Tres Leches

Tres Leches, which literally means ‘three milks’, is a very traditional cake in Colombia and other Latin countries. It is typically served as the designated ‘birthday cake’ at parties. It is delicious and I suggest you have at least one day free to make it perfectly. Do not be intimidated by the amount of ingredients or if you have never baked. It is actually quite an easy dessert and will impress many who eat it, because it is so moist and yummy!

Ingredients:

Cake

• 2 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• .5 teaspoon salt
• 4 tablespoons butter, plus some for the pan
• 1 cup milk
• 4 whole eggs
• 1.5 cups sugar

Three Milks Sauce

• 2 cups full cream milk
• 1 (13-14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 (10-ounce) can of cream or 1 cups of heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Step 1: Preheat the oven to 350F. Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set Aside.

Step 2: In a small saucepan, melt the butter in the milk and set aside to cool.

Step 3: Beat the eggs in a mixer on high for 8-10 minutes, until light and fluffy. Add the sugar and keep beating for 2 minutes more. Reduce speed to minimum, add sifted mixture, and last the melted butter and milk, and mix for 2 minutes or until well blended.

Step 4: Butter a cake pan; pour the mixture into the pan.

Step 5: Bake for 45-50 minutes.

Step 6: Set aside to cool for 15 minutes. Leave the cake in the pan.

Step 7: While the cake is cooling, make the sauce: In a medium bowl, mix the milk, cream, condensed milk, and vanilla, and whisk to a smooth texture.

Step 8: Pour 75% of the sauce mixture over the warm cake; with a fork or toothpick, make some holes into the cake so it absorbs all the sauce. (Do not overdo it with the holes. It doesn’t take much. It may take a few minutes for the cake to absorb all of the mixture.)

Step 9: Set the cake aside. I refrigerated mine all day (approximately 8 hours). Right before serving, pour the remaining sauce over the cake to absorb. Serve.

 

*For more amazing Colombian dishes, I suggest this book: Secrets of Colombian Cooking by Patricia McCausland-Gallo

 

Sonido Soundwave

Yesterday I found this cute little authentic South American restaurant near the city called Sonido (Sound in spanish). Their prices were decent and the decor was fantastic. I walked through the wooden front door with the peeling white paint, and stepped into Colombia. The walls were a pale blue with accents of bright yellow everywhere. The kitchen, which was in the middle of the cafe, looked exactly like a Colombian kitchen with metal pots and pans hanging everywhere, ready to be served with hot chocolate (Colombian style) or perico (coffee with milk).

Hanging on the walls were a variety of knickknacks from the mother country, such as old bus signs, leather pouches and shoes, and stickers of their beer and soda. The menus had jackets of old albums of native music that they played throughout the restaurant. All of the tables and chairs were mismatched in a way that went together. I particularly liked my pale green that had jumped out of the 1970s. On each table, there were a multitude of books about the countries of South America, perfect for flipping through while waiting for your meal.

I ordered jugo de lulo (Lulo juice) and arepas con queso (arepas with cheese). Lulo is a native tropical fruit found in South America that isn’t very sweet, but refreshing with a slight bitter taste, although not as bitter as a grapefruit. Arepas are a kind of corn pancake that Colombians and Venezuelans eat with most of their meals and can come in many different ways: with cheese, eggs, jam, meat, or plain. They are deliciously golden and round that fit perfectly in the palm of your hand. I topped mine with butter, picadillo (salsa), guacamole, and hot sauce. Then I eat it like a one-sided sandwich. Mmmm!

For that short little hour, I felt I was back in Colombia, a country filled with laughter, beer, music, and dancing! It was such a nice feeling… almost like a mini-vacation.

Chao!