The Secret Ingredients of a Soft and Moist Tres Leches Cake
The Latin American favorite tres leches cake is everything you want a cake to be: moist but with structure, and oozing with a lightly sweet milk soak. It's called "tres leches" for the three types of milk that the cake is baked with and soaked in.
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First, a light and airy vanilla sponge cake is baked into a sheet pan. Use vanilla beans for an extra fragrant cake, or make mini versions by baking the sponge in cupcake tins. Sometimes, the sponge is baked with coconut milk instead of full cream milk to add an extra layer of flavor.
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Then, the cooled sponge is poked all over with a fork or bamboo skewers. This is the secret: a 3-milk cake soak! A mix of evaporated milk, condensed milk, and full cream milk is lightly poured over the cooled sponge and left to soak for at least 1 hour. This keeps the cake moist for days-if it even lasts that long!
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Lastly, a slice of tres leches cake is often served with a dollop of whipped cream on top, and a spoonful of fresh fruit or a light drizzle of dulce de leche.
Main image from Flickr.Â
