A Taste of Nicaragua: Tres de Leches

When it comes to desserts, Nicaraguans are big on using milk and sugar in their recipes, making their desserts very rich and sweet. Some of their more popular desserts are tres leches cake (cake of three milks), arroz con leche (rice pudding), flan de leche (caramel custard), maduros (baked sweet bananas), and cajeta de coco (caramelized strings of coconut and the plant yucca). Some of these desserts have also become popular in other parts of the world like America. Tres de leches is a very known cake recipe that some historians say was first made in Nicaragua and has spread to other Latin American countries with different variations. Tres de leches is where a butter cake is soaked with three different kinds of milk: evaporated, condensed, and whole milk or cream. People have found that this cake could have been used to increase sales for these types of milk during the 1850s. Tres de leches doesn't have a soggy consistency that most might think, but rather the cake soaks up the milk like a sponge, giving the cake a light texture, even though it is very fattening. Nicaraguans usually eat this cake for dessert, but also for different celebrations. Most are religious celebrations like the festival called "Fiestas Patronales", where each city honors their religion's Saint. Despite this religious celebration, most Nicaraguans go to these festivals for tradition, rather than for religious devotion. Here is a recipe to make the famous Tres Leches cake:

Ingredients:

1-½ cups All-purpose flour
1 teaspoon Baking powder
½ cup Unsalted butter
2 cups White sugar (divided)
5 Eggs
1-½ teaspoon Vanilla extract (divided)
1 cup Milk
½ of a 14-ounce can Sweetened condensed milk
½ of a 12-ounce can Evaporated milk
1/3 cup Liqueur, Frangelico, Brandy or Chambord (optional)
1-½ cups Heavy (whipping) cream

Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Grease and flour a 9x13-inch baking pan.

Sift flour and baking powder together and set aside. Cream the butter and 1 cup of the sugar together until fluffy. Add the eggs and 1/2 teaspoon of the vanilla. Beat well. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture, 2 tablespoons at a time, mixing well until blended. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake for 30 minutes.

When cake has finished baking, pierce it in 8 or 10 places with a fork or skewer, and let it cool. Combine the whole milk, evaporated milk, condensed milk and liqueur and pour over the top of the cooled cake. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving. Enjoy!

Whipped Cream Topping: When ready to serve, combine the whipping cream and the remaining 1 teaspoon of vanilla and 1 cup of sugar, whipping until thick. Spread over top of cake.

Because of the milk in the cake, it is very important that you keep the cake refrigerated until ready to serve. Serve chilled.

sources: http://www.vianica.com/culture.php, http://www.texascooking.com/features/sept2002treslechescakerecipe.htm, http://recipes.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Nicaraguan_Desserts