Description
Tres leches cake is sweet, but cornmeal adds needed balance that catapults it into upper echelons of dessert. Top with maraschino popcorn for great flavor. The cornbread cake is adapted from Nicole at Daily Dish Recipes. The popcorn recipe is inspired by Jessica at How Sweet It Is.
Ingredients
Scale
CORNBREAD TRES LECHES
- 2 14oz. cans sweetened condensed milk
- 3/4 cup evaporated milk
- 2 cups heavy cream
- a dash of cinnamon
- 1 cup yellow cornmeal
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/3 cup sugar
- 2 tablespoons baking powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 2/3 cup vegetable oil
- 1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted
- 2 tablespoons honey or agave
- 4 eggs, beaten
- 2 1/2 cups whole milk
MARSHMALLOW WHIPPED CREAM
- 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
- 1 7oz. container marshmallow cream
WHITE CHOCOLATE CHERRY POPCORN
- 5 cups popcorn (from a bag or popped yourself, just don’t use movie theatre butter lol)
- 1/2 cup white chocolate
- 3/4 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tsp. vanilla paste or extract
- 1 tablespoon milk
- 2 tablespoons maraschino cherry syrup (from the jar)
Instructions
CORNBREAD TRES LECHES
- In a large bowl, combine the condensed milk, evaporated milk, heavy cream, and cinnamon. Whisk the mixture until completely smooth. Remove 1 1/2 cups of the mixture and refrigerate; you’ll use this for plating when you serve the tres leches. Set the rest of the liquid mixture aside; this will be used to soak the cornbread.
- Preheat oven to 350F and grease and flour a 9×13 baking dish.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Once combined, add in the oil, melted butter, honey, eggs, & milk and stir. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and bake for 45 minutes.
- Using a skewer or straw, poke holes throughout the warm cornbread. Pour half of the milk mixture from earlier over the cornbread. Once the bread is soaked, pour the remainder of the milk mixture on the cake and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight. (The longer the flavors can mingle, the better!)
- When you’re ready to serve, whip up a batch of the whipped cream and top the tres leches with it and the cherry popcorn. Before plating the tres leches, pour a layer of the milk mixture that you set aside in the refrigerator on the plate for extra triple milky goodness.
MARSHMALLOW WHIPPED CREAM
- Using a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the cream until soft peaks form. Add in the marshmallow cream and whip until fully combined.
WHITE CHOCOLATE CHERRY POPCORN
- Place the popcorn in a large mixing bowl.
- Melt the white chocolate over a double broiler or in the microwave. If using microwave, make sure to heat the chocolate in 30 second intervals, stirring after each time. Pour over the popcorn.
- In a small bowl, combine the powdered sugar, vanilla, milk, and cherry syrup and mix until a glaze forms. Pour over the popcorn.
- Mix the popcorn until all pieces are thoroughly coated. Transfer the mixture to a wax paper-lined baking tray and place in the freezer for about 30 minutes to set the chocolate before removing to serve
- Category: Baking, Dessert
- Cuisine: Latin Fusion