Tres Leches Cake

I was thinking of making a Tres Leches cake for Christmas, but does anyone have a good recipe that does not use cake mix and is close to an authentic version? Plus, does this cake travel well or do I have to keep it for myself?

Thanks!

Of the several times I've had pastel de tres leches, only one of those times was I eating it in the same building where it was made -- so I think that attests to it's being portable. Of course, that depends on how far you're taking it, and how. I don't think it would survive a lone trip without refrigeration, but if it's no more than a couple of hours unrefrigerated, it should hold up well.

Alas, these were all made by friends or pastry shops or, in a couple of cases, made alongside friends, with their family recipes, which I was not able to obtain. So if you don't have a good Mexican cookbook, I'll hope someone else posts the recipe you need. All I can do is confirm portability.

As long as you can maintain a nice cool temp, you can transport the cake. It doesn't hold up well a day or so later - in my fridge, anyway, it ended up absorbing every nasty flavor you can imagine - but toting it about shouldn't be an issue.

As to the recipe, I don't have mine on hand, but this recipe looks about right. As long as you remember to mix as little as humanly possible, your cake should be light and tender.

I've made tres leches a handful of times, and here's a recipe from Douglas Rodriguez, name chef at DeLaCosta, which I like quite a bit. The key for me in this recipe is the proper meringue topping which I demand in the perfect tres leches cake.

And although this recipe is for a banana tres leches, you can change the prominent flavor of the cake as you choose, and it's real simple. The three milks will be sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk and then the main flavoring. One traditional flavoring would be rompope (for the banana liquor in the linked recipe), which is basically a Mexican egg nog. Or try coconut milk if you choose.

As for toting it around, you can keep it in the pan until serving . . . very simple really.

Suzy Creamcheese wrote:As to the recipe, I don't have mine on hand, but this recipe looks about right. As long as you remember to mix as little as humanly possible, your cake should be light and tender.

If you use a low gluten flour like White Lily, this might be forgiving that the regular general purpose flour available here.

Regards,