Tres Leches Cake
A San Francisco favorite, with secrets gleaned from a pastry chef friend who featured this cake as one of the signature deserts in his deli. A three-milk soaked vanilla cake that never fails to delight.
Vanilla Cake
Ingredients
1 cup + 3 tbsp cake flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
85g (⅜ cup) unsalted butter (room temperature)
¾ cup granulated sugar
1 large egg + 1 eggs white (room temperature)
¾ tsp vanilla
½ cup buttermilk (room temperature)
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and flour one 8" cake rounds and line with parchment.
In a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, and salt until well combined. Set aside.
Using a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar on med-high until pale and fluffy (about 3mins). Reduce speed and add eggs one at a time fully incorporating after each addition. Add vanilla.
Alternate adding flour mixture and buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour (3 additions of flour and 2 of milk). Fully incorporating after each addition.
Bake for 30-35mins or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out mostly clean.
Place cake on wire rack to cool for 10mins then turn out onto wire rack to cool completely.
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Swiss Meringue
Ingredients
1 cup egg whites
2 cups granulated white sugar
¼ tsp cream of tartar
Instructions
Cook sugar, tartar, in egg whites over simmering water in a double-broiler, to 160 - 175 degrees F, stirring constantly.
Remove from heat.
Transfer to stand mixer, using whip attachment, beat on high speed to stiff peaks: 3 mins on high to cool, then additional 3+ minutes to stiff peaks.
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Salted Caramel Sauce
Ingredients
1 cup heavy cream
¼ cup white granulated sugar
¼ cup packed light brown sugar
4 tbsp unsalted butter
3 tbsp light corn syrup
¼ tsp salt
Caviar from ½ vanilla bean pod
Instructions
Bring ½ cup of the cream, sugars, butter, corn syrup, and salt to a boil in an uncovered 1 ½ to 2 quart heavy bottomed saucepan over medium-high heat. Once the sugars have dissolved, whisk the mixture a few times to combine. Continue to boil the mixture over medium-high heat, whisking occasionally, until deep dark tan bubbles form and until it has thicken and is paste-like.
When a candy thermometer reads 250 F (this takes about 5 minutes after the mixture reaches boiling), take the saucepan off the heat.
Add the vanilla bean caviar to the remaining ½ cup of cream, whisk to blend.
Pour in the remaining ½ cup cream mixture and whisk to incorporate. Be careful, as the mixture will bubble up and can splatter. Return the saucepan to low heat, and bring it to a low boil, whisking vigorously until no visible clumps remain and until the caramel sauce is smooth, about 45 seconds.
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Milk Syrup
Ingredients
¼ cup whole milk
14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk
12 ounce can evaporated milk
Instructions
Combine the milks in a bowl.
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Assemble the Cake
Fork holes all over the cake.
Pour milk mixtures once cake is cooled.
Refrigerate for at least 1 hour or overnight to allow it to soak up the milk.
Pipe meringue on top of the cake. Form a bowl in the center to hold the caramel.
Lightly toast the meringue layer with a blowtorch, or a few seconds under a broiler.
Dust with confectioners sugar.
Pour caramel into the meringue bowl.