Tres Leches Cake

The tres leches happens to be my favorite flavor of cake and there is nothing that can stop me from polishing off an entire cake all by myself. I first made this cake along with my friends Pooja and Sushma when we interned together. Back then , baking was a luxury , especially for a student who had so much more to do that happily strut around in the kitchen. I still remember the day we all sat down in front of the refrigerator , just to see this beauty soak in milk. No matter how heavy this cake is , it is absolutely to die for.

INGREDIENTS
For the Cake

All-purpose flour – 2 ¼ cups
Baking Powder – 2 ¼ teaspoon
Sugar – 2 cups
Eggs – 4
Butter – ½ cup soft to the touch
Milk – 1 ¼ cup
Vanilla Extract – 1 teaspoon

For the Milk Mixture

Condensed Milk – 1 can
Evaporated Milk – 1 can
Regular Whole Milk – ¼ cup

For the Icing

Whipping cream – 12oz
Icing sugar – 2tbsp
Cream of Tartar – a pinch

PREPARATION

1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease a 10 inch round pan or a 13x9 rectangular pan, preferably with a removable bottom. I used a springform pan.

2. In a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water , add eggs , sugar and vanilla extract. Keep stirring the mixture until it all the sugar dissolves and the mixture becomes smooth and pale yellow in color. 

3. Beat the above mixture on medium speed until it doubles or triples in volume. Add the flour and baking powder to this mixture and combine until smooth and lump-free. 

4. Fold in the milk and melted butter into this batter and check for a flowing consistency. 

5. Pour the batter into the pan and bake for around 45 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool the cake on a wire rack until it reaches room temperature. 

6. In a bowl , mix the condensed milk , evaporated milk and whole milk and combine. Pour this milk mixture evenly onto the cake and refrigerate overnight. At the end of this, the cake would have absorbed all the milk that it was soaked in. 

7. Beat heavy whipping cream with icing sugar until soft peaks form. Add the tartar to this (stabilizing agent) and beat on high speed until stiff peaks are obtained. Transfer the icing into a piping bag and pipe away your favorite patterns.