Of all Hispanic foods, postres are undoubtedly among the most recognizable. From flan to rice pudding, Hispanic desserts, particularly those from Mexico, have spread into the United States and across the world, verily becoming part of local cuisines. One look at these classic recetas de postres and it’s not terribly hard to see why they’re so popular.
Of course, no discussion of Mexican desserts would be complete without mentioning pastel de tres leches, or three milk cake. As Pati’s Mexican Table, a popular foodie website writes, tres leches cake recipes make for the most popular desserts sold throughout all of Mexico. The rich but somehow cloud-light tres leches cake offers a flavor and texture unlike any other, so it’s no wonder that so many people try to make their own tres leches cake recipes at home. Unfortunately, as many have found out the hard way, making a great tres leches is often easier said than done, but with these tips, you can make a wonderful dessert that everyone will love.
Three Tips for Home Cooks Making Their First Tres Leches Cake Recipe
- Traditional Cake Tres Leches isn’t the Only Way to Go
- Make Sure You Let the Cake Sit Overnight
- It’s Okay if There is “Too Much” Syrup
The first thing you need to know is that you don’t always have to go with the traditional version of tres leches. As Parade points out, there is many a delectable twist on the classic formula. Adding coconut milk to the syrup, stuffing the cake with berries, making chocolate cake instead of vanilla — these are just a few of the ways you can make a great tres leches, without sticking to a traditional recipe.
On celebrity chef Alton Brown’s popular cooking show, “Good Eats,” Brown recommends leaving your tres leches cake to sit overnight after applying the tres leches syrup. Now, it may look like the cake has dried out from the outside the next day, but after taking a bite into the cake, you’ll see that being patient results in a moist, sticky tres leches cake unlike any you’ve ever had.
After baking their first tres leches cake, too many people freak out when they see that there is leftover milk syrup that hasn’t been absorbed into the cake. As Duncan Hines points out, there is no such thing as too much syrup. It’s tres leches cake. If there isn’t a puddle of milky syrup beneath your cake, you’ve done it wrong.
Do you make your own tres leches cake recipe? What do you do to make sure it’s extra special? Share your delicious tidbits with us in the comments below!
