Tres Leches Cupcakes and A World of Cake Giveaway!

Tres Leches. Three milks. Ripples of soft whipped cream on top of a milky cake. That sensual cherry on top...mmm! 

I see Tres Leches and other luscious Cuban desserts right next to the Cuban coffee station at our Publix every week. Aleyda is always ready with her contagious Cuban smile. “Hola! Come estas? Quieres un cafecito?” Aleyda asks me, “ Would you like  a Cuban coffee?” I always want a Cuban coffee! I quickly walk by to start my shopping. I dare not glance down for more than a 1/2 a second at that dreamy dessert just beckoning me to buy it and sink my teeth into its creamy cake.

I received a copy of A World of Cake by Krystina Castella last week. I can’t stop looking at it and dreaming of which cake I want to try. It’s gorgeous!

I decided to try first the Tres Leches recipe. I made a cake. It disappeared in 10 minutes.

The next day, I made cupcakes. If you never had Tres Leches, you must try it. The cake is sweet and milky drenched in the three milks. I made a quick whipped topping to spread on top. I had to put on a cherry just the way I see it every week at our grocery store.

My son Luca had 2 big slices. He kept saying, “I love it Mommy! I love it!”

I’m so excited that I’m offering one of my lucky readers a copy of A World of Cake!! Read a little about the book and the Krystina Castella. You might know her fabulous book: Crazy About Cupcakes:

Cake is a universal symbol of celebration, shared at birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, religious holidays, family get-togethers, and the honoring of achievements of all sorts. A World of Cake celebrates international cake-making traditions, with 150 recipes for a diverse range of cakes enjoyed around the world. Beautiful photographs and fascinating sidebars accompany the recipes, making this book a rich reading tour of the world’s cakes and the people who enjoy them.

A World of Cake is not only a cookbook, but also a historical lineage of traditional cakes from region to region. Discover birthday cake traditions that will surprise and awe, wedding cakes to cherish, and creature character cakes that kids will just adore. Panettone, Buche de Noel, Opera Cake, Sally Lunns, Dorset Apple Cake, English Trifle, Spanish Honey Cakes, Linzer Torte, Rice Flour Cakes, Mooncakes, Red Velvet Cake, German Chocolate Cake, and Mexican Wedding Cakes are just a few tastes of the decadent recipes included in A World of Cake.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Krystina Castella is a professional designer: her design company produced furniture, toys, stationery, and housewares for stores such as Urban Outfitters, Crate and Barrel, Papyrus, and Target. She is a currently a professor at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California. She is the author of Crazy About Cookies, Crazy About Cupcakes, Booze Cakes, Pops!, and Discovering Nature’s Alphabet, and she has been published in Craft magazine. Krystina lives in southern California.

The infamous Tres Leches! Here’s the lineup: evaporated milk, whole milk, sweetened condensed milk.


Tres Leches Cake
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/3 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
7 eggs, at room temperature
1 12/ teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup sour cream

Tres Leches Topping
1 cup milk
1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup evaporated milk
Makes 1 cake (serves 6-8) or approx. 16 cupcakes

To Prepare
Preheat the oven to 350 F. Butter and flour a 12-inch round cake pan or your muffin pans.

To Make the Cake
Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl; set aside.

In a separate large bowl, cream the butter and sugar with a mixer until fluffy.

Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each addition.

Stir in the vanilla. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture, alternation with the sour cream, and mix until blended.


To Bake
Pour batter into the prepared pan and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool in the pan.

To make the Tres Leches Topping
Stir together the milk, condensed milk, and evaporated milk. when the cake is cool, remove from the pan and transfer to an ovenproof serving tray. Pierce the cake all over with a fork.

Spoon the milk mixture over the cake and let soak for 5 minutes. (I let mine soak for about 15-20 minutes). I brushed it on my cupcakes with a pastry brush. I didn’t use all the tres leches mixture on the cupcakes.

Whipped Cream
Whip one pint of whipped cream until soft peaks form. Don't overbeat it because you will then have butter:)Add two tablespoons of powdered sugar and combine for about 1 more minute.

For  Cake or Cupcakes:
Pipe or spoon on the whipped topping. Don’t forget the cherry on top!

The GIVEAWAY!

BONUS ENTRIES: Each entry comment counts as a SEPARATE entry in the giveaway!  To enter giveaways:


1. Go to Facebook and “Like”  A World Of Cake here: http://www.facebook.com/#%21/pages/A-world-of-cake/151771568178342
2.Go to Facebook and “Like” Storey Publishing here: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Storey-Publishing/78540658563
3. Follow  @StoreyPub on Twitter.
4.  You can follow @cakeduchess on twitter
5. Go to  Facebook, LIKE Cake Duchess’ here on Facebook.
6. Leave a comment on this post!
7. If you RT or post on your Facebook page this giveaway post link, you get an additional entry. Please drop me an additional comment on this post saying that you did so.
8.  Become a "follower" of Cake Duchess' blog.
9. Sign up for our RSS Feed/Email Subscription
10. Drawing will be done randomly from all comments recorded by Saturday, March 5 by 11 PM .
11. This giveaway is only open to readers in the US. I apologize to my international friends.

That’s NINE chances to win! The more entries you make, the better your chances are to WIN! Again, you MUST leave a separate comment for each entry to count : )

Thank you for checking in to see my Tres Leches Cupcakes and this FABULOUS giveaway for A World of Cake!