Rasmalai Tres Leches Cake

Tres Leches Cake which literally means “three milk cake” is uniquely a traditional Latin American cake. A sponge cake is soaked in three kinds of milk namely evaporated milk, condensed milk and heavy cream or milk and usually served chilled. This cake has been in my to-do list since soooo long.

Finally, I got an opportunity to to bake this when we decided to host a family get together. Our family and hubby’s cousin and family co-hosted a dinner party for two of our newly married nieces with their spouses and in laws on last friday. And I immediately grabbed the opportunity to make the dessert and this was what I came up with 🙂

And to my great delight, everyone appreciated it and the entire cake disappeared in few minutes and my joy knew no bounds 🙂 People were excited about this whole new concept of fusion cake which tasted like some Indian mithai 🙂 And with all modesty, I was excited to explain how this was made. Please do try this recipe and I am sure your family is going to love it. It’s surely a beautiful combination of East meets West. One of the most perfect fusion cake and the best part is that you don’t need to have great frosting skills 🙂

As always I have used a 240 ml cup. The cake baked perfectly with no cracks. Leave your comments in the comments box and do let me know your inputs. Thanks for reading.

Ingredients:

• All purpose flour 250 gm (2 cups)
• Salt a pinch
• Baking soda 1/2 tsp
• Baking powder 1 1/4 tsp
• Sugar 200 gm (1 cup)
• Oil 120 ml (1/2 cup)
• Melted butter 2 tbsp
• Rasmalai extract 1/2 tsp
• Cardamom powder 1/2 tsp
• Kesar/saffron few strands
• Curd 1 cup
• Milk 1 1/2 cups
• Evaporated milk 3/4 cup
• Condensed milk 1/2 cup
• Almond slivers as desired
• Pistachios as desired
• Whipping cream 1 cup

Method:

• Preheat the oven at 160-170 degree Celsius for ten minutes. I use both rods with fan mode on.
• Line a 9 by 13 baking tray with parchment paper such that the sides hang a bit. (This will help to take the soaked cake out of the tray).

• Sieve the flour, a pinch of salt and baking powder for two to three times.
• Take fresh (not sour) thick curd in a bowl and add baking soda to it. Mix well and keep it aside for few minutes. I have used home made curd.

• Powder the sugar along with cardamom pods (or you may directly add cardamom powder) and mix it thoroughly with the oil and melted butter.

• Add the rasmalai extract and combine. This step is purely optional.
• Now mix the curd and the above mixture (sugar and oil) till it’s homogeneous.
• Fold in the dry ingredients in two to three batches till there are no specks of dry flour. Do not over mix.
• You may add 2-3 tablespoons of milk if the batter appears too dry.
• Pour the batter into the prepared tin and tap it on the counter to remove air bubbles if any.

• Bake it for 30-35 minutes or till a screwer inserted into the centre comes out clean.

• Mix few saffron strands in two tablespoons of hot milk and keep aside.
• Meanwhile, mix hot milk, evaporated milk, condensed milk and the saffron milk. Adjust the quantity of milk and sugar according to your taste.

• Take the cake out of the oven and poke holes on the cake with a fork while the cake it still warm. (Look at the cake !! Hasn’t it baked perfectly?)

• Add around quarter to half cup of the prepared milk over the cake so that the entire cake is soaked with the milk.

• Meanwhile keep the remaining milk mixture in the refrigerator.
• Take around one cup of whipping cream in a clean (preferably refrigerated bowl) and beat it to stiff peaks.
• Transfer the cream into a piping bag attached with a nozzle of your choice and spread the cream on the milk soaked cake. I have used Wilton round nozzle. You can spread the cream on top of the cake with the help of a spatula too.

• Garnish the top with finely chopped almonds, pistachios and saffron strands. You may sprinkle few dried rose petals too.

• Refrigerate the cake for another two to three hours.
• Cut into pieces and serve in a plate and pour some of the milk mixture on the sides. Enjoy 🙂

Notes:

• In case you don’t have evaporated milk, you can use fresh cream.
• Recipes of evaporated milk and condensed milk can be found in the blog in the Do it yourself category.
• You can increase the amount of the tres leches milk according to your taste.
• Adjust the amount of condensed milk depending on your desired sweetness. I have used home made condensed milk which is not as sweet as the store bought ones.
• This dessert tastes best when served chilled.
• The recipe can be easily halved.
• The cake can be baked in an eight inch square or round tin.