Disney at Home: Disneyland’s Tres Leches Cake

July 3, 2013 in All Posts, disney at home, disneyland, Jessica, recipes by Jessica McConnel

I was itching to make another Disneyland recipe, and you know, ask and you shall receive! I was sent this recipe for the Tres Leches Cake which is served at Rancho Del Zocalo Restaurante in Disneyland Park. Although I love the restaurant and have frequented it many times, I’ve never ordered this – but my husband was quite anxious for me to give it a go since he’s basically in love with Tres Leches. A little nudge from him, plus the fact that every single Disneyland recipe I’ve made has been outstanding made this an easy decision. And, for the first time ever this recipe was already already converted from a larger theme-park-sized quantity into your average household-sized-amount – tres cheers for that!

Here is the recipe, which I admit I did modify slightly in format only, not by changing ingredients or directions – I’ll tell you later on what I did differently.

Disneyland Resort Tres Leches Cake (Rancho del Zocalo Restaurante)

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups Cake Flour

Cast of characters

1 tsp Baking Powder
1/8 tsp Salt
1/3 cup Canola Oil
1 cup Sugar
1 tsp Vanilla extract
5 large Eggs
1 1/4 cups Whole Milk, divided
1 cup Sweetened Condensed Milk
1 cup Heavy Cream
1 tbsp Rum (optional)
For meringue topping (see step 6 below): 4 Egg Whites , 1 cup Sugar, Powdered Sugar

For traditional whipped topping (see step 6 below): 3/4 cup Heavy Cream, 1 tsp Vanilla, 1 tbsp Sugar

Instructions:

Baking with your kids = fun summer activity!

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Lightly grease 13 x 9 x 2 inch cake pan.

2. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a small mixing bowl. Set aside.

3. Combine oil, 1 cup sugar, and vanilla extract in a large mixing bowl. Add the eggs one at a time and mix thoroughly. Stir in 1/2 cup of milk and gently fold in the flour mixture until just combined.

Letting the cake cool

4. Pour batter into cake pan and bake for 30 minutes or until it feels firm and an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Let cake cool to room temperature.

Pouring on the tres leches

5. Pierce cake with a fork 30-40 times. Whisk together remaining 3/4 cup of milk, sweetened condensed milk, 1 cup heavy cream, and rum (optional). Slowly pour over cooked cake. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

6. Make and add topping:

Meringue topping: In a medium glass or stainless steel bowl, beat egg whites with an electric mixer on high speed until soft peaks form. With mixer running, add 1 cup remaining sugar in a steady stream, beating until stiff peaks form. Spread over top of bake. Broil 1 to 2 minutes until meringue is golden brown. (A scant dusting of powdered sugar will help meringue nicely brown and add crunch.)

Stiff(ish) peaks

Traditional Whipped topping: *Cooks’ note: Rancho del Zocalo at Disneyland Park serves a traditional Mexican version of Tres Leches with a whipped cream topping. To make, combine 3/4 cup heavy cream, 1 teaspoon vanilla and 1 tablespoon sugar in a medium bowl. With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat mixture until peaks form. Spread over top of cake.

Now to eat!

Baking Notes

– First off, this is the strangest recipe – 1 cup sugar, 1 cup flour, 5 eggs! So yes, the batter and cake do come out looking different than what you might be used to – but don’t worry like I did, it’ll be fine.
– DO poke a lot of holes in it before pouring the 3 milk-mixture (thus “tres leches”) on top – more like 60-70, than the suggested 30-40. I made extra holes, and let the cake soak for 24 hours, and all the milk still didn’t soak in.
– I drained the extra milk into a container to save for serving, and actually really liked the effect of the cake sitting in a little pool of that delicious tres leches!

Licking his lips!

– As for the topping, I went the traditional whipped version, since that what Disneyland does! Here is where I veered from the recipe only once – I added a few shakes of cinnamon to give it that Latin American kick I knew I’d be looking for, and I’m so glad I did!
– Although the topping tasted amazing, I think I needed to whip it a bit more, the peaks were pretty stiff, but when I tried to put ridges in the frosting like Disneyland does, it didn’t really work.
– Oh, and I also did not add the optional rum, if you were wondering.

– Too bad I’m just a few months late for celebrating Cinco de Mayo, but since the 4th of July is coming I added some patriotic sprinkles to the top after noticing in pictures that Disneyland always add sprinkles to the top of theirs (and my son specifically requested them, so there you go) – but don’t sprinkle them on until you serve or the colors will bleed all over your pretty cake.

Outcome & Opinion

Makes you hungry, doesn’t it?

It probably goes without saying, but this cake is very very moist (without being soggy) and somehow dense yet lighter than you’d expect. I am typically not a fan of custards or bread puddings, which this sort of reminds me of, but the sweet flavors in this cake plus the very creamy, smooth texture (and that bit of cinnamon) really just all come together in a lovely and decadent dessert. Also needless to say, my husband and my kids were pretty pleased with me. I 100% recommend this Disneyland recipe – it’s one of the easiest, and most impressive, made-from-scratch cakes I’ve ever made – I’ll be tucking this little baby away for my next Mexican themed potluck for sure!

If you are interested in checking out the other Disneyland recipes we’ve tried, or “Disney at Home” ideas – click here!

Ok, now it’s your turn to share – do you have any Disneyland recipes that you just love? Let us know so we can try them too and enjoy another taste of Disneyland at home!

Read more from Jessica on her blog, Idahome. You can also find her on Facebook, Twitter, or on Instagram.

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