Let’s face it, there’s not a lot going on this Valentine’s Day. You’re stuck staring at the same four walls you’ve been enclosed in for months on end, so you might as well go all out and impress your other half. They say food is the language of love, so rustle up a scorcher of a dessert a lá Mann’s Got Munch. Her Rose & Pistachio Tres Leches, better known as ‘My Milk Cake Brings All The Boys To The Yard’, is as Sophie says “the sexiest milk cake you will ever put your lips to. A Persian twist on a classic Mexican dessert, a light cardamon and pistachio sponge soaked in three kinds of milk with a hint of rose. This lil stunner will be the perfect way to end your Valentine’s day meal.” The below recipe makes six pieces because one is never enough.
What You Need
For the cake
200g plain flour
200g caster sugar
1 1/2tsp baking powder
1/2tsp ground cardamom
50g deshelled pistachios plus more for garnish
Pinch salt
4 eggs
100ml whole milk
1tsp vanilla paste or essence
For the rose milk
I can 410g evaporated milk
1 can 397g condensed milk
250ml double cream
1/2- 1tbsp rose water (personal preference)
Natural red food colouring – Optional
For the cream topping
300ml double cream
1tbsp caster sugar
1tsp vanilla
Edible rose petals to garnish
What You Do
1. Preheat oven to 180C and line/grease a 8×8 square cake tin (or you could use a round one, whatever floats your boat).
2. Blitz your pistachios to a fine powder and add to a bowl with the flour, salt, cardamon and baking powder. Mix well.
3. Separate the eggs in two large bowls, whisk the whites on high to form stiff peaks. In the other bowl add the sugar to the yolks and beat until pale yellow and fluffy.
4. Whisk in the milk and vanilla to the yolk mix. Then gradually add the dry ingredients until well combined.
5. Using a spatula or spoon gently fold the eggs whites into the batter. Try not to over mix you want to keep as much air in as possible. Pour the batter into the prepared tin and tap it on the side to remove any large air bubbles.
6. Bake for 25-30min until golden brown and a skewer comes out clean. Allow to cool for 5 mins then run a knife around the edges and poke a ton of holes in using a tooth pick/skewer.
7. In a bowl combine condensed milk, evaporated milk and double cream, add half a tbsp of the rose water at a time and taste to your liking (I used 1tbsp total). Pour half of the milk over the holey cake allow it to cool and soak in fully before popping in the fridge for a minimum of 1 hour. It can stay in the fridge for up to 24 hours.
8. Optional: With the remaining milk I like to add a few drops of natural red food colouring to get a lovely pastel pink colour cos it’s V-Day after all! Pop in the fridge until serving.
9. For the cream topping whisk up the cream, sugar and vanilla to stiff peaks. You can either spread this all over the cake whilst it’s in the tin or if you’re feeling extra neat, portion the cake up and pipe on the cream for serving.
10. To garnish sprinkle over pistachios, rose petals and serve with the extra rose milk *chef’s kiss*. The dessert must be kept in the fridge and is best served cold. Once made eat within 3 days.
Tag us in your pics on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram because we wanna see how your labour of love turns out, just none where you’re recreating the naked chef please. Save that for yourselves.
INTERVIEW | MEET THE NEW LOTI RECIPE QUEEN