Tres Leches Cake

When I think about what desserts go best with a Mexican dinner, three desserts come to mind - flan (which I LOVE, but Kevin doesn't), fried ice cream (which is a pain because you have to deep fry it), and tres leches cake.  Kevin had never heard of tres leches cake (what?!) so I decided I had to show him what he was missing out on.

For those of you that never took Spanish, tres leches just means three milks.  This is called a three milks cake because after the cake is baked, it's soaked in regular milk (or heavy cream), evaporated milk, and sweetened condensed milk (although I did see one version that also used coconut milk....I may have to try that sometime!).  Because the cake is soaked in three milks, it is very moist and completely different than a traditional fluffy cake.  I used this recipe from allrecipes, and it was delicious!  Don't skip the homemade whipped cream on top :)

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick), softened to room temperature
1 cup white sugar
5 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups whole milk (I used 1%)
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 (12 fluid ounce) can evaporated milk
1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
1 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
 
Directions:
 
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).  Grease and flour one 9x13 inch baking pan.

Sift flour and baking powder together and set aside.  Cream butter and the 1 cup sugar together until fluffy. Add eggs and the 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract; beat well.  Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture gradually; mix until well blended. Pour batter into prepared pan.  Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 30 minutes.

Let cake cool to room temperature and pierce cake all over with a fork.  Combine the milk, condensed milk, and evaporated milk together. Pour over the top of the cooled cake.  Cover with foil and refrigerate for at least a couple of hours (you can also let this soak overnight).

Once you are ready to serve the cake, make the whipped cream:  Whip whipping cream, the remaining 1 cup of the sugar, and the remaining 1 teaspoon vanilla together until thick. Spread over the top of cake (I just scooped a giant spoon full over each slice). Be sure and keep cake refrigerated.