Nejiad,
I love the cakes you posted, especially Snow White, but what is three milks cake?

Sandi

This is called Tres Leches do a search for it you will come up with alot of variations. Very very good and rich cake. Barb

Thank You!

I found a great article and reipe for tres leches.

www.texascooking.com/features/sept2002treslechescakerecipe.htm

Joe

I want to try this cake. I'm not sure that I understand the directions though. Do you leave the cake in the pan after cooling and then pour the milk mixture over it? Then can the cake be turned out and decorated? Or do you turn out the cake and pour the mixture over it? Is there alot of excess milk this way? Does the cake sit in the milk and absorb it or is the milk poured through and run off? Where does it go? Paper towels? Jellyroll pan? After the milk mixture is poured into the cake, can the cake be moved to a platter or board for serving? How long should I wait or can I move it immediately after dousing?

Help!
Sandi

THE WAY I MAKE MY CAKE IS I BAKE IT LET IT COOL, OVER A RACK PAN AND I ALWAYS PUT A COOKIE PAN IN THE BOTOM THIS WAY THE MILK THAT IS RUNING IS GOING TO STAY THERE.WHEN I PUT THE MILK I DO IT SLOWLY UNTIL THE CAKE IS REALLY MOIST,THEN I PUT IT IN THE FRIDGE ALL NIGHT,THIS WAY THE CAKE IT IS GOING TO ABSORB ALL THE MILK MUCH BETTER,TO PUT IT IN THE CARBOARD,I TAKE THE CARBOARD AND PUT IT OVER THE CAKE AND TURN IT ON,THIS WAY YOU CAN PUT IT MUCH EASIER,AND SAFER BECAUSE THE CAKE IS MOIT AND CAN BREAK EASYLI.I HOPE YOU UNDERSTEND.ANY QUESTIONS.THIS IS MY [email protected]

have seen this topic before and never thought of reading it until now....dont mind me I am half ditzy... anyway, this does sound good, and I can also see/read why it would be confusing... but I do think I will (if I make one) do as nejiad did....

mmmm. I always make tres leches for special occasions. These are very expensive to buy, yet cheap to make. I use yellow cake mix for mine. I add the milk to the cake as it sits on the to the board I am going to use. You cannot move your cake once it is soaked. (it will fall apart) I mix one can of evaporated milk, a cup of reg. whole milk and can of sweented condensed milk together and start pouring. (not sure what the measurments are for the cans, but they are the small cans) . I pour it a little at a time. I wait so that it does not come through the sides although it will happen, that just means you have it nice and moist. I really just eyeball it, until I think it's full. I keep paper towels on the sides to catch the extra milk from getting all over the board. I then stick it into the fridge for about an hour. I never leave mine over night last time I did that it soaked up all of the milk.. Then I take it out and frost with whipped cream icing and add fruit to the top for decoration. my hubby and nephew love this cake!! it does have a total different taste vs a reg. cake. It's the bomb!

well, I forgot to mention that yes cool it first!! for those who dont know about this cake need to be told correctly. Only because I thought they add the milk while it was warm. Nope not true, it's a good thing I researched it first. Also it was to be made with a sponge cake. I have yet to try it with a sponge cake. Although most recipes call for a made from scratch cake. I sometime dont have time for "scratch cakes".

Here is what I found on it's history:
There is dispute over where it was first created. It is though to have come from native from Nicaragua by most historians. This cake is very popular in Nicaragua, Mexico, Cuba, Puerto Rico, and Guatemala. I can find no proof of this, but the origin of the recipe is reported to come from the back of an evaporated milk or condensed milk can in Latin America to promote the use of the product. Evaporated milk and condensed milk were sold throughout Central and South America and even the Caribbean. By doing this, the company would boost their milk sales, which was probably the original idea.

Condensed milk first came into use in the mid-1850s as a way to preserve milk in cans, without refrigeration. Evaporated milk first became available during the 1870s when milk companies were able to heat the evaporated milk so that it would not spoil in the cans, thereby making the sugar unnecessary. They both became an immediate success in urban areas where fresh milk was difficult to distribute and store.

This cake probably became popular in the early 1900s. Today, the use of condensed and evaporated milk is a part of Latin American culture.

Hiya all,
I have a few suggestions as to the amount of tres leches liquid to pour over the cakes. I make them all the time where I work. First, I always pipe a dam of frosting round the top edge of the cake to keep the 3-milks from running over, I don't personally poke holes in the cake, as long as it's room temp there shouldn't be a prob not to mention less crumbs to deal with. And I always used whipped icing for the three milks because the buttercream is way to heavy and the cake is very delicate after soaking.
Now, back to the amount of liquid used. I usually use approximately 1 cup of liquid for every quarter sheet. You can adjust to your personal preference but I find that this makes it just right, firm and moist not juicy and wet. Also if you want to fill the cake with fresh fruit, like strawberries or peaches, just torte the cake make your frosting dam soak the cake with half the amount required, put on the filling and then put your cake together and pipe the dam on the top of the cake use the rest of the liquid and frost as usual. I find that half sheets and full sheets sometimes need an extra cake board for stability because they do have a tendency to split.
Hope this helps ya'll

Wow, lots of good advice. I have always wanted to make this type of cake but was afraid too. I didn't know if it could be place on a cake board or had to stay in a pan because of all the liquid! Thanks for all the tips!!

tres leches cake is expensive to make, but worth the time and effort. The scratch recipes vary, but the goal is create a sponge cake that will easily absorb all the milk. There's no need to poke holes due to the texture of the cake. The cake is supposed to soak in the milks, not just have milk poured over it. The sponge cake is very light, but does not get mushy.

If you use a cakemix, then I would follow brian's advice and greatly reduce the amount of milk.

hth

I WISH I had found this forum earlier today! I made the tres leches cake from a recipe on here, and poured the milk over like it said. I used all the milk, the recipe didn't say not to. Is there any way to save my soggy cake? Tastes great, BTW. Just soggy. Was trying the recipe out for a client to taste, I guess I will have to tell her I didn't like the results!

Chaptlps - just curious where you are in CO that you make this all the time...