Tres Leches Cake!

First of all, I'm so sorry it's been forever since I've blogged. I've been a little busy with some home updates (i.e. painting almost every wall in my home) and it's been taking up all of my time. Now that the painting is done I hope the blogging and baking can commence. That said, I made a not new- but one of my favorite desserts this week; Tres Leches Cake.

With the gloriousness of Mangos coming into season, I had to make this Weiland family favorite. I got this recipe from a Food Network Magazine and with a few tweaks, it's absolutely incredible.

Photograph by Con Poulos

Here's the official link to the recipe: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/tres-leches-cake-with-mango-recipe/index.html

But I'll also insert my comments into the recipe here.

Ingredients

• Vegetable oil, for greasing
• 4 large eggs
• 1 cup sugar
• 2/3 cup unsalted butter, melted
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 1/4 cups whole milk (I didn't have whole, so I used 1%. Whole is probably better, but mine turned out just fine)
• 1 1/2 cups cake flour (Again, I didn't have this. I used all-purpose)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 12-ounce can evaporated milk
• 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 tablespoon dark rum (I used light rum because that's all I had. Again, turned out fine)
• 2 large ripe mangoes
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1 cup heavy cream
• Ground cinnamon, for sprinkling

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8-inch square baking pan with vegetable oil and line the bottom with parchment paper. (I never understood how to do this. I skipped the lining with parchment paper. If you can figure that part out, more power to you.)

Make the cake: Beat the eggs and sugar in a large bowl with a mixer until pale and slightly thick, about 6 minutes. Slowly beat in the melted butter, then beat in the vanilla and 1/4 cup whole milk.

Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Sift the flour mixture over the egg mixture, then gently fold together with a rubber spatula to make a thick batter. Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Run a knife along the edges to release the cake from the pan.

Meanwhile, whisk the remaining 2 cups whole milk, the evaporated milk, condensed milk and rum in a bowl. (Now, the first time I made this I followed the recipe exactly and I had way too much milk mixture. My cake would have floated away. This time I made 1/2 the mixture but it probably could have used a little more.) Pierce the warm cake all over with a fork, then pour the milk mixture gradually and evenly on top, letting the cake absorb the liquid until all is used. Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour or overnight.

Before serving, make the topping: Peel, pit and dice the mangoes. (I used Honey Mangoes) Puree half the mangoes in a blender with 2 tablespoons sugar. Transfer to a bowl and fold in the remaining diced mango.In a separate bowl, beat the heavy cream and the remaining 1 tablespoon sugar with a mixer until soft peaks form. Slice the cake; top each piece with the whipped cream and sprinkle with cinnamon. Serve the mango topping on the side

The cake is like a mixture between a cake and a custard - but don't let that throw you off. It's AMAZING. A big two thumbs up.