The Three Milks

When it comes to picking a dessert when we are out at a restaurant, The Husband is a good man. His palate leans towards fruit desserts, one of his favorites is Key Lime Pie.  I, on the other hand, am a hard core chocolate lover. If the dessert is called Death By Chocolate, I will take that challenge and be happy if the outcome is what the dessert is called. More often than not, The Husband will forgo his fruit dessert in order to share some chocolaty deliciousness with me. Whenever we come to this dessert conundrum and The Husband selects the chocolate, I'm reminded of why I love him so much.  

I came across this recipe for Tres Leches and thought that it would be a good way to split our difference.  Part of why Th Husband  enjoys fruit desserts is because they're light, part of why I enjoy chocolate desserts is the sweetness (and obviously the chocolate....). I wanted to try something a little different that played to some of the things that we enjoy. Also, it has strawberries, so The Husband gets his fruit too.

This dessert is great. You make it, throw it in the refrigerator and eat it the next day or the day after, or the day after. The longer it soaks, the better for you.  

Ingredients: 

1 1/2 Cup Flour
2 TSP Baking Powder
1/2 TSP Salt
3 Eggs at Room Temp
1 Cup Sugar
2 TSP Vanilla Extract
1/2 Cup Whole Milk, at room temperature
1 1/2 Cups Heavy Cream
One 12-ounce can evaporated milk
1 Cinnamon Stick
One 14-ounce can Sweetened Condensed Milk
1/2 TSP Ground Cinnamon

Topping:
1 pint strawberries, thinly sliced
1/4 Cup Sugar
Sweetened whipped cream and thinly sliced mint leaves, for serving

Preheat the oven to 350.

Lightly butter a 9-by-13-inch glass or ceramic baking dish.

Whisk the flour with the baking powder and salt. If you use a mixer, use the paddle attachment, if you're going it by hand (more power to you!), beat the eggs with the sugar and 1 TSP of the vanilla  at a medium high speed for around 10 minutes or so. The egg mixture should get light and fluffy.  Slowly add half of the flour mixture until it's just mixed it (don't over mix). Slowly then add the whole milk and then mix in the rest of the flour. 

Pour the batter into the prepared baking dish and bake for 25 minutes, or until the center of the cake springs back to the touch. 

Transfer the baking dish to a rack and let the cake cool/

While it's cooling, take a medium sauce pan and whisk the cream in with the evaporated milk and cinnamon  Bring it to a boil, and make sure you keep whisking it, or else the milk will scorch  Once it's boiling, reduce the heat the low, let it simmer for 3 minutes and then take it off the heat. Cover the pan and let it sit for 10 minutes.

In a  separate heatproof bowl, combine the condensed milk with the remainder of the vanilla and the ground cinnamon. Remove the cinnamon stick from the heated cream mixture and combine it with the condensed milk mixture.  Let cool for 20 minutes.

Using a fork, poke holes all over the cooled cake. This is going to help get the milk mixture deep into the cake, so have fun and poke a whole lot of holes in there. Slowly pour the milk mixture over the entire cake. The mixture is going to come really close covering the entire top of the cake, but may not get the center of it initially  That's okay.  Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours but I would tell you at least overnight.

Right before you serve the cake,  toss the strawberries with the sugar. Let stand at room temperature for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally to dissolve the sugar.

When you serve the cake, add the strawberrys, mint and whipped cream and enjoy!