The Art of Tres Leches Cake: A Recipe and Story

I love almond flavor with this and the seeds of a vanilla bean and run my knife right down the middle and scrape out the seeds. Vanilla and almonds are so good together, I think they're kind of classic Mexican flavorings for dessert. Wow, there are a lot of seeds in this, you can just see right there. I'm just going to whisk these together so that's the tres leches part now. I'm going to get the cake, this is the cake, I'm going to pour the tres leches over let me show you how I made it. I put three extra large room temperature eggs into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment added one cup of sugar, two teaspoons of vanilla extract and beat everything together on high speed for 10 minutes until it was light yellow and fluffy.

Meanwhile, I put one and a half cups of all-purpose flour into a sifter with two teaspoons of baking powder and three quarters of a teaspoon of kosher salt and sifted it all together. Then, I reduced the speed of the mixer to low and slowly added half the flour mixture poured in half a cup of whole milk the remaining flour and then turn the mixer off finally I mixed the batter with a rubber spatula just to make sure it was well combined. I poured it into a buttered 9 by 13 by 2 inch baking pan smooth the top and put it into a 350 degree oven for 25 minutes. Then, I took the cake out and let it cool on a baking rack for 30 minutes so now I've got the cake, it's cooled but still a little bit warm.

I'm going to poke it with holes with a skewer but not the sharp end of the skewer the blunt end and lots of holes and this is going to allow the milks to really soak into the cake all over. You take out your aggression on the cake, there are actually lots of different cakes that I like that have some kind of syrup absorbed into the cake just keeps it moist the French have baba rum which is soaked with rum always a good idea but I think this tres leches cake is my favorite.

Okay next the milk now it doesn't sound likely that that's going to go into the air but trust me it does just do it evenly and slowly and then later I'm going to serve a square of it with fresh berries and whipped cream. Does that make it quattro leches see as it sits a little bit you can see it's being absorbed that's the reason why I do the holes or the blunt end of the skewer so they make bigger holes okay, that's the whole thing isn't it amazing how much milk has gotten into the cake already. I'm going to refrigerate this for six hours but I have one to show you that's already done this is gorgeous.

Okay the next thing I'm going to do is a little powdered sugar I'm going to show you exactly how I do it I think a lot of people take the powdered sugar and do it right over the cake and you end up with a big dollop of powdered sugar so what I do is I just put a little bit in a sifter not over the cake and then lightly dust it and then it's really even.

Okay, that's the powdered sugar next the berries and cream so what I have is a bowl of mixed berries about eight cups I've added five tablespoons of sugar to it I'm just gonna let them sit for a minute just so the sugar gets into the berries and I've got a big bowl of whipped cream. And it's make a head whipped cream, let me show you how I do it I put one and a half cups of cold heavy cream into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment along with a quarter of a cup of confectioners sugar two tablespoons of granulated sugar and two tablespoons of creme fresh which makes the cream stable so it can be made ahead then I add a teaspoon of pure vanilla extract and beat it on high speed until it forms soft peaks.

And you thought you couldn't make whipped cream ahead and you can. Okay, I'm gonna pull it all together now so I always like a big plate for dessert so I'm gonna cut the cake in squares it's really wet and moist and you know of course the first piece is always the hardest to get out so you'll forgive me if it's not perfect okay, oh not bad see how it absorbed all the liquid it's amazing to me so big pile of berries next to it I love raspberries and strawberries I put them on anything I love the color and the freshness and the flavor. And a big dollop of whipped cream because of course everything's better with whipped cream right in the middle now I don't know about you but this is the dessert of my dreams it's flavorful it's fresh it's got great textures it's got whipped cream that's amazing you\nt\

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enstarting with a light and airy tres light chase cake with mixed berries and whipped cream it's the dessert of your dreams tres leches cake is a mexican dessert it's very unassuming but so delicious it's a cake that's been soaked with a mixture of three milks that's the tres leches part and i'm gonna start making the mixture so first i need one and a quarter cups of heavy cream this is really kind of a combination between a cake and a pudding it's so delicious okay next i'm going to put in a 12 ounce can of evaporated milk you're going to believe how much liquid goes into this cake and that 14 ounce can of sweetened condensed milk that's basically milk but it's been condensed with sugar added okay next is some almond extract half a teaspoon i love almond flavor with this and the seeds of a vanilla bean and run my knife right down the middle and scrape out the seeds vanilla and almonds are so good together i think they're kind of classic mexican flavorings for dessert wow there are a lot of seeds in this you can just see right there i'm just going to whisk these together so that's the tres la chase part now i'm going to get the cake this is the cake i'm going to pour the tres leches over let me show you how i made it i put three extra large room temperature eggs into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment added one cup of sugar two teaspoons of vanilla extract and beat everything together on high speed for 10 minutes until it was light yellow and fluffy meanwhile i put one and a half cups of all-purpose flour into a sifter with two teaspoons of baking powder and three quarters of a teaspoon of kosher salt and sifted it all together then i reduced the speed of the mixer to low and slowly added half the flour mixture poured in half a cup of whole milk the remaining flour and then turn the mixer off finally i mixed the batter with a rubber spatula just to make sure it was well combined poured it into a buttered 9 by 13 by 2 inch baking pan smooth the top and put it into a 350 degree oven for 25 minutes then i took the cake out and let it cool on a baking rack for 30 minutes so now i've got the cake it's cooled but still a little bit warm and i'm going to poke it with holes with a skewer but not the sharp end of the skewer the blunt end and lots of holes and this is going to allow the milks to really soak into the cake all over you take out your aggression on the cake there are actually lots of different cakes that i like that have some kind of syrup absorbed into the cake just keeps it moist the french have baba rum which is soaked with rum always a good idea but i think this tres leches cake is my favorite okay next the milk now it doesn't sound likely that that's going to go into the air but trust me it does just do it evenly and slowly and then later i'm going to serve a square of it with fresh berries and whipped cream does that make it quattro leches see as it sits a little bit you can see it's being absorbed that's the reason why i do the holes or the blunt end of the skewer so they make bigger holes okay that's the whole thing isn't it amazing how much milk has gotten into the cake already i'm going to refrigerate this for six hours but i have one to show you that's already done this is gorgeous okay the next thing i'm going to do is a little powdered sugar i'm going to show you exactly how i do it i think a lot of people take the powdered sugar and do it right over the cake and you end up with a big dollop of powdered sugar so what i do is i just put a little bit in a sifter not over the cake and then lightly dust it and then it's really even okay that's the powdered sugar next the berries and cream so what i have is a bowl of mixed berries about eight cups i've added five tablespoons of sugar to it i'm just gonna let them sit for a minute just so the sugar gets into the berries and i've got a big bowl of whipped cream and it's make a head whipped cream let me show you how i do it i put one and a half cups of cold heavy cream into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment along with a quarter of a cup of confectioners sugar two tablespoons of granulated sugar and two tablespoons of creme fresh which makes the cream stable so it can be made ahead then i add a teaspoon of pure vanilla extract and beat it on high speed until it forms soft peaks and you thought you couldn't make whipped cream ahead and you can okay i'm gonna pull it all together now so i always like a big plate for dessert so i'm gonna cut the cake in squares it's really wet and moist and you know of course the first piece is always the hardest to get out so you'll forgive me if it's not perfect okay oh not bad see how it absorbed all the liquid it's amazing to me so big pile of berries next to it i love raspberries and strawberries i put them on anything i love the color and the freshness and the flavor okay and a big dollop of whipped cream because of course everything's better with whipped cream right in the middle now i don't know about you but this is the dessert of my dreams it's flavorful it's fresh it's got great textures it's got whipped cream that's amazing youstarting with a light and airy tres light chase cake with mixed berries and whipped cream it's the dessert of your dreams tres leches cake is a mexican dessert it's very unassuming but so delicious it's a cake that's been soaked with a mixture of three milks that's the tres leches part and i'm gonna start making the mixture so first i need one and a quarter cups of heavy cream this is really kind of a combination between a cake and a pudding it's so delicious okay next i'm going to put in a 12 ounce can of evaporated milk you're going to believe how much liquid goes into this cake and that 14 ounce can of sweetened condensed milk that's basically milk but it's been condensed with sugar added okay next is some almond extract half a teaspoon i love almond flavor with this and the seeds of a vanilla bean and run my knife right down the middle and scrape out the seeds vanilla and almonds are so good together i think they're kind of classic mexican flavorings for dessert wow there are a lot of seeds in this you can just see right there i'm just going to whisk these together so that's the tres la chase part now i'm going to get the cake this is the cake i'm going to pour the tres leches over let me show you how i made it i put three extra large room temperature eggs into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment added one cup of sugar two teaspoons of vanilla extract and beat everything together on high speed for 10 minutes until it was light yellow and fluffy meanwhile i put one and a half cups of all-purpose flour into a sifter with two teaspoons of baking powder and three quarters of a teaspoon of kosher salt and sifted it all together then i reduced the speed of the mixer to low and slowly added half the flour mixture poured in half a cup of whole milk the remaining flour and then turn the mixer off finally i mixed the batter with a rubber spatula just to make sure it was well combined poured it into a buttered 9 by 13 by 2 inch baking pan smooth the top and put it into a 350 degree oven for 25 minutes then i took the cake out and let it cool on a baking rack for 30 minutes so now i've got the cake it's cooled but still a little bit warm and i'm going to poke it with holes with a skewer but not the sharp end of the skewer the blunt end and lots of holes and this is going to allow the milks to really soak into the cake all over you take out your aggression on the cake there are actually lots of different cakes that i like that have some kind of syrup absorbed into the cake just keeps it moist the french have baba rum which is soaked with rum always a good idea but i think this tres leches cake is my favorite okay next the milk now it doesn't sound likely that that's going to go into the air but trust me it does just do it evenly and slowly and then later i'm going to serve a square of it with fresh berries and whipped cream does that make it quattro leches see as it sits a little bit you can see it's being absorbed that's the reason why i do the holes or the blunt end of the skewer so they make bigger holes okay that's the whole thing isn't it amazing how much milk has gotten into the cake already i'm going to refrigerate this for six hours but i have one to show you that's already done this is gorgeous okay the next thing i'm going to do is a little powdered sugar i'm going to show you exactly how i do it i think a lot of people take the powdered sugar and do it right over the cake and you end up with a big dollop of powdered sugar so what i do is i just put a little bit in a sifter not over the cake and then lightly dust it and then it's really even okay that's the powdered sugar next the berries and cream so what i have is a bowl of mixed berries about eight cups i've added five tablespoons of sugar to it i'm just gonna let them sit for a minute just so the sugar gets into the berries and i've got a big bowl of whipped cream and it's make a head whipped cream let me show you how i do it i put one and a half cups of cold heavy cream into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment along with a quarter of a cup of confectioners sugar two tablespoons of granulated sugar and two tablespoons of creme fresh which makes the cream stable so it can be made ahead then i add a teaspoon of pure vanilla extract and beat it on high speed until it forms soft peaks and you thought you couldn't make whipped cream ahead and you can okay i'm gonna pull it all together now so i always like a big plate for dessert so i'm gonna cut the cake in squares it's really wet and moist and you know of course the first piece is always the hardest to get out so you'll forgive me if it's not perfect okay oh not bad see how it absorbed all the liquid it's amazing to me so big pile of berries next to it i love raspberries and strawberries i put them on anything i love the color and the freshness and the flavor okay and a big dollop of whipped cream because of course everything's better with whipped cream right in the middle now i don't know about you but this is the dessert of my dreams it's flavorful it's fresh it's got great textures it's got whipped cream that's amazing you\n"