Tres Leches Cake: a Crowd-Pleaser!

This delightful cake is very popular throughout Latin America and the cake batter can be prepared in different ways. A Tres Leches cake (three milk cake in Spanish) in some countries is a butter cake, in others it is a traditional sponge cake. Despite the cake recipe used, it is always soaked in a glaze of three kinds of milk (evaporated milk, condensed milk and heavy cream).  In opinion, it is the glaze that makes this cake just divine!

There is a lot of controversy regarding the origin of the Tres Leches cake. Despite of where it was created, it is a delicious dessert! Every time I serve this moist cake, it is a show stopper! My husband asked me to prepare one for his birthday and it was a big hit!

Tres Leches Cake:

Ingredients:

For the cake:

1 ½ tablespoons of vegetable oil

1 cup of cake flour

2/3 cup of sugar

1 teaspoon of baking powder

1/4 teaspoon of salt

5 tablespoon of unsalted butter (at room temperature)

6 large eggs

½  teaspoon of vanilla extract

For the glaze:

1 (12 oz) can evaporated milk

1 (14oz) can sweetened condensed milk

1 cup half-and-half

Topping:

1 ½ cups of cool whip

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly oil and flour a 13 by 9-inch metal pan and set aside.

In a bowl, sift flour, stir in salt and baking powder and set aside. 

Beat the butter on medium speed until fluffy. Slowly add the sugar. If necessary, stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl.

Add the eggs, one at a time, and mix until combined. Add the vanilla extract and the flour mixture to the batter in 3 or 4 batches and mix just until combined. Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and spread evenly. Bake on the middle rack of the oven for 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted.

Allow cake pan to cool for 30 minutes. Poke the top of the cake all over with a skewer or fork.

For the glaze:               

Whisk together the evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk and the half-and-half until combined. Pour the glaze over the cake. Refrigerate the cake overnight.

Top the cake with cool whip before serving.

Enjoy it!