Tres Leche Cake

In honor of my current addiction I thought this week’s recipe should be for my own Tres Leche cake. I must admit I got this first from my food hero Alton Brown and I have found no fault so there has been little of my own flare in this one, but if it ain’t broke you know don’t fix it.

For the cake:
Oil
7 ounces (just short of 1 cup) cake flour, plus extra for the pan
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
4 ounces butter (unsalted) room temperature
5 whole eggs
1 & ½ teaspoons vanilla extract

For the glaze:
1 (12 oz) can evaporated milk
1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk
1 cup half and half

For the topping:
2 cups heavy cream
8 oz sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the cake:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly oil and flour a 13x9 inch metal pan and set aside.

Mix together the cake flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl and set aside.

Place the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer. Beat on medium speed until fluffy, approximately 1 minute. Decrease the speed to low and with the mixer still running, gradually add the sugar over 1 minute. Stop to scrape down the sides of the bowl, if necessary. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, and mix to thoroughly combine. Add the vanilla extract and mix to combine. Add the flour mixture to the batter in about 3 batches and mix until just combined. Do not over mix or cake will not turn out right. Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and spread evenly. This will appear to be a very small amount of batter. Bake on the middle rack of the oven for 20 to 25 minutes or until the cake is lightly golden and reaches an internal temp of 200 degrees.

Remove the cake pan to a cooling rack and allow to cool for 30 minutes. Poke the top of the cake all over with a skewer or fork. Allow the cake to cool completely and then prepare the glaze.

For the glaze:
Whisk together the evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk and the half and half. Once combined pour the glaze over the cake. Refrigerate the cake overnight.

Topping:
Place the heavy cream, sugar and vanilla into the bowl of a stand mixer. Using the whisk attachment, whisk together on low until stiff peaks are formed. Change the setting to medium and mix until the topping is thick. Spread over cake and refrigerate until ready to serve.

OK here’s my twist. In the summer serve with berries on top. I use strawberries, blackberries, raspberries or blueberries. Peaches work well too if you prefer those to berries.
In the fall and winter try it this way. Add a little cinnamon (1/4 teaspoon) and a little nutmeg (1/8 teaspoon) to the cake batter. Instead of topping with fruit top with a caramel sauce. Yummmmmmm