Ladies and Gentlemen, please allow me to present to you the wonder that is the Tres Leches Cake. More specifically, the wonder that is this tres leches cake (taken from the Pioneer Woman). Since the egg whites are beaten separately until stiff and added to the batter, the cake has this wonderful airy porous quality that allows it to absorb more of those three milks. Mmmm...

Ingredients - makes 10-16 portions (depending on, err, how fast you eat them)

The Cake

All purpose flour: 1 Cup
Baking powder: 1-1/2 Tsp
Salt: 1/4 Tsp
Eggs: 5 (Divided into yolks and whites)
Sugar: 1 Cup (Divided into 3/4 and 1/4 Cup)
Milk: 1/2 Cup
Vanilla: 1 Tsp

The 3 Milks

Evaporated Milk: 1 Can
Condensed Milk: 1 Can
Milk: 1/4 Cup

(I never end up using the entire mixture, by the way so feel free to make 3/4 of the above quantity)

The equipment

A 9x13 inch baking pan
Hand/Stand mixer
Baking spray
Can opener
Mixing bowls, spatula

Part I - The Batter

Combine the dry ingredients: flour, baking powder and salt. I gather you are supposed to sift the flour but I am lazy and I couldn't be bothered. Don't be like me.

Whisk the egg yolks and 3/4 cup sugar together till fluffy and pale yellow. Don't cheat, make sure it is pale yellow. Now, add the milk and vanilla, whisk on low till just combined.

Now, pour the egg yolk mixture into the dry ingredients and mix gently
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Part II - The egg whites

Beat the egg whites on on high till soft peaks are formed, and then add the remaining 1/4 cup sugar and continue to beat till stiff peaks. At this point, the egg whites look nice and white and creamy, and the mixer leaves plenty of ridges in the whites.
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Now, carefully, gently fold the eggwhite mixture into the cake batter. Be careful not to lose too many of those air bubbles!

Pour the final cake batter onto the well sprayed pan, and bake for 35-45 minutes at 350 degrees. I check every few minutes after 30 minutes and wait for the toothpick to come out clean.

Place on a wire rack until completely cooled.
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Part III - Tres Leches

Combine the condensed milk, evaporated milk and whole milk. Mix well and pour over the cake till  the liquid pools around the edges. Leave this alone for about half an hour for all the milk to get absorbed into the cake.
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You can even do a nice whipped cream icing over this like Ree does. Me, I'm impatient and ate the whole thing as soon as it was done. That's why I don't have any finished pictures, sorry.

Enjoy!
 
Okay, so you don't know a thing about me. A good place to start would be: I love butter. And sugar. And most of all, salted butter caramel. No better way to start this blog, in my opinion.

The stars of the show:

Heavy Cream: 1/2 Cup + 2 Tbsp, or 10 Tbsp, if you happen to be interested in that kind of math
Salted Butter: 6 Tbsp
Sugar: 1 Cup
Salt: 1/2 Tsp (optional)

So simple.
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Before you start with the sugar, do this for me. Wear full sleeves or gloves even, if you feel that apprehensive. Make sure you have a deep, heavy pan. And lastly, pour the heavy cream into a bowl and warm it up so it's ready to pour into the caramel when the moment arrives.

I know I didn't need to post this photo but there's something about pouring liquids that makes me want to capture it in a picture.
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Now, empty the sugar cup into the nice heavy pan. In about 3-4 minutes, it should start turning into copper coloured liquid. If the layer of sugar is thin,it will brown around the edges, and if it is thick, it will start browning at the bottom and it may not be visible to you immediately. Lightly stir occasionally so you're able to spot the browning.

If you stir too much, the sugar may clump together. Don't worry too much about it, it is a classic mark of an amateur. Just try to break it up and dissolve the clumps. No one told you making caramel was going to be easy. 
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Now, to make good caramel you don't really need a thermometer. When the sugar has melted and you start to smell a nice, brown caramel, which has an ever-so-faint burnt aroma, take the pan off the heat and drop in the butter. The mixture will bubble like mad and if you're unlucky, even splatter around a bit. Be brave, and stir continuously.

Next, pour in the warm cream and keep stirring. My caramel did sieze up, but stir and stir like there is no tomorrow, and it will get nicely incorporated into the cream. If some clumps still remain, you'll just have to strain out them out at the end.
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Ta-da!

Whip up with some heavy cream and butter to make caramel buttercream. Stir some into your favourite hot chocolate. Lick it right off the spoon straight from the jar.

Or if you're one of those with self restraint, store in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.