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September 18, 2014

tres leches con miel

The two ingredients for September’s Improv Cooking Challenge were milk & honey. Since I’ve been “itching” to try my hand at a gluten-free tres leches cake; I decided to combine efforts with this month’s challenge.ejmilk3honey
Sweetened Condensed Milk is a major component of this cake. I made my own with honey. I followed Tiffany’s recipe here. ejmilknhoneygroup
ejmilkhoneyrecipe2After whisking this with whole milk & yogurt mixture, my “milk syrup” is now ready for after the cake cools!ejmilknhoney (14)
Sponge cake has never been my forte -- so I was taking my chances “de-glutening” it… Therefor, instead of whipping up my own gluten-free flour science experiment concoction, I decided to try Pamela’s® Artisan Flour Blend which I’d seen some friends use in their dishes with great success.ejmilknhoney (12)I wanted the recipe for the cake to be “authentic,” so I used this one from Pati’s Mexican Table. Here it is with my modifications:ejmilkhoneyrecipe1
The egg whites whipped up so nicely. ejmilknhoney (16)I desperately wished to use honey instead of sugar, but all my research indicated that the whites would not loft correctly.ejmilknhoneyI don’t remember ever beating yolks for this length of time, so I was amazed at the color they became.ejmilknhoney (17)
Every time I bake with egg whites, I cringe at the “snap - crackle - pop” sound with every stroke I use to fold the remaining ingredients. I guess I need more practice! ejmilknhoneyyolkThe finished cake appeared to be quite dense and almost resisted the milk syrup being poured over it. (Don’t know if it would have helped if I added a gum to the flour?)ejmilknhoney (21)After (somewhat) soaking in the milk syrup overnight, it was time to trim the cake to fit my platter and frost with the honey-whipped cream. I found that most of the syrup had gathered on the top, sides & bottom of the cake. (Perhaps I should’ve used a spoon handle to poke holes?) ejmilknhoney (24)Well, the way I figure, a good whipped cream covers a multitude of mistakes!ejmilknhoney (27)The flavor, however, did not disappoint! ejmilknhoney (29)
It was a moist, delicious cake. But the true test will be after my fellers have it for dessert tonight…

ejmilknhoney (332)If you’d like to catch what the other Improv peeps created with milk & honey, check out these links:



6 comments:

  1. It's so cool that you made your own sweetened condensed milk because that was something else I was considering doing. If you are lactose-intolerant like me, sweetened condensed milk is the absolute worst thing you can eat, since it's condensed. I love your recipe because I can make it with lactose-free whole milk. Definitely must try! :) This cake looks so delicious. Thanks for participating this month!

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  2. Oh. My. Goodness. Tres Leches is my favorite cake ever but I always feel so guilty eating it because, well, it's pretty terrible for you. I need to try this ASAP!

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  3. Can hardly wait to try this ... especially your version of condensed milk!

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  4. I have never had tres leches cake. Now that you have made it gluten free, I need to try it out!

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  5. I've made tres leches cake several different ways, but never gluten-free. I'm amazed at the homemade sweetened condensed milk...for sure I need to try that. Your cake looks awesome! :)

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  6. I'm so impressed you made your own sweetened condensed milk. That is just awesome! I made a lot of Thai iced tea this summer and now wish I'd thought to make my own condensed milk to go in it!

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