Tres Leches Cake

The first time I ever had tres leches cake was a couple of months ago, when my cousin and I went to Mistral Kitchen. The piece of cake was tiny, about the size of half a candy bar, and we had to SHARE it. Obviously it wasn't enough!  It was incredibly good, served with a small scoop of strawberry sorbet (which complemented the sweet, moist cake wonderfully). Since then, I've been wanting to make this traditional Mexican cake myself.



There are a lot of tres leches cake recipes out there, but I decided to use one by Ree Drummond (aka The Pioneer Woman). As she rightly points out, there's actually FOUR kinds of milk used in the cake, so it should arguably be called cuatro leches cake. The three milks name probably comes from the fact that after the cake is made, it's then soaked in three milks (the fourth is in the batter).



What are the three milks? It's not health food, it's yummy food. Heavy cream, sweetened condensed milk, and evaporated milk. What's the difference, you might ask? Heavy cream, at least in the U.S., has at least 36 percent fat, and is the stuff typically used in ice cream and to make whipped cream. Sweetened condensed milk (also sometimes known just as condensed milk) is cow milk that's had its water content removed and sugar added, which makes it a thick, creamy substance that's awesome just stirred into hot coffee or tea. When buying condensed milk, look at the label. There should be as few ingredients as possible (in fact, 2 is best: milk, sugar), with sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup. Evaporated milk (aka dehydrated milk) is shelf-stable milk that's had about 60 percent of its water removed. Since you'll be making more of the cream mixture than you actually need for the cake, don't throw away the remainder; save to use in coffee or tea (unless, of course, you don't like milk or sugar in your hot beverages).



The cake is light and airy, due to the batter requiring meringue. There are lots of little air pockets in the cake, all the better to soak up the three milks. Right after pouring you might notice that some of the milk hasn't soaked in yet -- don't worry, the cake is a greedy sponge and the milk will eventually get absorbed while it's sitting.  TPW suggests letting the cake absorb the milk mixture for 30 minutes. This is not, in my opinion, nearly enough time. I served the cake after about 40 minutes of soaking and it was disappointingly dry. The next day, however, the milk had totally soaked through and it was as moist as can be. So I recommend letting it soak for several hours or overnight before frosting, to really get every bit of the cake soaked. This is actually good in terms of convenience, because it means you can make the cake the day before and the only thing you need to do day of is make whipped cream to spread on the cake.



The dry milk in the 'frosting' is optional; it's just a way to stablize the whipped cream (which I find more necessary when it's being used as a cake frosting).

Tres Leches Cake (adapted from The Pioneer Woman)

Ingredients

For the cake

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 tsps baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 5 eggs, separated
• 1 cup sugar, divided
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/3 cup whole milk
• 1 12oz can evaporated milk
• 1 14oz can sweetened condensed milk
• 1/4 cup heavy cream

For the 'frosting'

• 1 pint heavy cream
• 2 tbsps sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp dry nonfat milk (optional)

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.  Spray a 9 x 13 inch baking pan with cooking spray.
2. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl.
3. Beat egg yolks with 3/4 cup sugar on high speed until yolks are pale yellow. Stir in the milk and vanilla.
4. Pour the egg yolk mixture over the flour mixture and stir very gently until combined.
5. Beat egg whites in a clean bowl on high speed until soft peaks form. With the mixer on, pour in remaining 1/4 cup sugar and beat until egg whites are stiff but not dry.
6. Fold the egg white mixture into the batter very gently until just combined.
7. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and spread into an even layer.
8. Bake for 35-45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Turn the cake out onto a rimmed baking sheet or serving platter and allow to cool.
9. Combine the condensed milk, evaporated milk, and heavy cream, preferably in a container that has a spout. When the cake is cool, carefully pierce the surface all over with a fork. Drizzle all but about 1 cup of the milk mixture, including the edges of the cake.
10. Allow the cake to absorb the milk mixture for several hours or overnight in the fridge.
11. Right before serving, whip heavy cream with sugar, vanilla, and dry milk (if using) until thick (though don't overwhip or you'll have butter).  Spread over the cake.  Best served with something tart and fruity, like strawberry sorbet.

Friday Dinner: Milk-Braised Pork

Whaaaat? Pork again? Well, yes. When we find yummy-sounding recipes, particularly ones that sound yummy and simple, we don't turn them away. This one involved cutting slits into pork, inserting slivers of garlic, browning, and using milk as a braising liquid.



The verdict? I can't speak for Trix, but I thought this was a good recipe. If someone else made it for me, I'd eat it for sure with no qualms. But as something I make for myself, there are pork recipes out there that I like better, such as last week's roasting method, and would probably make again before I made this one. That may not be true of everyone. This was good pork, and I'd encourage you to make it so you can decide for yourself if this is one for your regular repertoire.



So why didn't I like it as much as other pork recipes? First, while the meat was tender, I don't think this one maximized pork's potential; the flavor, while pleasing, was a little bland. It could have been any meat. Second, for an otherwise simple recipe, the step of having to blend the braising liquid in order to turn it into a gravy for the meat wastes time and requires having to wash something that I usually find annoying/unwieldy to have to wash (my blender). Trix used low-fat milk and there weren't as many curds so she didn't have to blend her sauce, but the trade off was that it was the consistency of milk. Mine wasn't much thicker, but that could also be due to the fact that I was too lazy to remove the onions and blended them right into the sauce.



Neither Trix nor I could find pork roasts, which is what the recipe originally calls for, so she used a tenderloin and I used rib chops. I think any cut works; you just have to adjust the braising time accordingly.



As for sides I went the lazy route and prepared two things that could be roasted alongside the pork: asparagus and garlic potatoes. I washed, patted dry, and trimmed the asparagus (best method is to grasp the asaparagus toward the stem with both hands and bend it until it breaks -- it will break off at the point where tough meets tender), placed it in a baking dish, and seasoned with coarse salt, a dash of pepper, olive oil, and a tiny bit of truffled oil. For the potatoes I chopped Yukon Golds into bite-sized pieces and tossed them in a baking dish with Lawry's seasoned salt, 2 cloves of minced garlic, and 2 tsp of minced chives, then placed small dabs of cold butter, about 1 1/2 tbsp, over the top. While roasting I stirred both side dishes 3-4 times over the course of an hour. Trix made creamed broccoli and Ruth's Chris au gratin potatoes.



Milk-Braised Pork

Ingredients

• 2-3 lbs pork roast, tenderloin, or chops
• 1 medium onion, thinly sliced
• 2 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
• 2-3 cups of milk, preferably whole
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 tbsp olive or canola oil

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Cut slits into the pork and place a sliver of garlic in each. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Heat 2 tbsp of oil in a large frying pan or Dutch oven. Briefly cook onions on high heat until they start to brown on the edges -- this shouldn't take very long. Remove to a dish. In the remaining oil, sear the meat on all sides until browned, 3-4 minutes per side.
4. Transfer meat to a roasting pan unless you're using a Dutch oven, in which case the meat can simply be braised right in it. Pour in enough milk to just about cover the pork. Layer the onions over the top. Cover the dish.
5. Place the Dutch oven or roasting pan into the oven and braise 1-2 hours -- if you're using a thick roast, cook it for longer; if using chops, an hour will do. When done, an instant thermometer will register 150°F when inserted into the center of the meat.
6. When the pork is ready, carefully remove it to another dish or a cutting board if you're planning to slice it. You can remove the onions at this point or not -- your choice. They will be very limp, so if you don't want them as part of the sauce (they make it sweeter), you might want to strain it.
7. If you used whole milk you will probably find many curds in the braising liquid. Transfer the liquid, curds and all, to a blender or food processor. Blend until smooth. Pour the gravy over the pork. Serve hot.

Ruth's Chris Au Gratin Potatoes

Ingredients

• 5 medium russet potatoes, peeled
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1-1/2 tbsp flour
• 1 large clove garlic, pressed
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp fresh black pepper
• 1 tbsp butter, softened
• 1-1/2 cups grated cheddar cheese
• 1 tsp finely chopped parsley

Method

1. Preheat oven to 400°F.
2. Cut the potatoes into 1/4 inch slices, then quarter each of those slices.
3. Beat together the cream, milk, flour, garlic, salt, and pepper by hand just until well combined.
4. Coat the inside of a large baking dish with the softened butter.
5. Arrange the potatoes in the dish and pour the cream mixture over them.
6. Cover and bake for 20 minutes. Uncover and bake another 40 minutes or until the potatoes are starting to brown on the top.
7. Sprinkle grated cheese over the top and continue to bake for another 5-10 minutes or until the cheese is melted and slightly browned and the potatoes are tender.
8. Sprinkle parsley on top and serve.