Tres Leches Cake

We had our 2nd annual family bbq/baseball game a couple of weeks ago which was a lot of fun. It was just after my sister-in-law's birthday...so of course I had to make her a birthday cake. She really isn't the traditional type and I had to come up with something special for her.

Then it hit me in the car driving some where...Tres Leches Cake. In May we went to see her graduate from Grad school and she took us to a place that served Tres Leches cake which she said she really loved. I know there is a bakery near me that supposedly makes a really good one but I wanted to try making it myself.

I did not get a picture of what I made because my camera and because it was gone in minutes. I am always looking for an excuse to make something from The Pioneer Woman's website...there you can see step by step pictures with instructions on how to make this super yummy cake!

(This is not my picture)

Tres Leches Cake
The Pioneer Woman

1 cup All-purpose Flour
1-½ teaspoon Baking Powder
¼ teaspoons Salt
5 whole Eggs
1 cup Sugar, Divided
1 teaspoon Vanilla
⅓ cups Milk
1 can Evaporated Milk
1 can Sweetened, Condensed Milk
¼ cups Heavy Cream

FOR THE ICING:
1 pint Heavy Cream, For Whipping
3 Tablespoons Sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9 x 13 inch pan liberally until coated.

Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Separate eggs.

Beat egg yolks with 3/4 cup sugar on high speed until yolks are pale yellow. Stir in milk and vanilla. Pour egg yolk mixture over the flour mixture and stir very gently until combined.

Beat egg whites on high speed until soft peaks form. With the mixer on, pour in remaining 1/4 cup sugar and beat until egg whites are stiff but not dry.

Fold egg white mixture into the batter very gently until just combined. Pour into prepared pan and spread to even out the surface.

Bake for 35 to 45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Turn cake out onto a rimmed platter and allow to cool.

Combine condensed milk, evaporated milk, and heavy cream in a small pitcher. When cake is cool, pierce the surface with a fork several times. Slowly drizzle all but about 1 cup of the milk mixture—try to get as much around the edges of the cake as you can.

Allow the cake to absorb the milk mixture for 30 minutes. To ice the cake, whip 1 pint heavy cream with 3 tablespoons of sugar until thick and spreadable.
Spread over the surface of the cake. Decorate cake with whole or chopped maraschino cherries. Cut into squares and serve.

Review: THIS IS A KEEPER for sure. There was a small amount leftover and everyone was fighting for it the next day. I think this cake was super easy to make because I made it the morning before everyone came and didn't feel stressed about it at all. Instead of the cherries I used some fresh strawberries and blueberries which added a nice fresh taste to it.

May The Force Be With You...

I am one of those people when I get a gift card it either takes me a minute to spend it all or forever to spend it all. Ok the taking forever to spend really doesn't happen to me that often but every once in a while it does. I got one from Williams-Sonoma two years ago and I just finished this week. I guess I was just waiting to see if there was anything I really wanted before I spent it on another spatula. Then I saw the Star Wars cookie cutters that are exclusively William - Sonoma...just what I was waiting for.

My 4 year old is all about Star Wars...the movies, the games, the toys and even the clothes. So when I showed this to him that was it...his eyes got huge and I know I had to get it. The next morning he was already asking for Darth Vader cookies.

I made the recipe that came with the cookie cutters because I figured it would give me a good idea of the dough that would work best with the cutters.



Star Wars Cookies
Williams-Sonoma

2 1/2 cups (390 g)All-Purpose Flour
1/2 tsp salt
12 Tbs (1 1/2 sticks/185g) Unsalted Butter
1 cup (250 g) Sugar
1 Egg
1 1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract

Have all the ingredients at room temperature.

Over a small bowl, sift together the flour and salt. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the flat beater, beat the butter on hight speed until creamy, about 2 minutes. Reduce the speed to medium, slowly add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes, stopping the mixter occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the egg and vanilla and beat for 1 minute, stopping once to scrape down the sides of the bowl.

Stop the mixer and add half of the flour mixture. Beat on low speed until most of the flour has been absorbed, about 1 minute. Add the remaining flour and continue beating until all the flour has been absorbed and the dough starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl, 2 to 3 minutes.

Turn the dough out onto a work surface and divide into 2 equal balls. Shape each into a disk and wrap separately in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours or up to 2 days.

Remove the dough from the refrigerator and let stand for 5 minutes. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough 3/16 to 1/4 inch ( 4.5 to 6mm) thick.

Preheat an oven to 350. Line several baking sheets with parchment paper.

Using the cookie cutters, cut out the desired shapes. If the dough sticks to the cutter, dip the cutter into flour before cutting out more shapes. Using a small offset spatula, transfer the cookies to the prepared baking sheets, spacing them about 1 inch apart.

Bake the cookies until golden brown around the edges, 10 to 15 minutes. If baking more than one sheet at a time, rotate the baking sheets from top to bottom and 180 degrees halfway through baking.

Transfer the baking sheets to wire racks and let cool for 5 minutes, then transfer the cookies to the racks and let cool completely. Decorate as desired. Store the cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. Makes about 8 of each cookie.



Review: I have another recipe for rolled cookies which I haven't made in really long time but this one I think is a keeper as well. It was nice to work with and has a great taste. Next time I might try to use some almond extract instead of or a combo of both vanilla and almond.

I have been following another blog called University of Cookie because it is one of my goals to make cookies like the ones on that blog. Well there is a post on there called Rolling Cookie Dough: a video tutorial. I watched it a couple of times and did what she said...and it worked for me!! The one thing I hated most about making cut out cookies was the rolling out of the dough because mine always cracked and just didn't work well for me. Well no more because of that post and I am actually excited to make more.

One idea I am throwing around is making sandwiches with the Star Wars cookie cutters...chocolate/vanilla middle for Darth (my husband thinks that is fitting since he was good on the instead which is what the vanilla would represent), I think a minty green flavor combo for Yoda and not sure about the other two but I am sure I can come up with something.

I Am Back

I know it has been a very long time since my last post and that is for a couple of reasons. One as I mentioned before my camera is on it's way out so I haven't been taking many pictures. The other reason I have been sort of out of the kitchen. It has been so hot around here lately that the thought of cooking makes me sweat. I have come to terms with both and decided it is time to get back into the kitchen and create some wonderful stuff.

A preview to what is coming up next: