I miss Houston, with all its sprawling roadways cutting though communities Mexican, Indian, Lebanese, Turkish, Nigerian and other in all sorts of ways one never expects in a giant Texas town. This post pays tribute to one classic product of encounter: Pastel de Tres Leches or the “Three Milks Cake,” which we remember as part of Houston’s Mexican culinary heritage but which may have been more generally Central American in origin.
Heck, The Spruce reports that “it’s first known publishing was on the back of a Nestle Evaporated Milk can back in the 1960s,” and who knows, the same marketing that pushed baby formula over human breast milk across Latin American communities, has very likely also given us this now-classic cake.
Don’t let me get all cynical though. Even if Tres Leches was Nestle’s brainchild all bound up in its marketing of canned evaporated milk rather than some beloved Abuelita’s culinary expression, it is still one damned fine cake.
You will need the cans of evaporated and sweetened condensed milk, though — or will have to slave hours reducing milk to 1/3 (by gently boiling), and then sweetening one portion to caramelized thickness. It’s possible, but the cans make this process so much the quicker.
Essentially, Tres Leches is a simple sponge cake soaked in a combination of evaporated, condensed, and whole milk, and topped with whipped cream. Yes, you will need to learn to separate eggs–5 of them, to be precise. But it’s still one of the simplest cakes with enormous wow-potential. So, one to master and to which to hold on. There are just three big steps–fittingly, for a cake of three milks:
First, you make a sponge…
Second, you soak a sponge…
Third, you top a soaked sponge…
What, you’re really going to wait for me to tell you it’s time to eat it?
Classic Tres Leches Cake
Ingredients
For the sponge:
- 1 cup flour (all-purpose or whole wheat)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 5 large eggs, separated
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar (or salt)
- 1/3 cup whole milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
The “three milks” soaking mixture:
- 1 small (12 ounce) can evaporated milk
- 1 small (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk (or a bit less)
- 1/4 cup whole milk
- 2-3 tablespoons dark rum optional
For the topping:
- 1 pint heavy whipping cream In India: 1 packet whole cream combined with 1/2 cup of the thick part of a well-chilled Amul fresh cream packet
- ground cinnamon (to finish)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F
- Line a 9×13” pan with parchment; grease and flour the parchment.
- Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Set aside.
- Separate the eggs into two separate bowls, taking care that the bowl holding the whites is clean and grease-free (or your whites won’t whip).
- Whip the egg yolks high speed with 3/4 cup sugar pale yellow, thick, and creamy. Add the 1/3 cup milk and vanilla; stir to combine.
- Pour the egg yolk mixture over the flour mixture and stir gently until barely combined.
- Next, beat the the egg whites on high speed until foamy. Add the 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar, and follow gradually with the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar. Continue whipping until you have stiff peaks.
- Fold egg whites into the yolk-flour batter gently, just until combined. Do not overmix.
- Pour the batter into your prepared pan. Smooth the top, or rap the pan a few times on the counter top to even the surface.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick/cake tester inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Remove from the oven and allow cake to cool for 10 minutes.
- Then invert the cake onto a rack, peel off the parchment, and invert back into the same baking pan. Now allow it to cool completely.
- In the meantime, combine the evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk (to taste), whole milk, and rum (if using) in a small bowl. Use a toothpick or tester to poke holes all over the cake.
- Slowly pour the milk mixture over the cake, drizzling it into the edges and covering the surface as evenly as you can.
- Refrigerate the cake for at least 1 hour, to allow it to soak up the milks and chill completely.
- When you’re ready, whip the cream (or creams, if you’re working in an Indian kitchen) until stiff peaks form. Spread over the top of the cake. Chill again for an hour to allow the cream to set.
- To serve, cut the cake into squares and dust with cinnamon. Serve with cut fruits of your choice–mango, pomegranate, strawberries or other berries, and kiwi go incredibly well with this inimitable cake.
Tres leches is a favorite of mine. On a hot day, there’s no better dessert. My recipe includes coconut milk as one of the three milks, and in my not-so-humble opinion, rum is necessary, not optional. Thanks for introducing more people to such a special, delicious treat.
Coconut milk could be such a flavorful addition! I’ll have to try that next time (cuatros leches??). And I’m laughing at the rum comment; I couldn’t agree more!