Spot of Sunshine: Sunshine & Tres Leches Cake!

Happy Monday everyone!

We made our Tres Leches cake last night so I took some photos to share with you. This is a wonderful recipe my husband found on Alton Brown's website. The cake is from Alton, however the whipped mocha topping is a unique creation Wayne and I made.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/tres-leche-cake-recipe/index.html

Tres Leches Cake with Whipped Mocha Cream Topping

Items needed:

Large mixing bowl

Medium mixing bowl

9x13 nonstick metal pan

Electric mixer

Digital scale (we find this recipe works best when the dry ingredients are weighed instead of measured)

Measuring spoons - ( I'll take this opportunity to show off my adorable new measuring spoon set I got at Franchesca's Collections a few weeks ago).

Ingredients

For the cake:

Vegetable oil
6 3/4 ounces cake flour, plus extra for pan
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
4 ounces unsalted butter, room temperature
8 ounces sugar
5 whole eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

For the glaze:

1 (12-ounce) can evaporated milk
1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 cup half-and-half

For the topping:

2 cups heavy cream
8 ounces sugar ( we use powdered sugar)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the cake:

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly oil and flour a 13 by 9-inch metal pan and set aside.

Whisk together the cake flour, baking powder and salt in a medium mixing bowl and set aside.

Place the butter into the bowl of a stand mixer.

Using the paddle attachment, beat on medium speed until fluffy, approximately 1 minute.

Decrease the speed to low and with the mixer still running, gradually add the sugar over 1 minute. Stop to scrape down the sides of the bowl, if necessary. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, and mix to thoroughly combine.

Add the vanilla extract and mix to combine.

Add the flour mixture to the batter in 3 batches and mix just until combined.

Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and spread evenly. This will appear to be a very small amount of batter.

Bake on the middle rack of the oven for 20 to 25 minutes or until the cake is lightly golden and reaches an internal temperature of 200 degrees F.

Remove the cake pan to a cooling rack and allow to cool for 30 minutes.

Poke the top of the cake all over with a skewer or fork. Allow the cake to cool completely and then prepare the glaze. ( I used a jumbo chop stick from a wok set we got as a wedding present, so anything stick like will do the trick! )

For the glaze:

Whisk together the evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk and the half-and-half in a 1-quart measuring cup.

Once combined, pour the glaze over the cake. Refrigerate the cake overnight. (For best texture, leave in the refrigerator for at least 12 hours)

Topping:

Place the heavy cream, sugar and vanilla into the bowl of a stand mixer. Using the whisk attachment, whisk together on low until stiff peaks are formed.

***For the mocha whipped topping, add 3/4 a shot of mocha espresso from Starbucks and omit the vanilla.