenly.
- Bake it for 25 min at 350℉ or ~180℃.
- While the cake is baking, mix together the milk, the cream and the condensed milk to form a homogenous mixture.
- After the cake is baked and cooled down to room temperature, poke holes into the cake with a fork. And pour the 3 milk mixture on top of the cake, making sure each and every part of the cake is covered with the liquid.
- Refrigerate the cake overnight (or minimum of 2 hours).
- Top the entire cake with whipped cream, a sprinkle of cinnamon powder and fresh strawberries.
Your Tres Leches Cake is ready to be served!