Tres Leches Sinaloense

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •9 by 13-inch glass or ceramic baking pan with two-inch sides
• •Stand mixer or hand mixer with whisk attachment
• •Fine-mesh sieve for sifting
• •Wooden skewer or long-tined fork for piercing the cake
• •Small saucepan for warming the milks

Instructions

1. 1

   Prepare the pan and oven

   Heat the oven to 350F. Butter a 9 by 13-inch baking pan and dust it lightly with flour, tapping out the excess. The cake gets soaked in the pan it was baked in, so use a pan with sides at least two inches tall. A shallower pan will overflow when the leches go in.

   Glass or ceramic is better than metal here. The cake sits in the milk for hours and metal can give it an off taste.
2. 2

   Build the sponge base

   Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt together. In a separate bowl, beat the egg yolks with 3/4 cup of the granulated sugar on high speed for about four minutes, until the mixture is pale yellow and falls in thick ribbons from the whisk. This is the structure of the cake. Stir in the whole milk and the teaspoon of vanilla. Fold in the dry ingredients in three additions, gently, with a spatula. Overmixing here will give you a dense cake that cannot drink the milk.

3. 3

   Whip and fold the whites

   In a clean dry bowl, beat the egg whites on medium speed until foamy. Raise the speed and rain in the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar a spoonful at a time. Beat until the whites hold soft glossy peaks, not stiff. Stiff peaks fight the batter and leave you with streaks. Fold the whites into the yolk mixture in three additions. The first addition lightens the batter. The next two preserve the air. The folding is the recipe at this stage. No me vengas con atajos.

   A trace of yolk in the whites will keep them from whipping. Separate each egg over a small bowl first, then transfer.
4. 4

   Bake the sponge

   Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until the top is golden and a wooden skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. The cake should spring back when you press it gently with a fingertip. Cool the cake in the pan on a rack for at least 30 minutes. It must be completely cool before the milks go in. A warm cake turns to mush.

5. 5

   Warm the three milks

   While the cake cools, combine the evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk, and 1 cup of heavy cream in a small saucepan. Add the cinnamon stick and 1 tablespoon of the Mexican vanilla. Warm over low heat just until the cinnamon perfumes the mixture, about five minutes. Do not let it simmer. You are infusing the canela, not cooking the milks. Pull off the heat and let it sit, covered, for 15 minutes. Fish out the cinnamon stick before using.

   Mexican canela, the soft bark you can crumble with your fingers, is what this cake wants. Cassia cinnamon, the hard kind sold in supermarkets, is a different bark and gives a sharper, almost medicinal note. Cada estado, su propia cocina, and Sinaloa uses canela.
6. 6

   Soak the cake

   With the cake fully cool in its pan, pierce the entire surface with a wooden skewer or the tines of a fork. Hundreds of holes. Be thorough. Slowly pour the warm milk mixture over the cake, working in spirals from the edges toward the center. Pour slowly enough that the cake drinks instead of swimming. It will look like too much liquid. It is not. Cover the pan with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least four hours, preferably overnight. The cake needs time to absorb the leches and firm back up. Saber cocinar es saber vivir, and saber esperar is part of it.

7. 7

   Whip the crema

   Just before serving, whip the remaining 1 1/2 cups of heavy cream with the confectioners' sugar and the remaining tablespoon of vanilla. Start on medium speed and raise to high. Whip to medium-firm peaks. The cream should hold a soft swirl from the whisk but still look glossy, not grainy. Overwhipped cream goes to butter and there is no coming back. Watch the bowl.

8. 8

   Top and finish

   Spread the whipped cream across the soaked cake in a thick generous layer, swirling it with the back of the spoon. Dust the top evenly with ground canela. In Sinaloa they finish it just like this: white cream, brown spice, nothing else. The strawberries are for birthdays. Cut into squares and serve cold, straight from the pan with the milk that pools at the bottom. Recetas probadas y garantizadas. Asi se hace y punto.

Chef Tips

• •Use Mexican vanilla from Papantla or Totonacapan in Veracruz if you can find a reliable source. The synthetic vanilla sold cheaply at border tourist stops is not the same product, and a lot of it is adulterated. Real Mexican vanilla is expensive and worth it.
• •Cinnamon is not a detail in this cake. Mexican canela is soft, layered, and citrusy. Cassia cinnamon is sharp and one-note. If your supermarket only sells cassia, find a Mexican grocery or a serious spice merchant. La especia es el sabor.
• •Do not skip the overnight rest. A tres leches eaten the same day tastes like a wet cake. A tres leches that sat overnight tastes like itself.

Advance Preparation

• •The cake must be made at least the day before serving. The minimum soak is four hours but overnight is correct.
• •The sponge can be baked one day ahead, cooled completely, and held at room temperature wrapped in plastic before the soak.
• •Whip the topping cream within an hour of serving. Pre-whipped cream loses its body in the refrigerator and weeps onto the cake.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 175g)