According to wikipedia, the three milks in this cake are evaporated milk, condensed milk and heavy cream. I made it with three different milks: coconut milk, dulce de leche and good old cow's milk. This is one of the most complex recipes I have posted, but if you want to try something different, impress someone and have a recipe that will challenge you, make this. It's not hard to make, but it's time consuming and has several steps.
While working at the restaurant, one of my weekly duties was making a princess cake which is a sponge cake filled with diplomat cream, a thin layer of raspberry preserves, fresh raspberries, a thick domed layer of whipped cream covered with a green colored marzipan. This cake is delicious, and when I found a recipe for a tres leches cake with diplomat cream and dulce de leche, I was sold. Also- it happened to be my husband's birthday, so... perfect!
First, the sponge cake. This sponge cake was really easy to make. Make a dwell with sifted flour, 1 1/4 cups of the sugar, baking powder, salt and the ground nutmeg.
In a separate bowl, whip the egg yolks, veggie oil, coconut milk (unsweetened) and water.
Pour the wet mixture and whip by hand for about a minute until smooth and lumps free.
With an electric mixer, beat the egg whites with a pinch of the cream of tartar, or 1/4 teaspoon of lemon juice and add the rest of the sugar (1/4 cup) after the whites are frothy. If you don't have an electric mixer, this will replace your daily work out, so get whipping. Once you've formed peaks, fold them into the wet mixture. For this recipe, you'll have 4 left over yolks. I saved them and made home made ice cream, which was a great addition for the cake.
Bake for about 45 minutes at 350 degrees. Let it cool completely on cooling racks and unmold them after cooled.
I wrapped the cakes with plastic wrap and placed them in the fridge overnight. It's a lot easier to cut them into layers when cold.
Second, is the syrup. The tres leches cake is known for being soaked, so this will the syrup that will do that for you. The syrup is super easy, just place coconut milk,sugar, vanilla extract and salt in a small saucepan and bring it just to a boil, remove from heat after that.
Cut the cake into layers and have them waiting in the fridge while you work on the diplomat cream.
Third is the diplomat cream, the diplomat cream is pastry cream with whipped cream and unflavored gelatin to stabilize it. The pastry cream is where the second milk comes in.
I used vanilla extract but if you can get a vanilla bean, this will be well worth it. Cut the vanilla bean length wise and scrape the beans with the back of the knife and place them in a saucepan with the milk and salt. While the milk is warming, beat the eggs with the cornstarch and sugar.
Bring the milk right below boiling point and pour or ladle it over the egg mixture.
Whisk constantly while pouring the milk so that you don't end up with scrambled eggs. This method is called tempering; you're pretty much introducing the hot ingredient to the eggs slowly, so the heat doesn't cook the eggs right away. This is done for most custards and ice creams. Pour the egg mixture now with the milk back to the saucepan, whisking again.
Whisk constantly over medium heat. The cornstarch will start cooking and the mixture thickening. Once the mixture comes to a boil, keep whisking for another minute over the stove, and remove from heat. It is very important you don't stop whisking, so even after removing from the heat, don't stop.
Add the butter, and incorporate it. Don't stop whisking, this will melt the butter. After the butter is melted, pour the pastry cream onto a bowl and cover with plastic wrap so the plastic wrap is in contact with the pastry cream, otherwise, the pastry cream will create skin, and nobody likes that.
Now you have the pastry cream ready. Mine is not as pretty as it could be, when you use the vanilla bean, the black spots will make it a lot more attractive.
To make it into a diplomat cream, you have to dissolve the gelatin on it and add the whipped cream. This is the trickiest part of it, I have learned the hard way. I messed this up twice in a day, and after I got it right, it became the favorite thing to make at the restaurant.
For the gelatin, you always have to first activate it which is to put it on a cold liquid and it becomes like a gel. After that, you have to dissolve it. It needs to get hot, otherwise it doesn't dissolve.For this gelatin part, while the pastry cream is hot, activate the unflavored gelatin with two tablespoons of cold water, mix with a fork and after it has gelled, whisk and melt into the pastry cream, and cover again.
Now, we have to add the whipped cream. If the pastry cream is too hot, it will curdle the whipped cream, and look disgusting- trust me. If the pastry cream is too cold, the gelatin will start solidifying and you'll find little gelled pieces, and that's not good either, it should be smooth. So, after you whip the heavy cream; you should only fold it into the pastry cream when is slightly warm to the touch. If you have a kitchen thermometer, it should read 35 Celsius or 95 Fahrenheit. If the pastry cream got too cold while whipping the heavy cream, put it over a water bath to warm, no microwave shenanigans.
The third milk, I just used store bought dulce de leche.
Now the assembly part. Line the spring form with plastic wrap over the edges, so that after the cake is assembled, you can cover it.
Place one cake layer and brush it evenly with a quarter of the syrup. Don't worry if you think it's too much, as a matter of fact this is where i made the mistake and didn't put enough of the syrup.
Spread an even layer of the dulce de leche
Spread an even layer of the diplomat cream. Use about a quarter of it.
Repeat until you use all cake layers. On the top one, soak it with the syrup, cover and refrigerate.
While it's cooling, whip the heavy cream with the sugar, and then cover the cake, using an offset knife, or a butter knife... and you're done. What better than rewarding yourself with a big slice of cake? Enjoy!
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While working at the restaurant, one of my weekly duties was making a princess cake which is a sponge cake filled with diplomat cream, a thin layer of raspberry preserves, fresh raspberries, a thick domed layer of whipped cream covered with a green colored marzipan. This cake is delicious, and when I found a recipe for a tres leches cake with diplomat cream and dulce de leche, I was sold. Also- it happened to be my husband's birthday, so... perfect!
First, the sponge cake. This sponge cake was really easy to make. Make a dwell with sifted flour, 1 1/4 cups of the sugar, baking powder, salt and the ground nutmeg.
In a separate bowl, whip the egg yolks, veggie oil, coconut milk (unsweetened) and water.
Pour the wet mixture and whip by hand for about a minute until smooth and lumps free.
With an electric mixer, beat the egg whites with a pinch of the cream of tartar, or 1/4 teaspoon of lemon juice and add the rest of the sugar (1/4 cup) after the whites are frothy. If you don't have an electric mixer, this will replace your daily work out, so get whipping. Once you've formed peaks, fold them into the wet mixture. For this recipe, you'll have 4 left over yolks. I saved them and made home made ice cream, which was a great addition for the cake.
Place them in two parchment lined 9" spring forms. I lined the edges as well, so I wouldn't have to clean the oven in case they rose too much.
I wrapped the cakes with plastic wrap and placed them in the fridge overnight. It's a lot easier to cut them into layers when cold.
Second, is the syrup. The tres leches cake is known for being soaked, so this will the syrup that will do that for you. The syrup is super easy, just place coconut milk,sugar, vanilla extract and salt in a small saucepan and bring it just to a boil, remove from heat after that.
Cut the cake into layers and have them waiting in the fridge while you work on the diplomat cream.
Third is the diplomat cream, the diplomat cream is pastry cream with whipped cream and unflavored gelatin to stabilize it. The pastry cream is where the second milk comes in.
I used vanilla extract but if you can get a vanilla bean, this will be well worth it. Cut the vanilla bean length wise and scrape the beans with the back of the knife and place them in a saucepan with the milk and salt. While the milk is warming, beat the eggs with the cornstarch and sugar.
Bring the milk right below boiling point and pour or ladle it over the egg mixture.
Whisk constantly while pouring the milk so that you don't end up with scrambled eggs. This method is called tempering; you're pretty much introducing the hot ingredient to the eggs slowly, so the heat doesn't cook the eggs right away. This is done for most custards and ice creams. Pour the egg mixture now with the milk back to the saucepan, whisking again.
Whisk constantly over medium heat. The cornstarch will start cooking and the mixture thickening. Once the mixture comes to a boil, keep whisking for another minute over the stove, and remove from heat. It is very important you don't stop whisking, so even after removing from the heat, don't stop.
Add the butter, and incorporate it. Don't stop whisking, this will melt the butter. After the butter is melted, pour the pastry cream onto a bowl and cover with plastic wrap so the plastic wrap is in contact with the pastry cream, otherwise, the pastry cream will create skin, and nobody likes that.
Now you have the pastry cream ready. Mine is not as pretty as it could be, when you use the vanilla bean, the black spots will make it a lot more attractive.
To make it into a diplomat cream, you have to dissolve the gelatin on it and add the whipped cream. This is the trickiest part of it, I have learned the hard way. I messed this up twice in a day, and after I got it right, it became the favorite thing to make at the restaurant.
For the gelatin, you always have to first activate it which is to put it on a cold liquid and it becomes like a gel. After that, you have to dissolve it. It needs to get hot, otherwise it doesn't dissolve.For this gelatin part, while the pastry cream is hot, activate the unflavored gelatin with two tablespoons of cold water, mix with a fork and after it has gelled, whisk and melt into the pastry cream, and cover again.
Now, we have to add the whipped cream. If the pastry cream is too hot, it will curdle the whipped cream, and look disgusting- trust me. If the pastry cream is too cold, the gelatin will start solidifying and you'll find little gelled pieces, and that's not good either, it should be smooth. So, after you whip the heavy cream; you should only fold it into the pastry cream when is slightly warm to the touch. If you have a kitchen thermometer, it should read 35 Celsius or 95 Fahrenheit. If the pastry cream got too cold while whipping the heavy cream, put it over a water bath to warm, no microwave shenanigans.
The third milk, I just used store bought dulce de leche.
Now the assembly part. Line the spring form with plastic wrap over the edges, so that after the cake is assembled, you can cover it.
Place one cake layer and brush it evenly with a quarter of the syrup. Don't worry if you think it's too much, as a matter of fact this is where i made the mistake and didn't put enough of the syrup.
Spread an even layer of the dulce de leche
Spread an even layer of the diplomat cream. Use about a quarter of it.
Repeat until you use all cake layers. On the top one, soak it with the syrup, cover and refrigerate.
While it's cooling, whip the heavy cream with the sugar, and then cover the cake, using an offset knife, or a butter knife... and you're done. What better than rewarding yourself with a big slice of cake? Enjoy!
Pastel de Tres Leches
Sponge cake:
- 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
- 1 1/2 cups of sugar
- 2 teaspoons of baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoons of ground nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon of salt
- 1/4 cup of veggie oil
- 6 large egg yolks
- 1/4 cup of water
- 3/4 cup of unsweetened coconut milk
- 10 egg whites
- 1/2 teaspoon of cream of tartar or 1/2 teaspoon of lemon juice
Syrup:
- 1 cup of unsweetened coconut milk (i bought a can and it was the perfect amount for this cake)
- 6 tablespoons of sugar
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
- pinch of salt
Pastry Cream:
- 2 cups of whole milk
- 1/2 vanilla bean or 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon of salt
- 3 tablespoons of cornstarch
- 1/2 cup of sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 4 tablespoons of unsalted butter
Make into diplomat:
- 1 1/2 teaspoons of unflavored gelatin
- 2 tablespoons of cold water
- 1 cup of heavy cream
Other:
- 1/2 cup of dulce de leche
- 1 1/4 cup of heavy cream and 4 teaspoons of sugar for covering the cake
