This was the cake I mulled over a few times before deciding to make.

First it was the complete and utter failure in finding a simple tin of sweetened condensed milk. Just shelves and shelves full of its inferior cousins made of palm oil. The second was the thought of a soaked cake. Not something I would do on a normal day.

But these days are not normal days. Rose and Hanaa did a great job of convincing me to make this. And Faithy saved my skin by giving me a link to make my own condensed milk here.

I discovered with a shell-shocked expression on my face that condensed milk has butter in it. But I was more shocked to learn that home-made condensed milk is far far superior than store-bought. Yummeh!

Anyhow. Made the Leche and it took me half an hour or so to reduce it to half. The only problem I had was the skins it developed while it simmered. Everytime I stirred it, I removed a skin off it. By the time I was soaking the cake, some of the skins were on the cake. On the hindsight, maybe I should’ve sieved it to remove the skin as it’s not pleasing to the eye. And I wondered too why didn’t Rose just recommended the use of evaporated milk instead of reducing whole milk?

The biscuit rose above its 3″ pan height and I was so pleased with it. And even after I unmolded it, it kept its height and I was so glad I went ahead and make the cake.

I must’ve messed up the crisscrossing of the wrap as when I was serving the cake, some of the leche was trapped in some nomansland zone. And I should mention that I had to soak the cake, one ladle at a time for about half an hour, I think.   I had to wait for it to soak before I add more, as it was spilling over.  Maybe because I didn’t remove the top crust, feeling such a waste to remove such golden crust.

Anyhow. I let the cake sit overnight and when I opened the maze of wraps, it smelled really really nice. And sure I had a puddle of leches in the serving plate. Good to know that early so I could put it in a plate instead of a board.

And it tasted really really classy and nice. I love the milky taste and although I thought it was an overkill to eat a slice with whipped cream, I found that I ate ALL of the cream that came with my slice. It was that good!

My brother loved the cake. My kids were squinting their eyes and my Mom loved it too. Guess this is one of those adults cakes.

Verdict: It was heavenly!

The cut cake. I really love the whipped cream. Overkill, but much needed.

Close up of side view of cake.  I wanted to show the skin on the sides. Not that cute, aye!

The Torta De Las Tres Leches