~ Recipe Credit: Umm Aa’ishah~

Tres Leches Cake ( translates as ‘three milks cake’ in Spanish) is a traditional Latin American dessert that is found in nearly all Mexican bakeries. It is sponge cake usually with less butter soaked in three kinds of milk: evaporated milk, condensed milk & cream/whole milk. This cake either uses no butter or less butter than usual sponge cakes. This distinct texture is why it doesn’t have a soggy consistency despite it being soaked in three types of milk. We couldn’t resist a little bit of butter so here is our version of the dessert. P.s did you know this dessert became popular in the early 1900s when the recipe was printed on the back of nestle evaporated milk cans or condensed milk cans to promote the use of the product!

Ingredients
Sponge:

• 4 large eggs (preferably left at room temperature overnight / few hours)
• 180 g sugar (preferably caster sugar)
• 113.4 g (4oz) salted butter (preferably left at room temperature overnight / few hours)
• 83 ml milk
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 141 g plain flour (sifted)
• 25 g cocoa powder (sifted)
• 2 1/2 tsps baking powder

Milk bath:

• 3/4 cup full fat milk or single cream (187 ml)
• 1 tin condensed milk (397g) (or according to preference)
• 1 tin evaporated milk (410g)
• 1 tbsp cocoa powder

Frosting:

• 500ml double cream
• 125g mascarpone cheese
• 3 tbsps icing sugar
• Strawberries for garnishing

Method

1. Recite Bismillah.
2. Preheat oven to 180c . (Ovens may vary from 160-180)
3. Whisk eggs & sugar till white & fluffy. (We recommend taking out the stand mixer for this)
4. Meanwhile boil butter & milk & set aside.
5. Sift plain flour, cocoa powder & baking powder & set aside.
6. Grease a 10″ square baking tin with a generous amount of butter, including the sides. Then sprinkle some self raising flour & shake & tilt the tin around so it is thinly coated with flour. Shake off any excess flour. Set aside.
7. Add the milk mixture to the egg mixture along with vanilla essence. Work really fast from this stage & get the cake in the oven quickly so it has a nice rise.
8. Fold in flour, cocoa powder & baking powder.
9. Pour batter into a 10″ square baking tray.
10. Bake at 180 c for 20-30 minutes or until done. You will know the cake is cooked when the sides have started to release from the pan & the middle is springy to touch. Do not rely a clean toothpick!
11. Run a knife all around the sides of the pan, this will help release the cake from the pan.
12. Remove the cake from pan by placing a tray on top of the cake. Flip the tin over so that the top of the cake with the tray is now facing down. Pat the back of the tin all around. The cake should release from the bottom. Lift the tin gently.
13. Allow to cool, preferably on a cooling rack .
14. Meanwhile prepare the milk bath by dissolving cocoa powder with full fat milk.
15. Once dissolved add the remaining ingredients & mix. (Set aside 2 cups to use when serving).
16. Once the cake is cooled, place it in a dish. Poke holes in the cake using a fork.
17. Slowly pour the milk mixture over the the top of the cake, making sure to pour near the edges and all around.
18. Refrigerate cake for at least an hour preferably over night.
19. Whip cream, mascarpone & icing sugar & ice the cake.
20. Garnish with fresh strawberries & serve chilled with the remaining milk.

Tips:

• If you do not have a stand mixer, have all the ingredients weighed out & ready so all you are focusing on is the making the cake batter!
• Tip: If you prefer more milk make 1 1/2 recipes for the milk bath.
• If you do not have caster sugar, you can make some at home yourself! Simply blitz granulated sugar in a food processor / chopper, till the grains look like caster sugar, be careful not to blitz it too much & turn it into icing sugar!