Tre Latti Cake

Name: Tre Latti Cake
Yield: 10
Cuisine: American

Photo: Emma Fishman

April 29, 2024

Tres leches meets tiramisu.

Some people buy an espresso machine and make a latte. Katherine Lewin, founder of Big Night, a kitchenware shop in New York City, threw a highly caffeinated house party. When she and a friend impulsively doused their tres leches cake with fresh espresso, this boozy, buzzy dessert was born. Like most of the recipes in Lewin’s new book, also named Big Night, it’s perfect for home entertaining. Not only does it serve a crowd, the tiramisu–tres leches hybrid “is an ideal make-ahead dessert, as it should really sit in the refrigerator for a full 24 hours before you serve it,” Lewin writes. She typically uses dark rum or an amaro like Montenegro or Meletti, or you can substitute more coffee for an especially lively, alcohol-free version.

Ingredients

For the cake
Nonstick cooking spray
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. kosher salt
5 large eggs
1 14-oz. can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup neutral oil
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For assembly
3 cups coffee or espresso, at room temperature
1 14-oz. can sweetened condensed milk
3/4 cup dark rum or medium amaro
2 cups cold heavy cream
2 cups mascarpone
1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. kosher salt
1 Tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder and/or 1 tsp. ground cinnamon

Tools:2 9x13-inch cake pans, parchment, whisk, small bowl, medium bowl, 2 large bowl, hand mixer, spatula fine-mesh sieve

Preparation

To Make the Cake: Preheat the oven to 350°F with a rack in the middle of the oven. Coat a 9 x 13-inch cake pan with nonstick spray, then line it with parchment.

Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. In a separate, larger bowl, combine the eggs, sweetened condensed milk, and sugar. Using a hand mixer, beat on medium speed until combined, about 1 minute. Reduce the speed to low and add half the flour mixture, mixing until just combined. Add the oil, then the remaining flour mixture, and mix until just combined.

Scrape the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing the top with a spatula. Bake, rotating the pan halfway through, until golden and a tester inserted into the center comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes. Cool for 15 minutes in the pan, then turn it out onto a wire rack to cool completely, about 2 hours.

To Assemble: Poke the cake all over with a fork, making sure to get all the way to the bottom. Halve the cake horizontally (like a layer cake). Place half the cake, cut-side up, in a clean 9 x 13-inch cake pan or another 3- or 4- quart baking dish. (If the dish isn’t rectangular, just break cake pieces to fit in an even layer.) You may need to trim the edges of your cake so that it fits flat in the bottom of your dish.

In a small bowl, stir together the coffee, condensed milk, and rum or amaro. Pour about half the mixture over the cake, or as much as you need to cover it completely. Let soak for at least 10 minutes. If parts of the cake look dry, poke more holes and add more liquid.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine the cream, mascarpone, sugar, vanilla, and salt. Using a hand mixer, beat on medium speed until medium peaks form, 1 to 2 minutes. Spread half the whipped cream mixture over the top of the soaked cake.

Place the second half of the cake, cut-side up, on top of the whipped cream, then pour over more coffee mixture to completely soak the cake. Top with remaining whipped cream. Chill the assembled cake in the refrigerator for at least 6 hours, ideally 24 hours. Before serving, in a small bowl, combine the cocoa powder and cinnamon, and use a fine-mesh sieve to dust the top of the chilled cake.