**The Art of Making Tres Leches Cake with Basics with Babish**

As we begin our journey to make the classic Latin American dessert, tres leches cake, we start by separating 10 egg whites from 10 egg yolks. It's essential to make sure there are no bits of shell hanging around, as this can affect the texture and quality of the final product. We set the yolks aside while we place the whites into the bowl of a stand mixer. With one cup of sugar slowly added, we beat on high speed using the whisk attachment until we reach stiff peaks. This meringue will be folded into our final cake batter later.

In a separate bowl, we are beating together the yolks with another cup of sugar, mixing on medium speed for about two minutes until they become thin, pale, and ribbony. We then begin combining our dry ingredients in a large bowl, incorporating 9 and 3/4 ounces of all-purpose flour, 3 teaspoons of baking powder, and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. These tiny lists are mixed together and set aside before we add 2/3 of a cup of milk to the egg yolk mixture, along with a teaspoon and a half of vanilla extract. We mix until completely combined, adding the dry ingredients next and mixing until everything is fully incorporated.

Now it's time to add our meringue, carefully scraping down the sides of the bowl before we pour in the stiff peaks. We gently fold in the egg whites, taking care not to deflate them as we go. Our goal is to achieve a smooth, even batter with no streaks of egg white remaining. With this final step complete, we move on to preparing our pans.

To ensure a perfect fit for our cake pan, we take a big sheet of parchment paper and cut it into a square shape. We then fold the parchment paper repeatedly on the diagonal until we have a wedge-like piece that can be pressed into the bottom of our 10-inch cake pan. A small indentation is created where the edge of the pan meets the parchment paper, allowing for even baking. With our pans prepared, we lubricate them with a little vegetable oil and dust them with flour before pouring in the batter.

The batter is poured into the prepared pans and baked until golden brown. Once removed from the oven, we let the cakes cool completely on a wire rack. This step is crucial in ensuring that our cake will be moist and tender when it's time to assemble the tres leches cake.

**Assembling the Tres Leches Cake**

With both cakes cooled, we invert one of them onto a plate and top it with a layer of dulce de leche. We use a generous amount of this sweet, caramel-like sauce to create a rich and creamy base for our cake. Next, we scoop a layer of whipped cream on top of the dulce de leche, making sure to smooth out any imperfections.

To assemble the cake, we invert another cake onto the whipped cream, creating a layered effect. We repeat this process one more time, starting with a layer of whipped cream and topping it with a slice of strawberries before pouring a generous pool of dulce de leche into the center. The result is a beautiful, multi-layered cake that's perfect for springtime gatherings or summer celebrations.

**The Challenges of Making Tres Leches Cake**

While our cake may look stunning, making a traditional tres leches cake can be quite challenging. As we've discovered, this cake is incredibly soft and moist, which makes it prone to breaking apart when assembled. If you're not an experienced baker, it's best to try a single-layer version of this recipe rather than attempting the multi-layered variety.

To overcome these challenges, it's essential to use high-quality ingredients, including fresh eggs and real vanilla extract. Additionally, making sure that your cake is completely cooled before assembling will help prevent breakage. Finally, using a generous amount of whipped cream and dulce de leche will add moisture and flavor to the cake, making it even more tender and delicious.

**Conclusion**

As we conclude our journey through making tres leches cake with Basics with Babish, we hope that you've enjoyed this process as much as we have. This classic Latin American dessert is not only delicious but also visually stunning, making it perfect for special occasions or everyday treats. Remember to use high-quality ingredients, follow the recipe carefully, and don't be discouraged if your cake doesn't turn out perfectly – practice makes perfect, after all! Happy baking!

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"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enbasics with babish and my website basics with babish comm are brought to you by Squarespace head there now to check out all the recipes from the show kitchen equipment lists and more get 10% off your first Squarespace order with offer code babish whether you need a domain website or online store make your next move with the Squarespace okay so today we're making tres leches cake which starts with what is essentially a chiffon cake so we're starting by separating 10 egg whites from 10 egg yolks make sure there's no bits of shell hanging around set the yolks aside while we place the whites into the bowl of a stand mixer and beat on high speed while adding one cup of sugar slowly and whisking using the whisk attachment to stiff peaks creating a meringue that we're going to fold into our final cake batter then in a separate Bowl we are beating together the yolks with one cup of sugar mixing on medium speed for about two minutes until thin and pale and ribbony and lastly we can begin negotiating our dry ingredients in a large bowl we are combining 9 and 3/4 ounces of all-purpose flour 3 teaspoons of baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon of salt tiny lists together and set aside so we can add 2/3 of a cup of milk to our egg yolk mixture along with a teaspoon and a half of vanilla extract or vanilla paste mix until completely combined add the dry ingredients mix until completely combined and then it's time to add the egg white meringue first we're gonna give our bowl of good scrape make sure there's no clumps of anything hanging out and then we're going to add the meringue and folding in gently taking care not to deflate the egg whites keep going till no streaks of egg white remain now it's time to get our pans ready take a big old sheet of parchment paper like this and cut it into a perfect square then we're gonna fold repeatedly on the diagonal until we have a nice wedge of parchment paper that we can press into the bottom of our 10 inch cake pan make a nice little indentation where the edge of the pan is cut along that indentation and open to reveal a perfectly round sheet of parchment paper that fits our pans like a glove next up we're going to lubricate the Pens with a little bit of vegetable oil before pressing the parchment paper down and filling that halfway with our cake batter spread nice and smooth over top scrutinize for evenness rectify any inequalities between the two pans before baking at 350 degrees for 25 to 35 mmm just enough time to make a simple dulce de leche into a medium saucepan goes 1 in 1/4 cups of sugar 4 cups of milk along with 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda whisk gently to combine over medium heat until it comes to a rolling boil at that point we're gonna lower the heat and simmer for a Monstress hour and a half whisking frequently to prevent scorching and waiting patiently for the milk fats to caramelize and turn a rich golden brown I bet you guys can smell this just by looking at it this stuff rocks once the desired color and consistency have been achieved we're going to strain through a fine mesh sieve and allow to cool completely at room temperature for at least one hour meanwhile our cakes are at the oven and a cake tester and inserted into the center of the cake emerges clean as a whistle let these guys cool in the pans for at least 1 hour run a butter knife around the outside edge and invert onto a cooling rack remove the parchment paper and then this guy's going right back where he started back in the pan he goes because now it's time for the tres leches part of tres leches cake which of course roughly translates to three late chase which I think spiritually at least means milk three kinds to be precise one 14 ounce can of sweetened condensed milk 1 12 ounce can of evaporated milk and 4 ounces worth of a whole milk combined in a large bowl and tiny whisk together until homogenous then finally it's time to let everybody get to know each other first impale your cakes with a myriad of forks tabs and begin labeling the tres leches mixture over tot it's gonna seem like a lot of liquid but just keep going it will soak up every single last drop we are then covering these and refrigerating them for at least 6 hours preferably overnight the next day and we are making some simple whipped cream topping by combining 8 ounces of heavy whipping cream a couple tablespoons of sugar and a teaspoon of vanilla extract in the bowl of a stand mixer beat on high speed until we get some nice stiff peaks and voila whipped cream if you ask me this makes it cuatro leches cake you could also garnish the cake with a little sprinkle of cinnamon but I like using thinly sliced strawberries and so now it's time for assembly let's invert one of the cakes onto a plate whoa topped with some whipped cream go ahead and scrape it off because we remember that we want to start with dulce de leche but down a layer of that now hit it with the whipped cream go ahead and make sure that's nice and smooth and even because we are making a layer cake invert that onto the whipped cream and then it's time to decorate the cake looks a bit of a mess as is so we're definitely covering the top of another layer of whipped cream arranging our strawberries on top and decorative fashion and pouring a generous pool of dulce de leche in the center at this point you're probably thinking to yourself this cake is falling apart disaster is imminent well you are absolutely right making a tres leches layer cake is pretty difficult because it's a very soft cake you should probably only try to do it if you're a better Baker than I am that is to say than even moderately decent Baker let's go for a more traditional and slightly more foolproof single layer tres leches you might also want to do this on a cake stand but I couldn't find mine so here we are doing it on the table no big deal frost it all over with the whipped cream and a slightly more decorative zig-zag pattern of the dulce de leche definitely liking this infinity strawberry pattern so we're gonna do that again and there you have it a beautiful single layer tres leches cake this cake is easy to make lovely to look at and has a nice simple refreshing flavor perfect for the summer also if you're like me and you think there's nothing worse in the world than a dry cake obviously this should have sways your fears this cake is beyond moist that's been soaking in milk for God's sake so if you want to impress your friends at the upcoming picnic or maple ritual or chickenpox party look no further than tres leches cake hope you guys I'll give it a try for yourselves and happy summer this episode and many others have been sponsored by Squarespace because they've been an amazing partner in both bringing this show and my websites to life they've got a really intuitive easy-to-use platform that made it super easy for someone like me who's never done web design ever they have templates they do domains they have really good customer service it's basically a one-stop-shop for building a really slick website if you want to try it for yourself you can start your free trial today at squarespace.com and enter an offer code babish to get 10% off your first purchase\n"