COOKIES AND CREAM TRES LECHES CAKE
I decided to combine two of my favorite dessert in the whole world, tres leches cake and Oreo cookies. That is how this cookies and cream tres leches was born. There is really not much more I can say about it, you just have to trust me and try this recipe. You won’t regret it. Ever since I was little the tres leches cake has been one of my favorite desserts. So simple but so tasty. Why simple? Because it is basically a vanilla sponge cake and that super delicious three milk mixture that makes everything come together. When I sold my desserts I wanted to give my tres leches something that differentiated it from the others. It was a very popular cake, still is. Between the dulce de leche filling and a few orange peels in the milks to add some flavor it turned out even better than expected.
You can find the recipe for the original tres leches cake here.
Considering how much I love this dessert, it was only right to experiment with different flavors. I’ll link some of the variations on the photos below in case you want to try them as well.
This cookies and cream tres leches cake is the perfect mix between the classic cake and the best cookies in the world, Oreos. It’s sweet, smooth and incredibly delicious.
What makes this cookies and cream tres leches cake so delicious?
Let’s start with the base of this dessert, the cake. You start with a basic vanilla sponge cake. The great thing about sponge cake is that you only need three ingredients, eggs, sugar and flour. To these three basic ingredients we add vanilla and our super star ingredient, crushed oreos. The oreos have to be crushed until almost a powder or flour texture.
Whenever you make recipes with oreos you always have to trwo away those delicious fillings right? Today we are using them! Those beautiful fillings are going to be melted with the evaporated milk. If you can find evaporated milk in a can or box, great. I made mine from scratch. Once your evaporated milk is ready, you are going to measure how much you need for this recipe and add it with the oreo filling to a saucepan to melt and mix. Add that mixture to the heavy cream and condensed milk and you have the most amazing tres leches sauce. And oh, before I forget, the star of the show, crushed oreos. Add those is as well for a cookies and cream look and taste.
Finally, the topping. The topping is a whipped white chocolate ganache with, you guessed it, crushed oreos. You are going to make the ganache like you usually would (don’t worry I’ll explain it below) and add the crushed oreos. Mix it in and place in the freezer until cold. Once it is cold enough, give it a good whip and it turns into that beautiful grey fluffliness that you can see in the photos.
You can also add some crushed oreos on top to finish the look. Perfect!
Tips for a perfect tres leches:
The cake: For the cake to grow and have that fluffy texture we want, the most important thing is to avoid opening the oven door. For this type of cakes, what makes them grow in the oven is the air we add when mixing the dough. So it is veeeery important that you do not open the oven while it is baking. At least try to do it as little as possible. How do you know your cake is ready? When you can see the edges and top turn a little brown. When it looks done, slowly touch the middle with your fingers and if it feels too soft it needs more time. If it feel structured its done.
Evaporated milk: You can usually find it canned or boxed, just like condensed milk. To be honest, I could never find it. If you can’t find it either, let me tell you how you’re going to make it at home. For around 400 ml of evaporated milk you are going to use 1 liter of whole milk. Add the milk to a saucepan. You have to first put it on high heat until the milk boils. When it starts to boil, immediately turn the heat down to medium and stir a little to release that heat. You are going to cook that milk over medium heat for 1 hour, stirring every 10 minutes or so.
The ganache: The ganache is a mixture of chocolate and heavy cream. To make it, heat the heavy cream until it bubbles on the side and add the chocolate, stirring until its completely mixed in. To achieve that perfect fluffiness that we are looking for for this dessert, the first thing to do is freeze that ganache. When it is frozen it will have a much thicker texture but you do not want it to be hard as stone. Take that out and place it in the mixer. Mix until it looks lighter in color and fluffy.
Equipment:
Bowls: For the cake batter, the ganache and to make the tres leches sauce. For this recipe I also recommend you use smaller bowls to have every ingredient ready before you make the cake.
Electric Mixer: For the cake and ganache.
Whisk: To mix the tres leches sauce. You can also do this is a blender but i prefer using the whisk and doing it slowly by hand.
Pans: If you are making the evaporated milk, you will need a medium or large saucepan. Also another one for the ganache and to mix the oreo fillings with the evaporated milk.
Teflon spoon or wooden spoon: You can also use a silicone spatula, whatever you feel comfortable with.
Food processor: To crush the oreos into a fine powder.
Measures: cups, tablespoons and a kitchen scale.
Cake pan: Or a glass or ceramic baking dish.
COOKIES AND CREAM TRES LECHES CAKE
Ingredients
- 4 Eggs
- 3/4 cup of sugar
- 3/4 cup flour 0000
- 4 Packs of regular Oreos
- THE THREE MILKS SAUCE
- 400 ml of condensed milk
- 400 ml of evaporated milk
- 400ml heavy cream
- GANACHE
- 100 gr of white chocolate
- 100 gr of extra heavy cream
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 170 degrees.
- Separate the yolks from the whites and add vanilla to the yolks. Set aside
- With the electric mixer whip the whites at medium speed until they foam well.
- While mixing, add the sugar all at once. Mix until the batter has a shiny, white and shiny look.
- At that point, lower the speed 1 point and add the yolks with the vanilla. Mix until everything is the same tone!
- Turn off the mixer and prepare a silicone spatula.
- Add the first 1/4 of flour and mix it in slowly so as not to lose the air in the dough. Repeat with the remaining 2/4.
- Add the powder from 1 package of oreo cookies (without filling. Save the filling for the sauce.)
- Bring the batter to the pyrex or cake pan and bake until the top is very brown.
- Meanwhile, make the tres leches sauce.
- Add evaporated milk and two-pack oreos fillings to a saucepan over medium / low heat. Stir until these fillings are completely melted.
- Mix the three milks, evaporated, condensed and the milk cream. Add chopped oreos from 2 packages. Set aside.
- Once the cake is ready, poke holes in the cake with a fork.
- Pour the sauce over the cake, waiting a little until it absorbs before adding more. Repeat until the cake seems to stop absorbing and set aside.
- For the ganache, heat 100 g of heavy cream and add the white chocolate. When ready add 1 packet chopped oreos and mix well.
- Freeze the ganache for about 1 hour. Then whip up until creamy.
- Decorate as you like and serve with extra sauce.
