Chocolate Très Leches Cake

Here I am again...posting non-healthy recipes while on my diet.  Just as an update, I am down 6.8 pounds in 2 weeks on the 21-Day Fix.  I am not SUPER strict on sticking with the rules...I am nursing after all and get the munchies here and there, but making better choices when I do get the urge to munch.  But really, the calories allotted keep me content most days.  I also allow myself a cheat meal here and there.  It's necessary to keep my sanity :)  Sometimes I just need a Diet Dr. Pepper after a long day with kids or a piece of chocolate cake on a holiday!

It just so happened that Cinco de Mayo was this week and I have been itching to have people over ever since I've had this baby.  We used to live right in the heart of an agricultural area surrounded by many of Hispanic descent, and got great Mexican cuisine and attended the yearly Cinco de Mayo festivals..and we miss it!  We invited 3 families over and had a taco/nacho bar and it was so fun.  We had the kids break open a piñata and I had 2 desserts with a Mexican theme.

Let me tell you what...this cake is legit...and it is soo good and made me break my diet, twice (yikes!).  My friends each asked for a half a piece initially and ended up going back for more.  It's just that good!  Top it off with homemade sweetened whip cream and some strawberries, and nothing could be better!

Chocolate Très Leches Cake

Note: I used one of my favorite (easy and egg-free) chocolate cakes for this recipe. But you could really use any 9X13-inch chocolate cake recipe, in fact, the beauty of this recipe is that because of the chocolate milk mixture poured on top of the cake, the cake part is especially forgiving (overbaked a little? No problem.). By the way, this cake can (and should) be made in advance - up to 24 hours. Sweet!

Cake:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup natural cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup vegetable or canola oil
2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups water

Chocolate Milk Mixture:
1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
6 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped (about 1 cup)
1 (12-ounce) can evaporated milk
1/3 cup whipping cream or half-and-half
Sweetened whipped cream
Cocoa powder for dusting

For the cake, adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 9X13-inch baking pan with nonstick cooking spray. Whisk flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, and salt together in the baking pan.

Make 1 large and 2 small craters in dry ingredients. Add oil to large crater and vinegar and vanilla separately to remaining small craters. Pour water into pan and mix until just a few streaks of flour remain. Use a rubber spatula to spread the batter evenly in the pan if it isn’t level after mixing. 

Immediately put pan in oven.

Bake until toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out with a few moist crumbs attached, about 23-25 minutes. Remove the cake from the oven and let it cool in the pan on a wire rack until cooled completely.

Using a bamboo skewer or tines of a fork, poke holes all over the top of the cake. In a glass liquid measure or a microwave-safe bowl, combine the sweetened condensed milk and the chocolate. 

Microwave for one minute and stir. If not completely melted and smooth, microwave for an additional 30 seconds until melted and smooth. Whisk in the evaporated milk and heavy cream (or half-and-half). The mixture will start out very, very thick. Don't worry! It will thin out as you whisk in the other milks.

Slowly pour or ladle spoonfuls of the chocolate mixture over the top of the cake. Let the liquid absorb before adding more. Ladle the liquid onto the cake until all the chocolate mixture has been used. It's ok if there is excess liquid pooled on top of the cake, it should absorb into the cake while it is refrigerated.

Cover the cake with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours and up to 24 hours.
Serve pieces of the cake with sweetened whipped cream (see recipe below) and a dusting of cocoa powder or top with a few sliced strawberries.

Recipe Source:  Meds Kitchen Cafe


Sweetened Whip Cream

(I doubled this for the above recipe)

1 cup Land O Lakes® Heavy Whipping Cream
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Beat chilled whipping cream and sugar in chilled bowl at high speed, scraping bowl often, until stiff peaks form. Gently stir in vanilla. Store refrigerated.


Keeps well in refrigerator for up to 4 days. If mixture softens, rewhip to stiff peaks.

Recipe Source:  Land O Lakes