Tres Leches (3 Milk Cake) 12/28/09

So the other night I ate dinner at Chuy's in Franklin, Tennessee. It is a chain Mexican restaurant, that I believe started in Texas. I by far had some of the best Mexican food, heck food period, of my life. My brother-in-law's gf, who is from Texas, made us try the Tres Leches, which is a milk cake. First, of all I'm not a dessert person. I would much rather eat another helping of the cheese dip and salsa than dessert, but she insisted we try this cake since we had never seen or heard of one. It was described as a moist sponge cake with milk sauce. Gross, I know. Just let me tell you when I tried my first bite my taste buds did a happy dance. With food, texture is more important to me than taste. I hate beans, not because of their taste, but the dry mushyness that happens in my mouth. Well this cake was slightly slimy, normally a texture I would gag at, but it was delicious! So anyways, now to the present. I went right home and googled 3 milk cake, since I couldn't remember how to say the Spanish words, and made it the next night. Once again the source for this recipe is allrecipes.com (LOVE that place)

The case:
# 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
# 1 teaspoon baking powder
# 1/2 cup unsalted butter
# 1 cup white sugar
# 5 eggs
# 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

# 2 cups whole milk
# 1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
# 1 (12 fluid ounce) can evaporated milk
# 1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
# 1 cup white sugar
# 1 teaspoon vanilla extract


Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour one 9x13 inch baking pan.
2. Sift flour and baking powder together and set aside.
3. Cream butter or margarine and the 1 cup sugar together until fluffy. Add eggs and the 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract; beat well.
4. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture 2 tablespoons at a time; mix until well blended. Pour batter into prepared pan.
5. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 30 minutes. Pierce cake several times with a fork.
6. Combine the whole milk, condensed milk, and evaporated milk together. Pour over the top of the cooled cake.
7. Whip whipping cream, the remaining 1 cup of the sugar, and the remaining 1 teaspoon vanilla together until thick. Spread over the top of cake. Be sure and keep cake refrigerated, enjoy!

The Ruling:
MY NEW FAVORITE DESSERT! This tasted just like the one at Chuy's! Oh my... it is soooo good! Who would have thought? I didn't make homemade whipped cream. It doesn't need whipped cream at all. My husband added fresh, sliced strawberries. I woke up the next morning craving this. I was worried how milk-soaked cake would be the next day. (Even though it spend the night in the fridge) It was still to die for!!