Baileys and cake

Wow. Talk about a taste of Baileys! This cake is going to get you drunk. No kids allowed. Or, if you want to scare the kids away from alcohol, make them drink the tres leches liquid I've got for you.

Ever heard of a Tres Leches cake? If you haven't, it is a sponge cake soaked with 3 Milks (leches): evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk, and I think regular milk. Why don't I know? I don't believe in milk. I believe in Bailey's. And Kahlua.

Wherever this recipe called for milk, I used Baileys. And when I made the tres leches mix, I used 1/4 condensed milk, 1/4 evaporated milk, 1/4 Kahlua, and 1/4 Baileys. ID your eaters, my fellow bakers.

I was nervous when I had to remove the cake from the baking pan. Why? Well, I had to use glass. Don't use glass. Cake sticks. Or, spray the shit out of the pan so there is no stickiness possible.

Cake: baileys, flour, egg mixture, salt and baking powder. 80% Baileys.

Tres leches: 1:1 ratio of evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk, Baileys, and Kahlua.

Luckily, my roommate helped me get the cake out of the pan so it could cool the way it was supposed to. You'd think the Baileys wouldn't be sticky, that stuff is like sticky sap coming from a tree.

Emily releases that sponge with gusto

Cooling on a swag cooling rack

I made this at the ski condo, where we ski, get drunk and make good food. So, my taste testers were 1 or 2 drinks into the night. This cake was like 2 shot skis. I had a few bites and had that past-buzz feel.

You don't know what a shot ski is? Let me show you.

Proper pastime of ski condo nights

I let the tres leches soak for 30 minutes then poured the "frosting" on. I need to work on that. I used 2/3 heavy whipping cream, 1/3 Baileys. And about 6 tablespoons of sugar. Pour that into a shot glass!

See how the frosting looks? It wasn't supposed to look like that. The frosting was like one of those fancy sugary shots you order for someone's birthday. Except way better. Mine has more alcohol. I wanted the real frosting, the whipped, thick creamy sugary frosting that reminds me of living in South America where the word dessert (torta) actually means "immediate diabetic shock" sugar. Next time? No liquor in the frosting so that the heavy whipped cream and sugar can combine.


End result? Tasty Baileys in a delicioso torta mexicana! Viva azúcar !

Day After Cake

P.S. condo roommates and friends decided on breakfast: leftover cake and the leftover frosting that I put in the freezer would be great for our coffee. Regular frosting would thicken up but of course, my frosting was really liquor and sugar.

Liquored coffee!

Frosting as creamer?

Breakfast of Colorado girls

The Ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1.5 tsp baking powder
a few pinches of salt
5 whole eggs - separate egg whites and egg yolk
1 c sugar
t tsp almond (or vanilla)
1/3 c Bailey's * I bet the flavored Bailey's would be sooooo good. Someone try it!
1/2 can evaporated milk
1/2 can sweetened, condensed milk
1/4 c Kahlua

For Icing:
1 pint heavy whipping cream
splash of almond or vanilla
3 tablespoons of sugar

Now, make it.....
The sponge cake:
oven @ 350 and spray your cake pan like you are a teenager about to graffiti
combine flour, baking powder, salt in a large bowl. You'll pour the liquid mix into this bowl later.
Beat the egg YOLKS with 3/4 c sugar until the egg yolks turn light yellow. Stop. Pour the mixture into the flour mixture and stir nicely until just combined.

Beat those egg whites until those lovely white peaks appear. Whip 'em good. Keep whipping and pour in the remaining 1/4 c of sugar. Beat a little bit more.

Fold this new egg mixture into the flour/egg yolk mixture. Fold. It's a weird word for baking. Stop as soon as everything is folded together. Pour it all into the cake pan and bake for 20 - 40 minutes. I live at high altitude and baked this at about 8500 feet. My baker's nose is getting good and 25 minutes was almost too much for us. Phew. Those of you at sea level, use your nose. Plus, it depends on the size of your cake pan.

Flip that cake onto a fancy cake platter so it will cool. My fancy cake platter was a red cutting board.


It works.

To make the Tres Liquores:
Combine the Kahlua, Bailey's, evaporated milk, and condensed milk in a liquid measuring cup, or fancy pitcher. Once the cake is cooled for 30- 40 min, pierce a few spots with a fork or toothpick. Then, pour that lovely liquored liquid all over the sponge cake. Give it 30 minutes or a day to soak it all up. I doubt you'll last a day.

Make a pot of strong, black coffee. Preferably Mexican coffee to stay with the theme.

Now, the icing:
whip 1 pint of heavy whipping cream and 3 tablespoons of sugar until it is thick. Sometimes, throwing the mixture into the freezer for 15 -20 minutes helps. Spread the sober love. Cut, serve. Share the love.