Tres Leches Cake From Cafe Central, El Paso
Nicaraguan Tres Leches Cake

Tres Leches Cake From Cafe Central, El Paso

Cake
9 eggs (room temperature)
11/2cups sugar
12 tablespoons butter (softened)
2 cups all-purpose flour
11/2teaspoons baking powder
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon cream of tartar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Separate egg yolks and whites, keeping whites
at room temperature. In bowl of an electric mixer, cream sugar and butter
together until pale yellow and fluffy. Add egg yolks and beat until fluffy
again, 2 to 3 minutes on medium-high speed. In a separate bowl combine
flour
and baking powder. In a third bowl mix milk and vanilla. Alternately add
the
flour mixture and the milk mixture to the butter mixture (a fourth at a
time) until all are combined. Beat until smooth after each addition.

Beat egg whites with cream of tartar until soft peaks form and, using a
large spatula, gently but thoroughly fold into flour-and-butter mixture.
Grease bottom of a 9- by 13-inch metal baking pan. Pour in batter and bake
for approximately 25 minutes, until golden brown. Allow to cool. (May also
be baked in an 11.5- by 17.5-inch sheet pan for 20 minutes; this size
rises
very evenly, helpful for inexperienced cooks.)

Three Milks
2 cups heavy cream
1 five-ounce can (5/8cup) evaporated milk
1 fourteen-ounce can (7/8cup) sweetened condensed milk

Stir the milks together thoroughly; do not beat. Do not refrigerate canned
milks before using.

Cream Icing
2 cups heavy cream
1/3cup sugar

Whip cream and sugar together until stiff. When cake is cool, slice or
peel
off the thin top crust. Ice sides first, creating a small lip on top to
catch milk mixture. Pour milk mixture evenly over top of cake (if
necessary,
poke holes in cake with a knife or toothpick to facilitate soaking; you
will
probably need only 3/4of mixture). Finish icing top. Refrigerate. (If
using
an 11.5- by 17.5-inch pan, cut cake in half to make 2 equal pieces. Soak
first layer, ice top if desired, and place second layer on top of it.
Proceed as above.) Serves 12.



Nicaraguan Tres Leches Cake


Yield: 6 - 8 Servings


Cake:
9 egg whites
2 cup Sugar
9 Egg yolks
1 tsp Vanilla
1/2 cup Milk
2 cup All-purpose flour
1 Tbsp Baking powder

Filling:
3 Egg yolks
1 12 ounce can evaporated Milk
1 14-oz can sweetenedCondensed milk
1 pt Heavy cream
1 tsp Vanilla
1 Tbsp Amaretto Liqueur (optional)

Meringue:
1/2 cup Water
1 cup Light corn syrup
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 Egg whites

FOR CAKE: Beat egg whites until stiff; set aside. Beat the sugar and
egg yolks until light, about 3 minutes. Add vanilla and milk, then
beat in flour and finally the baking powder. Fold egg whites into
the batter and pour into a generously greased 9-by 13-inch pan. Bake
30 to 40 minutes at 350 degrees, or until cake will spring back in
center when touched. Let cool. (It's OK if cake falls somewhat at
this point.)

FOR FILLING: Beat the three egg yolks for 1 minute at high speed with
an electric mixer. Add the three kinds of milk - evaporated,
condensed and cream - and the vanilla and liqueur, and beat
thoroughly. When the cake has cooled, unmold it onto a dish. Pierce
the cake as thoroughly as possible with a fork. Slowly pour the
filling mixture onto the cake, allowing it to soak in without running
over the sides.

FOR THE MERINGUE: Mix water, corn syrup and sugar in a heavy saucepan
and bring to a boil over medium high heat. Cook until mixture reaches
227 degrees on a thermometer, or will spin a thread when drizzled
from a spoon ( about 30 minutes). Beat egg whites until very stiff.
Slowly beat syrup into egg whites, whisking constantly while pouring
syrup in a steady stream. Allow to cool slightly, then spread on top
and sides of cake. Refrigerate cake at least two hours; it should be
served very cold. Because the cake is very rich, it can serve 20.

A FEW NOTES: Because the cream in Nicaragua is thicker and slightly
more acidic than the ultra-pasteurized heavy cream sold in this
country, to make the cake more authentic use 1 cup of sour cream and
1 cup of heavy cream for the pint of cream specified in the recipe.
Commercial marshmallow cream can be used instead of the meringue.
Also, instead of unmolding the cake I have baked it in a glass pan
and left it in there. I pierce it and pour the filling over it right
in the pan and refrigerate. When I'm ready to serve it, I put on the
meringue. I find it is easier to fill, store and the glass pan keeps
the cake and filling ( which still resembles a heavy milk) very cold.


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