When I think of Hispanic food, I don’t think about ceviche, empanadas, or even flan; tres leches is the very first thing that crosses my mind — spongy yellow cake, sticky sweet frosting, and triple milk syrup which gives the cake its name throughout. Tres leches to me is what all recetas de postres should be.
Without a doubt, one of the reasons why this glowing example of classic recetas de postres turns out so delicious is because you have to put so much work into it. You have to use the right kinds of milk and cream, you need to make sure all of the ingredients in the cake are just right — it’s a really big process that most first timers tend to get wrong; however, most first timers don’t have this list of tips for making the perfect tres leches cake to fall back on, either.
Three Tips for the Perfect Tres Leches Cake Recipe
- Give It Time
- Use the Right Pan for the Job
- Make It from Scratch
The worst thing you can do when making tres leches cake is rush it. For example, when you dump the syrupy liquid over your yellow cake, it’s supposed to look like there is way too much. You’re supposed to allow the cake to sit overnight so it absorbs as much of the tres leches as possible. That’s the only way to get a cake that is sticky, spongy, and 100% delectable.
Metal pans are often the most affordable and easiest to find. However, according to Martha Stewart Magazine, the last thing you want to do is cook tres leches in a metal pan. The ingredients in the tres leches, particularly the egg yolk, will have a bad interaction with the metal, either causing your cake to stick to the pan, tainting the flavor of the entire cake, or both. Best to use an earthenware or glass pan instead.
If you follow any tips on this list, make sure it’s this one. You can’t hope to make this a great tres leches cake — royalty among all recetas de postres — if you start the whole process off on the wrong foot. You will never make a great tres leches cake if you’re trying to make one from a box mix. Sure, making cake with cake mix can be great in a pinch, but if you want a moist, flavorful cake, do yourself a favor and start from scratch.
Do you have your own methods for perfecting one of the most delicious postres known to man? Tell us about them in the comments below.