Tres Leches Cake

I get to kill three birds with one stone or in this case, cake.

Bird #1: Our staff knitting group. Every other Friday after work, a bunch of us get together to knit. Except me, I cross stitch but they let me join in anyway. Part of the get together is dinner. It usually rotates between each of us with one person bringing an entree, someone bringing a salad and of course a dessert. We met yesterday and I offered to bring dessert.

Bird #2: The Virtual Recipe Club - Most Requested Recipe Edition
Alysha from The Savory Notebook will be collecting our most popular recipes, the ones you always get asked to make, the ones that you have to write down because everyone wants to make themselves.

Bird #3: Sugar High Friday.
Chandra from Lick the Spoon is hosting this event for April. The twist to this edition.....Booze. She's lookin' for drunken desserts. And while she asked that we try to stay away from the ever popular rum cake, mine entry is a cake, it has rum in it but it ain't no rum cake. Rum is a player in the recipe but it's not the star of the show.

So what is my amazing bird killing dessert? Tres Leches Cake. A rich, succulent, decadent, outragously good dessert. Translated, tres leches means three milks. These milks are sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk and heavy cream. The milks are mixed together with some rum to add a nice kick to the cake. You slowly pour the milk mixture over the top of the baked cake and let is soak in. Yum. I said is was rich, didn't I?You can see a little bit of the milk mixture pooling around the edge of the platter. It eventually will soak up into the cake.

Some people like to frost the cake with a thin meringue like topping while others pour caramel sauce over slices of this little gem. Some do both. Me, I prefer mine au natural, naked. It's so rich and tastes so good all by itself that I can't imagine adding more decadence to the party. But who am I to argue....eat it anyway you like, just leave me a piece.

Tres Leches Cake
2 cups cake flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 large eggs, separated
2 cups granulated sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup whole milk
1 (12 to 14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 1/4 cups heavy cream
1 (12-14 ounce) can evaporated milk
4 tablespoons light rum

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and lightly flour a 9 x 13 baking dish. Sift flour, baking powder, and salt together. Separate the egg yolks and whites. Beat the whites until very foamy and frothy. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, cream the sugar, egg yolks, and vanilla extract with an electric mixer. Continue mixing and slowly add the milk. Then start adding the flour mixture, a little at a time, until all the flour is incorporated and the batter is smooth. Finally, use a spatula to gently fold in the beaten egg whites until completely mixed.

Pour batter into the prepared baking dish. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes, or until a toothpick stuck in the middle comes out clean. Allow cake to cool on a wire rack for 20 minutes. Invert the cake onto a jelly roll pan or a baking tray with a raised edge on it . Use a fork to repeatedly pierce the top of the cake.

Make the milk syrup by whisking together the sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk, heavy cream and rum in a mixing bowl, until well blended. Pour syrup over the cake a little at a time, until it soaks through. Keep doing this until most of the milk syrup is absorbed. You may have a pool of syrup around the bottom of the cake, that's ok as it will gradually soak in. Cover the cake in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least three hours before frosting.

If you want to make the meringue frosting, here's the recipe:

Frosting
4 egg whites
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 cup water
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup light corn syrup

Beat the egg whites with the cream of tartar in a large bowl until they form stiff peaks. Set aside. In a separate pan, mix the water, sugar, and corn syrup. Cook over a high heat, stirring constantly until a candy thermometer reads 230°F.

Remove from heat. While beating the egg whites with an electric mixer, immediately pour the hot syrup into the egg whites; continue beating for about five minutes. Let frosting cool in refrigerator. With a wet spatula, spread a thick layer of the frosting on the cake.

And if you REALLY want to be decadent, here's the caramel sauce recipe:

Caramel Sauce
5 cups whole milk
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 vanilla bean, split
1 teaspoon baking soda

Place the milk in a large, heavy saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil and allow skin to form on top. Do not stir. The skin will thicken and puff up. Reduce heat to medium and remove the skin. Increase heat to medium-high and repeat the process 3 times.

Add the sugar and vanilla bean, and stir until the sugar has melted, about 2 minutes. Reduce heat to low and stir in the baking soda. Simmer milk, stirring often, but taking care not to break the film of cooked milk forming, on the inside of the pan. Simmer, skimming the foam (not skin) until reduced by half, about 1 hour.

Reduce the heat to very low and simmer for another 3 and 1/2 hours, stirring and skimming foam occasionally. The mixture will brown as it cooks.

Strain the completely cooked mixture through a sieve into a bowl, cover and refrigerate. Makes about 1 1/2 cups sauce.