At dinner tonight, one of my colleagues kept raving about a cake someone had brought into the office as a treat earlier in the week. Three Milk Cake. I’ve never heard of it before but it sounds fabulous. Here is a recipe I found for it on the Web:
Tres Leches Cake or Three Milk Cake
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 eggs, at room temperature, separated and yolks lightly beaten
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon finely grated or minced fresh lime zest
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/3 cup whole milk, at room temperature
1 (12-ounce) can evaporated milk
1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 cup whipping (also known as heavy) cream
Fluffy White Frosting
Position racks so that the cake will bake in the middle of oven. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9-inch-round cake pan or a 9-by-13-inch cake pan. Do not line or flour the pan. Set aside.
Place the flour, baking powder and salt together in a strainer or sifter and sift into a bowl. Repeat the process two more times. Whisk to mix well and set aside.
In the metal bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a wire whip, or in a metal bowl with a hand mixer, beat the egg whites at low speed until frothy bubbles cover the surface. Add the cream of tartar, increasing the speed to medium-high, and beat until soft peaks form when the beater is slowly raised. With the mixer running, gradually add the sugar and beat until the whites form peaks that are stiff but still moist when the beater is raised. Slowly drizzle in the egg yolks and beat well; stop at least once to scrape the sides of the bowl. Add the lime zest and vanilla and blend well.
Using the mixer on low speed or a rubber spatula, fold in about one third of the flour mixture, then half of the whole milk, scraping the sides of the bowl and folding just until the ingredients are incorporated. In the same manner, fold in half of the remaining flour mixture, then the remaining whole milk, and finally the remaining flour mixture.
Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the surface with a rubber spatula. Bake until the cake springs back when lightly touched in the center with your fingertip and wooden skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Remove the pan to a wire rack to cool for 5 to 10 minutes.
Whisk the evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk and heavy cream together. Using a skewer or tines of a fork, poke holes over the still warm cake. Slowly pour whisked milks over the cake. As we’ve said, some of the milk will seep from the cake. Use a large spoon to scoop the seeping milk and pour the milk over the cake again. Do this until most of the milk is absorbed (this will take about 1 hour). Let cake cool completely before frosting. Makes 8 servings.
Fluffy White Frosting
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/4 cup egg whites (from about 2 eggs), at room temperature, see note
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Pour water into a large skillet to a depth of 1 inch. Place over high heat and bring to a simmer, then adjust the heat to maintain a simmer.
In a metal bowl, combine 5 tablespoons cold water, the sugar, egg whites, corn syrup, cream of tartar and salt. Set the bowl directly into the simmering water. Immediately begin to beat with a hand mixer at low speed until the mixture is foamy, then increase the speed to high and continue beating until firm, shiny peaks form, about 5 minutes. Remove the bowl from the heat, add the vanilla, and continue beating until the frosting is cool and billowy, 2 to 3 minutes.
Note: The county Health Department recommends not consuming raw eggs. In an alternate test, we used dry egg whites found at the baking section at Giant Eagle. The label reads Just Whites, Pasteurized All Natural Egg Whites. It comes in a 3-ounce container. When using dry egg whites, skip the boiling water. We combined all ingredients except the vanilla, and beat for 5 minutes. Then we added the vanilla and set the mixer on high speed for 20 minutes.
