(The peaches have arrived at markets around Atlanta, so this week I’m re-posting one of my favorite tres leches recipes from last year when I was sharing weekly recipes on Patreon. I hope it’s cool to post this one again instead of a brand new recipe. If you’d like a visual, here is an Instagram Reel I made last summer when I still cared about Reels. If it’s not quite stone fruit season where you are, use a pound of your favorite berries for the compote filling. This recipe is free for all—it’s a long weekend, why not be generous.)
I wait all year for stone fruits to arrive at the market. The first opportunity I have to get some plums in my mouth, I’m going for it. It’s difficult to think of a better way to spend 5 minutes or so of my time during the summer, than eating whole plums, apricots, peaches, pluots. They need nothing more than my patience as I slice and pit them, although I love sprinkling Tajín on top.
Many of you have had success with the OG At Heart tres leches recipe. This recipe is nearly identical, the main difference being you’ll be making a compote. I used plums, pluots, apricots and Rainier cherries for mine; use your favorite stone fruits for yours.
For sponge cakes we sift in the flour in small increments so as to not overwhelm the voluminous egg and sugar mixture, which would surely deflate the batter and our spirits along with it.
I wanted a compote and not a jam because I was going for a looser, more liquid mixture that would soak right into the sponge cakes. My three milks for this cake are oat milk, coconut milk and sweetened condensed milk. I find the coconut milk to be non-negotiable for reasons that honestly escape me, however I trust my taste buds and my taste in general.
A simple, barely sweet whipped cream that I stabilize with either softened cream cheese or mascarpone rounds out the flavors for me. I didn’t include a recipe for the whipped cream in the actual recipe, but I whisk 8 ounces softened cream cheese or mascarpone with about 8 ounces of heavy cream, a big pinch of salt and a splash of vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste, usually with a hand held mixer to soft peaks. I avoid making whipped cream in my stand mixer; I think it’s much easier to over whip the cream. I realized recently that creaminess in a dish is important to me, and I think this is why tres leches is my all-time favorite cake. The cold sponge gives way easily to your fork, the juicy, tangy compote, the three milks, and the soft as can be whipped cream for my favorite bite of the summer.
Stone Fruit Tres Leches
Yield: one 8-inch two layer cake
Stone Fruit Compote
500 grams stone fruit variety, washed, pitted, sliced
40 grams (about ¼ cup) cane sugar or granulated
zest and juice from 1 large lemon
pinch of salt
Sponge Cake
300 grams (about 6) large eggs, room temperature
175 grams cane sugar or granulated sugar
175 grams (about 1 ⅓ cup) all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Tres Leches Soak
13.5 ounces (1 can) coconut milk
14 ounces (1 can) sweetened condensed milk
1 cup oat milk
1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste or extract
pinch of salt
Make the compote:
In a large saucepan set over medium heat, add all of the ingredients. Cook compote until the stone fruits have released their juices and the mixture has thickened some, about 15 minutes. Let compote cool completely in the saucepan before transferring to an airtight container and chilling in your fridge. Compote can be made up to 48 hours before using in the cake.
Make the cake:
Heat oven to 350F. Line two 8-inch cake pans with parchment. Spray the parchment only with cooking spray.
Before starting, whisk the eggs and sugar just to combine with the whisk stand mixer attachment, then attach the bowl to the mixer. Whisk egg and sugar mixture on high until very light yellow, voluminous (tripled in size), and the mixture falls in ribbons when the whisk attachment is pulled up. This will take about 10-15 minutes on speed 8 on a Kitchenaid mixer.
Once eggs are at ribbon stage, sift in the flour in three additions. Gently fold in each addition before adding the salt and folding once more. Be sure to scrape the bottom of the bowl where the flour likes to fall and hang out. Be mindful to not overmix.
Transfer batter to the prepared cake pans and bake for 20-23 minutes. The cake is done when it starts to pull away from the sides of the pans and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out without crumbs.
Transfer to a cooling rack and let cakes cool in their pans for about 10 minutes; remove cakes from pans and onto a cooling rack. Let cake layers cool completely before soaking.
Make the soak:
Once cake layers are completely cooled, place the bottom layer onto a large plate with a high lip edge so the soak can pool.
In a 2 quart saucepan set over medium heat, add all the ingredients and whisk until combined and the condensed milk has heated through.
Remove from the heat and pour about half of the soak over the bottom layer of the cake. It will look like there’s too much liquid, but the cake will drink it all up. Spoon the stone fruit compote over the bottom layer and spread into an even layer.
Place the second layer of the cake on top of the compote. Pour about half of the remaining soak over the top layer now.
Reserve the last half of the soak to spoon over the cake every few hours or so while it’s hanging out in the fridge.
Set the stacked cake in your refrigerator for at least 8 hours and up to 24 before frosting and serving.
Frost the cake with whipped cream (stabilized with 8 ounces softened cream cheese or mascarpone, or just whipped cream alone). The cake will keep in the fridge (where it needs to be stored) for up to two days after frosting.
I love tres leches, it isn’t super popular here in the UK, we definitely need more of it. Can’t wait to try this one!
Such a bright and beautiful cake. I love the layers.