Tres leches cake

Atres leches cake(lit.'three-milk cake';Spanish:pastel de tres leches,torta de tres lechesorbizcocho de tres leches),dulce de tres leches,also known aspan tres leches(lit.'three-milk bread') or simplytres leches, is asponge cakeoriginating in North, Central and South America soaked in three kinds ofmilk:evaporated milk,condensed milk, andwhole milk.
Tres lechesis a very light cake, with many air bubbles. This distinct texture is why it does not have a soggy consistency, despite being soaked in a mixture of three types of milk.
By 1896, theU.S. Department of Commercewas exporting condensed milk to Nicaragua.Cattle, sugarcane plantations, and milk preservation techniques were introduced to Nicaragua by that time, by way of American military occupation.
In 1936, presidentFranklin D. Rooseveltsigned a trade agreement with Nicaragua, which "reduced Nicaraguan duties" in favor of importingdairy products from Wisconsin. These includedevaporated,powdered, andcondensed milk,which Wheelock implies affected Nicaraguan recipes.Additionally, in part due to the food insecurity of theGreat Depression, canned milk sales "skyrocketed" in Nicaragua.
In the 20th century inTabasco, Mexico, a dessert namedtorta de lecheconsisted of "sweetened scalded milk, baked, and served floating in its milk sauce."
Recipes for soaked-cake desserts were seen in someLatin Americancountries as early as the 19th century, in countries likeEl Salvador, likely a result of the large cross-cultural transfer which took place between Europe and the Americas.Soaked cakes were extant in Medieval Europe-- further,The Austin Chroniclecited possible soaked-cake influences as: Englishrum cake,trifle,fruitcakes, Italianzuppa inglese,bread pudding, and medieval Portuguesesopa dorada.The cake is popular inCentral,North America, and many parts of theCaribbean,Canary Islands, as well as inAlbania,Bosnia and Herzegovina,North Macedonia,Serbiaand some other parts ofEurope.
In the US, the cake first became popular in the 1980s beginning in Miami due to Nicaraguan immigration. Its popularity then spread across the US, possibly fromLos Ranchosrestaurant in Miami,which featured it on its menu when it opened in 1981. The cake was so popular at Los Ranchos that its recipe was featured on its fliers, which were pervasively distributed.The Joy of Cookingincluded atres lechesrecipe in its 1997 edition.Since the pandemic of 2020, the cake has been growing in popularity, potentially due to its use of shelf stable milk and pantry staples.
A variety oftres lechesknown astrileche,trilečeor trileçe. Its Albanian and Turkish varieties are referred to astrileçe.. It is a caramel topped version of tres leches and it became popular in theBalkansand Turkey. One theory is that the popularity of Mexican soap operas inAlbanialed local chefs to reverse-engineer the dessert, which then spread to Turkey.The Albanian version is sometimes made literally with three milks: cow, goat andwater buffalo, though more commonly a mixture of cow's milk and cream is used. The Albanian variation “trileçe" usually has a caramel topping while thetres lechescake is topped with cream and fruit.
Tres lechescake consists of a standard cake base that is soaked in three kinds of milk ("tres leches" in Spanish). The milks used are evaporated, condensed, and whole milks. This mixture is poured over the baked sponge, allowing the milks to be absorbed to make a dessert with an almost pudding-like consistency. The cake is then topped with whipped cream. It can also be adorned with strawberries, blueberries, fruit drizzle and cinnamon.
The cake base of atres lechesCake can be made from scratch or by using a store-bought mix.