Tres Leches Yum

Here in Wichita, we have this awesome restaurant called Sabor that serves Latin food mostly based on Brazilian recipes. My best friend is a waitress there and for our 2 year anniversary, she told us to come in and order what we wanted and she would pay for it. We had the most amazing tres leches cake for dessert and it is perfectly moist and ever since then, the husband has been craving it. So I decided to try my hand at this cake.



Tres Leches Cake
adapted from Alton Brown's recipe

Ingredients for cake:
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
4 eggs3 cups cake flour (not self-rising)
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup 1 percent milk
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Note: I couldnt for the life of me find any cake flour at our grocery store so I used the recommended substitution of 1 cup of All-purpose flour minus 2 tablespoons of the flour plus 2 tablespoons of cornstarch for each cup of cake flour required

The glaze:
1 (12-ounce) can evaporated milk
1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 cup half-and-half

I used fat free for all three of those

The topping:
2 cups heavy cream
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Alton's recipe called for one whole cup of sugar but in the comments and reviews of the food network site, most people said it made the whipped topping too sweet. And I'm glad I followed their advice because when I finished the topping, it was perfect!

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-by-13-inch baking dish and set aside.In a bowl, using a stand or hand mixer, beat butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. With the mixer running, add eggs, one at a time, beating well to incorporate after each addition. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. With the mixer on low, add flour mixture to mixer, alternating with milk, beginning and ending with the flour mixture and beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Pour into prepared baking dish.Bake until cake is firm to the touch, 35 to 40 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes.

I think I slightly overcooked it. Really watch it those last few minutes. It can be a little moist and spongy because in the end, thats how the cake needs to be so this is the one time you can undercook by a minute and be safe.

For the glaze:
Whisk together the evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk and the half-and-half in a 1-quart measuring cup. Once combined, pour the glaze over the cake. Refrigerate the cake overnight.

I just used a fork to poke a bazillion holes into the cake. Worked like a charm

For the topping:
Place the heavy cream, sugar and vanilla into the bowl of a stand mixer. Using the whisk attachment, whisk together on low until stiff peaks are formed. Change to medium speed and whisk until thick. Spread the topping over the cake and allow to chill in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

Since I still dont have my stand mixer and my electric mixer paddles were so gross from making the cake the night before (my kitchen is a wreck, can you tell?!) I whisked it by hand. And since my left arm is sprained, I could only use the right. All I can say is OUCH!!!! But sooo worth the effort.

Results: I was impressed with myself. My first piece was an edge piece, which is always drier but still good. Im hoping it gets better as we eat to the middle. I would definitely use cake flour next time, even if it means journeying to the ends of the earth to find the freaking flour. I'm going to go enjoy another piece and give myself a pat on the back.

Dinner on the quick!!

The hubby was STARVED (ha!) this evening while we were grocery shopping so instead of letting him get some nasty Dillons chinese take out crap, I picked up two packs of Buitoni pasta packages. They have two new flavors of ravioli now and we already like their tortellini so I picked those up for din-din. But to stay in the habit of actually posting some recipes, I made a homemade Alfredo sauce. I have tried it several times in the past and it was never quite smooth but I finally found a recipe that perfected it along with type of cheese!! So, without further ado, alfredo sauce from scratch:

Alfredo Sauce

1/2 cup (one stick) butter

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/2 teaspoon salt

dash of pepper

dash of ground nutmeg

In a saucepan, heat butter and whipping cream over medium heat, stirring often until butter is melted and mixture starts to boil. Stir in grated cheese little by little, stirring often until slightly thickened. Add salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Remove from heat and serve on pasta.

I finally figured out how to make a thicker, creamier sauce, like alfredo you get at a restaurant. I have made this before with half and half and this could probably work as well because the butter helps make it creamy. The recipe I made before used only 1 Tbsp of butter and that does not make it as tasty (trust me) but much healthier : ) But be sure to get parmesean that you have to grate by hand and not the stuff already grated in tubs for spaghetti. It does not melt as well and makes the sauce very lumpy.

Hopefully that was all coherent. I'm still getting the hang of this.