Cake and Mexicans are very close, but not historically. In Mexico, cake is eaten almost just because, if there’s no baby shower, birthday, blessing, quinceañera, christening, marriage, funeral, day of the dead, teacher’s day, etcetera. One of Mexico’s favorite cakes is tres leches! Even though many Hispanic countries may claim the recipe as theirs, there are no tres leches like Mexican tres leches.
Cake, pastries and desserts all come from Mesopotamia, Egypt and those whereabouts. The “sweet tooth” started spreading around Europe and eventually made its way to the Americas in one of the many voyages, along with flour and more ingredients but sugar was local. Long before the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors, indigenous peoples in Mexico were already cultivating sugarcane. The Olmec, Maya, and Aztecs all knew sugarcane cultivation and its uses. However, it was primarily used as a sweetener and not on an industrial scale. Then, around the sixteenth century, the Spanish conquest of Mexico introduced sugarcane cultivation on a larger scale. Spanish settlers established the first sugar plantations and mills in the fertile regions of Mexico, primarily in areas like Veracruz and Morelos. These plantations relied heavily on Indigenous and African slave labor. To this day, sugar is incredibly popular and a controversial way to make a living in Mexico.
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We may never think of it as this but, tamales can be considered cake. They are a cooked batter often used in celebrations. Under that understanding, cake has been around in Mexico since before the sixteenth century, but then the introduction of European baking techniques and ingredients completely changed the game. The first cake to be made in Mexico was introduced by the Europeans and made to share at gatherings, of course, these were only for high-class Spaniards.
The cake is so important for Mexicans; we even have a war called “la Guerra de los pasteles” or the cake war. After achieving independence from Spain, Mexico found itself in a state of political, economic, and social instability. During the government of Guadalupe Victoria, a conflict arose with Governor Lorenzo Zavala, which continued during the presidency of Vicente Guerrero and affected many national and international merchants. Some French merchants expressed their grievances to Baron Deffaudis, the French ambassador to Mexico, one of them being Remontel, a pastry chef who demanded compensation from the government for damages caused to his business by Mexican officials. These officials, after enjoying a large quantity of pastries, left without paying. Hence the name of this war.
The greatest gift Mexico has given baking is ingredients, such as cacao, vanilla, sugar and many fruits. Vanilla is the seed pod of a delicate climbing orchid, which is still cultivated in the land that was inhabited and cultivated by the Totonacs (Veracruz). They were forced to pay tribute with thousands of vanilla pods to the Aztecs, who used vanilla for the making of their chocolate. The descendants of the Totonacs still cultivate vanilla, or Xanath, as it is called in their language. Mexico had a monopoly on vanilla cultivation until the mid-19th century when the French took orchids to some islands in the Indian Ocean, including Madagascar, where it is generally called Bourbon vanilla. In Mexico, the plants depended on a special class of bee, the melipona, for pollination. Madagascar had none of these bees, so the French learned how to hand-pollinate the flowers. Cultivated vanilla is no longer solely reliant on bees. Not even in Mexico. The city of Papantla is still the heart of the vanilla region in Mexico. It is a mountainous city in the state of Veracruz. To cultivate the pods, the flowers must be hand-pollinated, and the pods are also hand-collected. This is largely the reason for the price of vanilla. So, you better never bargain with Mexican vanilla ever again.
Now, for the recipe!
Ingredients:
For the cake:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
5 large eggs, separated
1 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup whole milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the three-milk mixtures:
1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk
1 can (12 ounces) evaporated milk
1 cup whole milk
For the topping:
2 cups heavy cream
1/4 cup powdered sugar
Ground cinnamon for garnish
Instructions:
Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C). Grease and flour a 9×13-inch baking pan.
In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
In a large mixing bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Set aside.
In another large mixing bowl, beat the egg yolks with the granulated sugar until light and fluffy. Mix in the milk and vanilla extract.
Gradually add the dry ingredients to the egg yolk mixture, mixing until well combined.
Gently fold the beaten egg whites into the batter until no streaks remain.
Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan and smooth the top with a spatula.
Bake in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
While the cake is baking, prepare the three-milk mixture by combining the sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk, and whole milk in a bowl. Stir until well combined.
Once the cake is done baking and while it’s still warm, poke holes all over the surface of the cake using a fork or skewer.
Slowly pour the three kinds of milk mixture over the warm cake, making sure to evenly distribute it. Allow the cake to cool completely in the pan.
In a mixing bowl, whip the heavy cream and powdered sugar until stiff peaks form. Spread the whipped cream over the top of the cooled cake.
Sprinkle ground cinnamon over the whipped cream for garnish.
Refrigerate the cake for at least 4 hours, or preferably overnight, to allow the flavors to meld and the cake to absorb the milk mixture.
Serve chilled and enjoy this deliciously moist and creamy Tres Leches Cake with your loved ones!
Thank you, Larry, for reaching out and inspiring this piece. I am always available at ale.borbolla@gringogazette.com
