Tres Leche Cake

OK, so here is the much sought after recipe to my Tres Leche cake, known and coveted in most parts of the galaxy. It does however have some pro's and con's (like my family). It is very delicious and relatively easy to make, but does require a bit of patience, and time. This cannot just be whipped up on a whim unless your whim will let you wait the requisite 8-10 hours after everything is assembled. Yes, I said 8-10 hours, and if you rush it your cake will just wind up all wet and mushy . . . , OK it's a Tres Leche, so it'll be wet and mushy anyway, but you'd better not rush it or else. So, here it is, broken down into it's various components.


Tres Leche Cake Components:

Cake: Cream 1 stick (4oz) of room temp unsalted butter. When creamed, gradually mix in 8 oz sugar. If this step is rushed, the texture will suffer. Continue beating until mixture resembles mashed potatoes. Now add 5 eggs, one at a time. Wait until you can’t see the egg in the batter before adding another. Then, add 1 ½ teaspoon of vanilla extract.
Now slowly add the dry goods: 6¾ oz flour (cake flour if you have it, if not All Purpose will work), 1 tsp baking powder, & ½ tsp salt, all whisked to combine. Scoop the mixture into a well lubed & floured 9x13 baking pan and bake for 20-25 min @350 degrees, or until cake is lightly golden.
Tres Leche: Combine a 12 oz can of evaporated milk, a 14 oz can of sweetened condensed milk, and 1 cup of half and half. After cake has baked, let cool on a rack for at least 30 minutes and then prodigiously perforate, (punch a lot of small holes in it) with skewers or something else, I prefer chopsticks. Next add the Tres Leche by slowly pouring over the cake, and then let the cake rest for 8 hours, in the fridge.
Topping: After the cake has soaked up all the Tres Leche mix, top with whipped cream. OK, if you have to you can use store bought, OR you can whip up 1 ½ cups heavy whipping cream with 1\2 cup sugar. (Just make sure to put your beater(s) and bowl in the freezer at least 15 min before you whip. Trust me!)
From here you can do whatever. One of my favorites is freshly sliced strawberries on top. Doesn't get much better than that! Or you can add some cinnamon to the cake batter. Or instead of the half and half, use a half cup Irish Cream coffee creamer and a half cup milk. Top that with whipped chocolate gnosh (another recipe to come later) and you won't be able to stop eating it. (I'm still in therapy)

So, that's it. Have fun with it!