Rick Bayless Classic Tres Leches Cake

Recipe 👉 https://www.rickbayless.com/recipe/cl...

A slice of plain sponge cake, laid unadorned on a plate, would not likely excite anyone. All alone, it’s not very sweet or moist or interesting. But true to its name, a classic sponge cake is eager to absorb liquid deliciousness, transforming Plain Jane simplicity into something pretty glamorous. That’s tres leches cake, here presented in its most classic form, infused with Latin America’s beloved one-two punch of evaporated milk and sweetened condensed (lots of flan recipes call for both of these), plus a little whole milk for good measure. Frosted with whipped cream (some cooks like a meringue frosting, making the experience sweeter) and, perhaps, with the addition of some fruit, one bite is all you need to comprehend why this is a classic.

Homey recipes for tres leches cake abound, made in a 13x9-inch baking dishes, doused with the milks and topped with frosting. But many bakeries in Mexico (and beyond) make two layer round or rectangular tres leches cakes, sandwiched with fruit and decorated beautifully enough for the most special occasions. That’s the path I’m on here.

People who are far better trained historians than I am have been frustrated in their attempts to unearth the exact invention of this cake. Yes, it’s so incredibly popular in Mexico, many think it must come from there. But it’s just as popular in many Latin American countries. And yes, because cooks have been soaking cakes and breads with all kinds of liquid goodness for millennia, some think it must be ancient. But this particular soaked sponge cake with the inimitable infusion of two canned milks is unique. Was it the canned milk producers who thought up this version? If so, not one has stepped up to claim the distinction. Was someone making flan, but, realizing they had no eggs, doused a stale sponge cake with the eggless flan mixture and changed the course of history? Perhaps we’ll never know.

Though this version is very traditional, I like to vary the milks (think variations like coconut milk in place of evaporated, cajeta instead of sweetened condensed, espresso instead of half the milk), add ground toasted nuts in place of a quarter of the flour, use caramelized apples for the fruit in fall—the possibilities are endless.