Day 27: Berry Tres Leche Cake

A few weeks back, Bret Thompson had his Got Milk? Open House to showcase some cool summer treats.

It was a nice reunion of sorts, with close friends and my online food blogging family. I chatted with the lovely MaxMillion whom I met through LA Foodblogging, caught up with Oishii Eats and her brother, finally got to meet LA/OC Foodie, rubbed elbows with Pleasure Palate, and got a chance to say hello to Mikey Hates Everything just before heading out.

Just above is a photo of Mikey's robot dude friends and Eddie Lin from Deep End Dining posing right in front of Milk.

My favorite milky dish was Thompson's version of tres leche cake with berries. Not too sweet nor heavy, this little treat is quite refreshing. I gobbled mine up as quickly as they came out of the kitchen.

Here is JT with her plate... notice the fork just waiting to jump in!

As part of the joint collaboration between Bret Thompson's Milk shop and the Got Milk? crew, everyone got a copy of his savory and sweet recipes on CD - which is now online for everyone at gotmilk.com.

So I tried the Berry Tres Leche Cake recipe for myself and here's the end result:



Sponge Cake [serves 8+]
+ 6 eggs
+ 8 oz granulated sugar
+ 8 oz pastry flour
+ 2 5/8 oz unsalted butter, melted
+ 1 tsp vanilla extract

- In mixer with whisk, beat eggs and sugar until thick ribbon stage.
- Sift pastry flour into egg-sugar, mix and fold.
- Add vanilla extract and butter, and fold until just mixed.
- Pour mix into a buttered 12" x 16" rectangle cake pan.
- Knock mold or pan against table to eliminate air bubbles, if needed.
- Bake at 350 degrees for about 20-25 min or til done.
- To test, insert toothpick into cake. If clean, cake is done.

Soaking Liquid
+ 2 c sweetened condensed milk
+ 2 c evaporated milk
+ 1 c whole milk
+ 1 c heavy cream
+ 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
+ 1⁄2 c blueberries
+ 1 recipe sponge cake (see above)
+ 1 c raspberries (for decoration)
+ 1 c strawberries (for decoration)
+ 1 c blackberries (for decoration)
+ whipped cream to taste

- Whisk together three milks, heavy cream and vanilla.
- Place blueberries in blender w/1 cup of soaking liquid and blend on high for one minute.
- Strain blueberry infused soaking liquid into the rest of the soaking liquid. Set aside in refrigerator.
- Once sponge cake is done, bring to room temperature.
- Carefully remove the cake from pan and place on cutting board.
- Using a sharp knife, cut browned side parts off of the cake.
- Place cake in serving container and pour soaking liquid into the container.
- Using a piping bag, top cake with whipped cream.
- Decorate with berries. Chill and serve.
- Cake will hold up to 2 days.

The cake didn't turn the bluish hue as in the original cake, but had some speckles of blueberries after being strained. Next time, I'd blend all berries to get more berry flavor and color into the soaking liquid. But in the end, my tres leche cake with berries was still quite delicious for my family and a definite keeper for warm summers in LA.


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