This is a Mexican cake. It is a simple cake mix and has a mixture of 3 milks poured over it after cooking and cooling to room temperature. It is quick to make, easily feeds quite a few people and looks great.

Tres Leches, served with mixed berries and cream

TRES LECHES CAKE

Ingredients

Dry ingredients for cake

• 200g plain flour
• 10g baking powder
• 4g salt

Wet ingredients for cake

• 4 extra large eggs, at room temperature (increased from 3)
• 200g white sugar
• 10ml pure vanilla extract

Added when mixing together

• 120ml whole milk

Milk mixture for after cooked and cooled

• 180ml/300g thickened cream
• 385g can evaporated milk
• 320g can sweetened condensed coconut milk or 395g condensed milk (same volume)
• 1/4 tsp amoretto or pure almond extract
• Seeds scraped from one vanilla bean

Topping

Stabilised cream for serving – good for whipped cream in advance

• 30g icing sugar
• 500ml thickened cream
• 2tbs cream cheese (custard powder also works but changes the flavour, so be careful of added sugar)
• 5ml vanilla extract

Optional additional toppings to build it yourself

• Additional icing sugar to sprinkle on the top
• 50g toasted coconut flakes
• 565g can crushed pineapple, drained thoroughly
• 250g mixed fresh raspberries, blueberries and sliced strawberries
• Cumquat sauce
• Finger-lime butter

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 175°C
2. Grease a 23x33cm baking pan with high sides, a glass baking dish works well.
3. In a stand mixer, beat the eggs, white sugar, and vanilla on medium-high speed for 10 minutes until light yellow and fluffy.
4. Meanwhile sift the flour, baking powder, and salt into a small bowl, stir to combine and set aside.
5. After 10 minutes of beating the eggs, reduce the speed to low and slowly ladle in half the flour mixture, then the milk, and finally the remaining flour mixture. Mix the sides in with a rubber spatula to ensure the batter is well combined
6. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, tap on the bench to even the top, don’t worry about bubbles, and bake for 20 minutes, until the cake springs back when touched lightly in the middle but has not really browned, and a tooth-pick inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.
7. Remove the cake from the oven and set a timer for 30 minutes to allow it to cool a little in the pan.
8. While the cake is cooking, prepare the milk mixture by mixing together the thickened cream, evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk, amoretto, and vanilla bean seeds.
9. Using a fork, a skewer, or a toothpick with a blunt end, poke holes all over the cooled cake, about every 1cm. It is best not to go all the way through to the bottom but it doesn’t really seem to matter.
10. Slowly ladle the milk mixture over the cake, right out to the edges allowing it to absorb before adding more. You may not need all the wet mixture, stop when the cake stops absorbing liquid. If there’s any remaining milk mixture, reserve it for serving alongside the cake.
11. Cover and refrigerate for at least 6 hours or overnight.
12. This cake is so moist that it is easier to serve with a spatula straight from the baking dish
13. Whip the 500ml heavy cream with cream cheese, icing sugar and vanilla extract until stiff peaks form. This stabilised cream is ok to whip up at the same time as the cake is put in the fridge to rest. Just cover and refrigerate until ready to serve
14. Optional
    1. Before serving spread the whipped cream over the cake, I prefer to serve it as a side with the fruit or other toppings
    2. Garnish with toasted coconut flakes.
    3. Serve with mixed berries, macerated with a tablespoon of sugar and perhaps grand marnier for a hour before serving, or drained, smashed pineapple that has been sprinkled with sugar and flamed .
    4. Have some finger-lime or cumquat sauce as toppings