Three milks cake (pastel de tres leches)

Soaked in a mixture of rum with evaporated and sweetened condensed milks, then slathered with vanilla cream, this moist Cuban sponge cake adds new meaning to decadence. Consider it a rich alterative to pavlova.

Credit: Brett Stevens

• serves

  8

• prep

  25 minutes

• cook

  1 hour

• difficulty

  Mid

Ingredients

• 250 ml (1 cup) evaporated milk
• 395 g can sweetened condensed milk
• 2 tbsp white rum
• 275 g (1¼ cups) caster sugar, plus 2 tbsp extra
• 500 g pineapple, peeled, thinly sliced
• 140 g unsalted butter, softened
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 5 egg yolks
• 250 g (1⅓ cups) self-raising flour
• 250 ml (1 cup) milk
• 125 ml (½ cup) thickened cream
• chopped fruit (strawberries, mango, pawpaw), and pistachios, to serve

Resting time 3 hours

Drink Hemingway Daiquiri (or Papa Dobles), with Havana Club white rum ($40, 750 ml).

Instructions

Preheat oven to 140°C. Combine evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk and white rum in a small jug. Set aside.

To make roasted pineapple, dissolve extra 2 tbsp sugar in 2 tbsp water in a small saucepan over medium heat. Place pineapple in a single layer on an oven tray and brush with sugar syrup. Roast for 30 minutes or until slightly dehydrated. Set aside to cool.

Increase oven to 160°C. Using an electric mixer, beat butter, sugar and 1 tsp vanilla until pale and fluffy. Add egg yolks, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Fold in flour alternating with milk, and mix until combined. Spoon into a greased and lined 22cm springform pan and bake for 1 hour or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Pierce cake all over with a skewer, then pour over evaporated milk mixture. Stand cake in pan for 3 hours or until completely cooled.

Whisk cream with remaining 1 tsp vanilla to stiff peaks. Transfer cake to a plate, spread cream over the top and scatter with roasted pineapple, chopped fruit and pistachios.

Photography by Brett Stevens.        

                                                                      

As seen in Feast magazine, Jan 2012, Issue 5.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.