Tres Leches Cake

Cinco de Mayo was yesterday and here in Texas we eat Mexican food on a regular basis, I usually cook a Mexican style meal once a week. We had a few friends over to celebrate, eat fajitas and drink a few Coronitas, those are cute mini bottles of Corona just so you know. Anyways, I thought I would take the opportunity to make a tres leches cake because seriously I will use any excuse to make a tres leches cake.

I had never even tried tres leches cake until a few years ago and once I did I wondered how I had gone so long without tasting the sweet milky goodness. If you've never had this cake do yourself a favor and make it. It's a light cake that is drenched in a mixture of three milks and you might think a wet cake would be gross but I promise you it isn't. It's the best soggy, sweet thing you've ever tasted! This recipe is adapted from the tres leches cake recipe I found on Cannella Vita, it has a cream cheese frosting which is not typical of tres leches cake so I compromised and made mine with less cream cheese and threw in some whipping cream to make it lighter. Most tres leches have a sweetened whipped cream topping but I was intrigued by the idea of the tart flavor of cream cheese with the super sweetness of the milk and everyone loved it and said it was the best tres leches they had ever had! If you're not a fan of cream cheese then just stick with whipped cream. I also omitted the toasted coconut because my husband doesn't love coconut.  This cake is often served with fresh fruit so feel free to throw some strawberries on top or whatever else floats your boat.

This is what your butter and sugar should look like after you've beaten it for a few minutes, nice and fluffy and pale yellow in color.

Once you've mixed your batter and poured it into the pan stick it in the oven until it's done.

After your cake has cooled for about five minutes you can start poking! I used the end of a wooden spoon but you can use a fork if you prefer.

Now start poking!

Once you've poked lots of random holes all over your cake pour the milk mixture slowly over the top until it's absorbed into the cake. This will take a few minutes and you may have to wait for the milk to absorb before pouring on more otherwise it will overflow from the pan.

It will look like this for a little bit but give it some time...

And it should look like this! Now pop that baby in the fridge to finish cooling completely. While it's cooling you can make the frosting and after it's cooled for at least an hour you can frost it and stick it back in the fridge until you're ready to serve it. 

Cake:

2 sticks of butter, softened

2 cups sugar

4 large eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

4 cups cake flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2 cups buttermilk

Sauce: 

1 can condensed milk 

1 can evaporated milk

1 cup half and half

Frosting:

1- 8oz. package of cream cheese, softened

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream 

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350˚ F and grease a 9x13 pan well.

Beat the butter and sugar together in a stand mixer until they're nice and fluffy, this will take a few minutes. Add the eggs one at a time and be sure to scrape the sides of the bowl a couple of times to get everything incorporated. Once you've incorporated the eggs add the vanilla. In a separate bowl whisk together the cake flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add half of the flour mixture to the egg mixture and mix just until it's combined. Add the buttermilk and be sure to mix it on the lowest speed or you will have a big mess on your hands. Finally add in the rest of your flour mixture and mix just until combined. I like to give the bowl another good scrape at this point to make sure everything gets mixed in together. Pour into your prepared pan and bake for 35-40 minutes.

While your cake is baking you can start on the milk mixture. Whisk together the condensed and evaporated milks along with the half and half. When the cake is done remove it from the oven, let it cool for about five minutes and then poke holes in the top using either a fork or the end of a wooden spoon. Once the milk has absorbed into the cake stick it in the fridge to finish cooling for at least an hour.

To make the frosting beat the cream cheese and powdered sugar together in a stand mixer until smooth. Then add in your whipping cream and vanilla and beat for another 3-5 minutes. Once the cake has cooled completely you can frost it.

Enjoy!