Tres leches Cake-the Indian way

 

Daring Baker's challenge for this month was hosted by Inma from la Galletika who challenged us with a very popular Central and South American cake called Tres Leches (pronounced tres ley-chays) A Tres leches cake is a basic sponge cake soaked in three kinds of milk- evaporated milk, condensed milk, and heavy cream/milk. It is a very light cake with air bubbles which comes from the beating of egg whites. This cake has no butter/oil and rises without the use of baking powder. This distinct texture is why it does not have a soggy consistency, despite being soaked in a mixture of three types of milk. Traditionally it is garnished with whipped cream and fresh fruits.

A Tres leces was on my list for a long time and I was really happy to see it as this month's challenge. The three milk concept sounded very Indian to me like the Rabri we use. I decided to make it myself and chose a fairly simple way to do so. I decided to opt the Indian way of garnishing it and did so with the use of edible silver sheets, chopped pista and rose petals, just as how we see it done on Indian sweets. The sponge cake was such a winner. The soaking part left me in doubts about the cake getting soggy but its surprising the way this cake holds it shape. 

The cake was declared a winner in terms of texture, taste and presentation by my family. A keeper recipe for sure and a must try for the coming festive season.

Ingredients : Serves 5-6. I halved the recipe and modified it

Sponge cake

• 2 eggs, separated
• 1/4 cup sugar, powdered
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour

Three milk syrup (Tres leches)

• 5 cups milk, divided 2+2+1
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 1 small stick cinnamon
• 1 tsp rum (optional)

For Garnish :

• Edible Silver sheets/Silver Warq
• Red rose petals
• Chopped Pistachio

Procedure:

Three milk syrup(Tres leches)-homemade

Take milk in a thick bottomed pan and boil it. 

Remove 1 cup and keep aside. This is the boiled milk.

Let the remaining milk simmer on low heat for 20-25 mins till the quantity is reduced to half and water has evaporated from the milk. This is the evaporated milk.

Remove half the quantity of this evaporated milk and keep aside.

Add 2 tbsp sugar into the remaining milk and let it simmer for 10-15 mins till you see the colour changing to light brown. This is the condensed milk. 

Now add the evaporated milk and boiled milk to the pan with cinnamon and let it simmer for 4-5 mins. 
Allow to cool. Scoop out the cinnamon stick and add rum(optional)

Sponge cake

Preheat oven to 180 degree Celsius. Grease and line a 6x6" square pan. 

Take egg whites in a clean bowl and whip with an electrical beater for 3-5 mins till you get soft peaks. Now add sugar in batches and keep whipping till stiff peaks form(5 mins). 

Take egg yolks in another clean bowl and whip for 5 mins till they are pale coloured. I used the same electrical beater. Stir in vanilla essence. 

Pour egg yolks over the egg whites and very gently fold them in till just combined. Do not beat vigorously as that will remove all the air bubbles from the eggs.

Fold in flour little by little in the form of rain and gently incorporate in the batter till just combined. 

Pour batter in the prepared pan and bake for 20-25 mins or till a toothpick inserted in the middle come out clean.

Allow the cake to cool.

Poke all over the cake with a fork to make holes.

Pour the prepared three milk syrup all over the cake. I put my cake back in the same pan and poured the syrup for the cake to absorb. Take care to pour on the sides too. 

Refrigerate overnight (preferably) or for 2 hours. Do not worry the cake will not get soggy.

Slice and serve.
Traditionally garnished with a layer of whipped cream and fresh fruits, I did mine the Indian way and put a layer of edible silver sheet and sprinkled chopped pistachio and rose petals. 

My Darling daughter at help

Happy Tres leches cake eating

Amrita

Gulab (Rose) Sherbat and Winners of our Giveaway

''The world is a rose, smell it and pass it to your friends.''Persian Proverb

Sherbat/Sharbat/Sherbet!!
What's in a name, that which we call a Rose, by any other name would smell as sweet..Shakespeare's famous quote holds so true. 
Called by different names in different regions, Sharbat (thats how I like to call it) is the world's first Soft drink! It is made from fruit juices or extracts of flowers or herbs and combined with sugar and water. Traditionally served on a hot day, Sharbat is a natural coolant for the body.
Making Rose Sharbat at home has been an old family custom for us. Though nowadays, it is easier to buy a bottle of readymade Sharbat with so much variety in the market, this year my mother decided to give in to the tried, tasted and tested homely method. Though not bright red as the market ones, our homemade Rose Sharbat was certainly far better in taste than the bought one. And do I even need to compare the price difference...The bought one 700mL bottle costs around Rs 100/ whereas in the same amount we made 2L bottles of Sharbat!!! And all that with the promise of home hygiene and loads of fun!!

Ingredients:For 2 litres of Sharbat concentrate

• 1.5 litres of water
• 100 gms dried rose petals(you can use fresh rose petals too)
• 1 kg sugar
• 1 tsp red food colour
• 1 tsp rose essence

 

Procedure:
Pressure cook dried/fresh rose petals with 1/2 amount of water for 3-4 whistles.
Strain and let it cool. (I discarded the cooked rose petals but you may try and keep some aside to use in the Sharbat to have some petals in the drink)
Put the strained liquid in a large pan and add sugar. Put the pan on Gas stove and cook stirring continuously till the sugar melts and the mixture thickens. This should take about 15-20 mins. 
Let this cool.
Add red food colour and rose essence once the mixture is cooled completely. Mix well.

Note 

• This is a concentrate, and needs to be diluted with water before serving.
• Another way of having it is adding with milk and soda for a Soda milk shake.
• Use it also as a syrup to drizzle over ice creams/sorbets/deserts.   
• If you saved cooked rose petals, add them in the end.
• Check colour by adding water to some concentrate and then adjust colour and essence to your liking. 
• This concentrate stays good in the refrigerator for several months.

The winners of our Giveaway books are
Bright Red(Minu)
Sayantani Mahapatra
Namita Tiwari
Please send us your shipping addresses asap on amritavishal127@gmail.com. Since all three books have become our fav, we will do a lucky draw to choose who gets which book, in all fairness.
 
Thank you all for supporting and loving us. Hoping for many more years of enjoying learning and sharing great food.

Happy Sharbat drinking!!
Amrita