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Tres Leches Cake with Berries & Sabayon Sauce

Course Dessert
Servings 16

Ingredients
  

  • Cake:
  • 8 eggs (separated by whites & yolks)
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 cup all purpose flour (sifted)
  • 2 cups heavy cream
  • 1 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
  • 1 12 oz can evaporated milk
  • Sabayon:
  • 4 egg yolks
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/4 cup orange juice
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • Berries:
  • 1 lb fresh strawberries
  • 8 oz fresh blackberries
  • 8 oz fresh blueberries
  • 1/3 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 lemon

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 350°. Grease and flour a 13x9x2" cake pan.
  • For the cake, in a bowl, beat 8 egg whites at high speed with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form. Add 8 egg yolks and continue beating until fully incorporated. With the mixer running, gradually add 1 cup of sugar.
  • With a spatula, gently fold the flour into the egg mixure. Be sure the flour is completely incorporated. Transfer batter into the prepared cake pan, smoothing the top to level.
  • Bake until a wooden toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Approximately, 20 minutes. Start checking cake at 20 minutes and repeat test every 3-minutes until cake is done. *See note #1.
  • While cake is baking, in another bowl, combine 2 cups of heavy cream, condensed milk, and evaporated milk, stirring well to blend. Set aside.
  • When cake is finished baking, remove from the oven and let sit 10-minutes. Gently ladle the combined milks over the hot cake. It may look like too much milk, but as it sits it will absorb all of it. Let the cake cool, then cover and refrigerate a minimum of 4 hours, but preferably overnight. *See note #2.
  • For the sabayon, whip one cup of heavy whipping cream until it forms stiff peaks. Set aside.
  • For the sabayon, prepare an ice bath. Place about 8 cups of ice cubes in the bottom of a large bowl. Add about a quart of water. This is necessary to quickly cool the sabayon sauce after it is pulled from the stove top. Set aside.
  • For the sabayon, combine 4 egg yolks, 1/2 cup sugar and 1/4 cup orange juice (*see note #3) in the top of a double boiler over simmering water. I use a metal or glass bowl over a small pan (nothing fancy). Do not let the bowl touch the simmering water. You're just allowing it to steam the bottom in order to cook the egg yolks while you whisk. If it comes into contact with the bottom of the bowl you run the risk of scrambling the eggs. Whisk continuously until the sabayon becomes lightened in color, thick and falls in ribbons from the whisk. Approximately 12-15 minutes.
  • Move the bowl with the sabayon to the ice bath and continue to whisk. The sabayon will continue to lighten in color and thicken even further. Gently fold the whipped cream into the sabayon in thirds until well incorporated. Sabayon will be very silky and almost frothy. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Can be made a day ahead.
  • For the berries (*see note #4), 1 hour before serving, wash and slice the berries, toss with sugar and squeeze the juice of half a lemon over the top. Stir to combine and set aside until ready to serve.
  • To serve, slice cake and layer with berries. Top with sabayon sauce.

Notes

  1. Baking times vary significantly from oven to oven. My home oven typically bakes this cake in 25 minutes. I recently baked this cake in a different kitchen and that oven took closer to 30 minutes to bake. Start testing for doneness at 20 minutes and continue to test every 3-minutes until a wooden toothpick comes out clean. Cake should be ever so slightly golden. If you lightly press your finger in the center, it should feel set and any indentation left behind should mostly spring back.
  2. The cake can be served cold after a minimum of 4-hours in the fridge, however, if the cake is allowed to chill in the refrigerator overnight, it will achieve an almost custard-like texture and the milks will not seep from the cake when sliced. This is the goal.
  3. The original recipe calls for port, but we do not keep port around. Orange juice is a great substitution here and gives the finished sauce a slight citrus flavor, which is a nice bright counterpoint to the rich custard flavor of the cake. Fresh squeezed orange juice or bottled orange juice can be used.
  4. Use 2-lbs of fresh berries in any combination. Strawberries are usually always available, so they make a good base. Any combination of blueberries, blackberries, raspberries or other types of berries can be used to make up the difference.