

Into the oven for about 25 minutes, until the cake has a nice tanned crust, it is spongy to the touch and a toothpick comes out clean.Īfter you get the cake out of the oven, invert it onto a plate and poke all over with a fork, or two forks. But it turns out fluffy, homey and spongy because of the way these ingredients are used. It is a simple cake batter: just egg whites, sugar, egg yolks, vanilla and flour. Pour that batter onto the prepared pan, buttered and lined with parchment paper. Once well combined, add the flour and incorporate it in evolving motions. Gently, with a spatula, in evolving motions, combine the yellow with the white, being careful not to lose much of the volume and fluffiness already achieved. Then pour the egg yolks (look at how thick and pale the egg yolks are after beating them for 4 to 5 minutes, that’s what you want) with that hint of vanilla, onto the egg white mixture. Vanilla grown and harvested in Papantla, really blows me away. It’s Mexican vanilla from Papantla, the place where vanilla originated. I really feel the need to take a photo of the vanilla and show it to you. Separately beat the egg yolks until thick, creamy and very pale in color and add some vanilla. Add the sugar and keep on beating until they hold stiff peaks. To make the sponge cake as fluffy as can be, start by beating the egg whites until they hold soft peaks. This recipe, is as close as I get to my nostalgic memories. These days La Gran Via has become a large chain store of bakeries… it has been years since I have eaten one of their cakes.

Growing up in Mexico City, there was a bakery called La Gran Via, which sold such delicious Tres Leches that even though it was far from home, we used to drive many Sundays to get one. Sometimes the topping turns out to be meringue or even chocolate ganache. The cake will sometimes have a topping like fresh whipped cream, which I seriously consider of utmost necessity. Some versions substitute regular milk with heavy cream.

Its base is a vanilla sponge cake, completely soaked in a sauce traditionally made with three kinds of milk: sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk and regular milk. Tres Leches is a sweet, practically wet, homey cake. So dear readers, I am sorry it has taken this long but here it goes! I promise to get to the other requests, which I love getting on your emails, as soon as possible. It is also amongst the most requested recipes I have been asked for after Pickled Jalapeños and Piggie cookies. Pastel de Tres Leches or Three Milk’s Cake, is one of the most, if not the most popular and sold cake throughout Mexico.
