Household Executive Cooks!

I love to read the blog/website The Pioneer Woman Cooks! I check in just to see what she is up to creating, however I have never made anything from her website...until tonight. The great thing about her site is that she not only has GREAT recipes, but that she also does step by step photos so you can see if your creation is progressing the way it should be. This proved to be very helpful!

Since moving down South we have discovered the most delicious dessert ever...Tres Leches Cake. One restaurant we frequent regularly calls it Quatro Leches Cake. This means Three/Four Milks cake; it is called that because there are four milks used to make the cake. Some places don't count the milk that is in the cake mix itself, just the milks for the topping and that is why you see some calling it quatro and some calling it tres. Nonetheless, it is delicious! We would make special trips to the restaurant for this cake and it isn't cheap either! When my sis was here we took her there for dessert and we spent over $40 just on dessert! We also introduced TW's mom to the dessert and she is now hooked as well. A few days ago Pioneer Woman had a Tres Leches recipe on her site. Seeing the pictures just got me in the mood all over again. So, tonight I got up the courage to try it out. You can visit Pioneer Woman's site to see how she taught me to make the cake... http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2009/09/tres-leches-cake/

Here is my pictures of the work in progress...

It was delicious! Soooooo sweet, I almost couldn't finish my piece. Probably because I "licked" as I went along. Try it out! Thanks Pioneer Woman!!!

Tres Leches Cake

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

5 eggs

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/3 cup milk

1 can evaporated milk

1 can sweetened condensed milk

1/4 cup heavy cream

1 pint heavy cream, for whipping

3 tablespoons sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Spray 9 x 13 inch pan liberally until coated.

Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl.

Separate eggs.

Beat egg yolks with 3/4 cup sugar on high speed until yolks are pale yellow. Stir in milk and vanilla.

Pour egg yolk mixture over flour mixture and stir very gently until combined.

Beat egg whites on high speed until soft peaks form.

With mixer on, pour in 1/4 cup sugar and beat until egg whites are stiff but not dry.

Fold egg white mixture into other mixture very gently until just combined.

Pour into prepared pan and spread to even out surface.

Bake for 35 to 45 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

Turn cake out onto a rimmed platter and allow to cool.

Combine condensed milk, evaporated milk, and 1/2 cup heavy cream in a small pitcher.

When cake is cool, pierce the surface with a fork several times.

Slowly drizzle all but about 1 cup of the milk mixture—try to get as much around the edges of the cake as you can. (I kept the 1 cup mixture as extra topping, but Pioneer Woman discards it)

Allow the cake to absorb the milk mixture for 30 minutes.

Whip 1 pint heavy cream with 3 tablespoons of sugar until thick and spreadable.

Spread over the surface of the cake.

Decorate cake with whole or chopped maraschino cherries.

Cut into squares and serve.

Delicious!