A decadent Thai iced tea, but make it cake. # 327: Thai Tea Tres Leches
Rainy day happy place: audiobook and a baking project. Bliss.
Tres leches cakes are not for the faint of heart (translation: the lactose intolerant). We’re talking four types of dairy in one bite: whole milk, evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk and heavy cream. Grab a lactaid and dig in.
It takes “cake soak” to the next level, essentially submerging a chiffon cake into a sweet milk bath until it becomes a plush pudding texture. And then topped with whipped cream because the dairy limit does not exist.
It’s the only time you actually are pleased to see liquid seeping out of the bottom of the cake (a true soggy bottom!) because it means the cake has been soaked through. No sneaky dry spots of cake allowed.
If you’re looking for a more classic tres leches, I made one without tea in 2021 and had too much fun with dulce de leche designs. I’m not sure where the idea of using Thai tea came from, but with sweetened condensed milk being a main factor in both, the flavors seemed meant for each other.
First step: buy out your local grocery store of both fresh and canned dairy. Only slightly kidding… I was shocked to find I had all the ingredients for this beauty already in my pantry.
Chiffon cakes are airy clouds that soar skyward due to their whipped egg white foundation. With no butter or oil to weigh this version down, it’s the perfect fluffy base for a rich filling or topping (or soak in this case!)
Gently folding in the fluff.
Ready for the heat to excite all the air bubbles and soufflé this baby to new heights.
Time to stab your cake repeatedly (yikes) to allow the milk soak to get into all the nooks and crannies.
I simmered the milk and steeped loose leaf tea in it before letting it cool and measuring it out. The extra tea got mixed with honey and made a certain dish-washer extroadinaire very happy!
It feels like the ultra-thick sweetened condensed milk won’t play nice with the thinner ingredients, but it surprisingly all blends up into a pourable liquid.
Welcome to the cake spa, we have a complimentary milk soak upon arrival.
A cake only a mother could love. It had poofed up gloriously in the oven and then collapsed as it cooled. Have no fear – we’ll be covering it in distracting whipped cream swirls later on.
Happy to report the soak worked! Squidgy in the best way.
Fancy makeover time.
Maybe I’m a monster, but she needs glitter, don’t you think?
And cinnamon! Definitely the right choice.
What’s a cake photoshoot without the obligatory Pac-Man photo?
Happy munching!