Cooking Tuesday VIII. "Tres Leches" Shots

Hello everyone! This week I've been very busy with lots of orders. Until today I hadn't had the time to sit down and write this week's recipe. "Tres leches" is a cake I didn't like until 2015 when I made it for a friend's birthday and loved it. It's a dessert we like a lot here in Venezuela, in English it means three milks.

Ingredients

• 7 eggs
• 1 and a 1/3 cup of sugar
• 3/4 cup of flour
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla
• 1 teaspoon of cream of tartar
• 1 can of heavy cream
• 1 can of evaporated milk
• 1 can of condensed milk
• Cinnamon to taste

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First we'll bake a sponge cake, so we'll preheat the oven to 355°F. In a mixer bowl we put four egg whites (do not trash the yolks, we'll use them later).

Beat at medium speed until a white foam forms and add 3/4 cup of sugar and continue beating until white and shiny (like a meringue)

Then lower the speed and add 4 yolks and the vanilla teaspoon, keep beating until all is mixed. To finish the sponge cake mix add the flour in two parts, mixing with a rubber spatula without overbeating.

Put the mix in a baking pan and bake for about 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. While the sponge cake is baking we put the condensed milk, heavy cream and evaporated milk in the blender and mix it thoroughly. When the sponge cake is ready take it out of the oven and poke holes all over it with a fork. Pour the milk mixture over the sponge cake while it still is hot so it absorbs it better.

When it cools down we put it in the fridge and prepare a meringue. There are three types of meringues, French, Italian and Swiss. Depending on what dessert you are making it is better to use one instead of the other. This time we'll be making swiss meringue. All your utensils must be dry, one water drop and your meringue won't rise. We start by separating 3 egg whites, no yolk can slip through because yet again, your meringue won't rise. I've found out that is you keep your eggs in the fridge it's easier to separate the egg whites from the yolk. Then add what is left of the sugar and take the mix to a water bath.

While the mix heats we must beat it until the sugar has dissolved. You can't stop beating because then the egg whites will be cooked. When the sugar dissolves the mix takes on a whiter tone.

Put the mix in a mixer bowl and add the cream of tartar. Beat it at medium high speed until firm peaks form and bowl isn't hot. It's important not to overbeat because then the meringue will lose it's consistency.

Pull the sponge cake out of the fridge and with a spoon fill the little glasses up to 3/4.

Then put the meringue in a piping bag with your preferred piping tube, I used the one in the picture below. Start piping little meringue circles around he glass' border and then make one in the center. When I finished I used a blowtorch to brown the meringue. Then add ground cinnamon on top. To me adding cinnamon at the end is a must so that the "tres leches" isn't overly sweet.

If you don't want to make the "tres leches" into shots then you can leave it in the baking pan and pipe the meringue on top or simply spread it with a rubber spatula. Below I'll leave you a photo as an example.

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I hope you liked this recipe and make it at home. Any question, improvement or recipe request feel free to leave it in the comments. Until next time! :)Espero que les haya gustado esta receta y decidan prepararla en casa.

All the pictures are mine