If you or your children are milk lovers, you can’t really go past the Tres Leches: The Soaked Milk Cake. Popular in Central and South America, Tres Leches is a kind of sponge cake that has been soaked in three different kinds of milk.
It’s far from a healthy dessert, but it makes a worthwhile treat when you’re looking for something special and a little different.
Method
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Preheat your oven to 180 degrees C and prepare a round cake tin that is at least 25 cm across with sides more than 5cm high. Grease the tin and lay with baking paper.
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Mix the plain flour, cinnamon and the baking powder together in a medium bowl. Put aside.
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In another, larger, bowl use an electric mixer to whisk the four egg whites until they are frothy. Still running the mixer, add the sugar slowly, continually mixing to allow stiff peaks to form.
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Beat in the yolks, one at a time, making sure to blend the mixture well after adding each one.
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Add the flour in several parts, to ensure for easy mixing, alternating with the full cream milk. Also add the vanilla here.
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Pour the cake batter into your prepared tin and bake until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the middle. Usually this will take around 30 minutes. Cool the cake for 10 minutes or so, before inverting it onto a high-sided platter.
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Using a fork or skewer pierce the top of the cake over and over again until there is a good coverage of holes. This will help the cake soak up the milk.
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In a bowl mix the condensed milk, the evaporated milk and 1 cup of the heavy cream together. While the cake is still warm (but not hot) pour the mixture over the cake. Cover and refrigerate for 3 hours, or overnight, to allow cake to fully soak.
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Before serving, mix together the remaining cup of heavy cream along with the powdered sugar in a bowl. Using an electric mixer, beat the cream until soft peaks form. Spread the cream on top of the soaked cake.
