Café Con Tres Leches Cake

A hauntingly beautiful plant based Café Con Tres Leches Cake with fresh, tart berries and dark chocolate skulls is just the kind of dessert I need this Halloween. Or anytime of the year, really.

Making and assembling the cake is pretty straightforward, though you do need to plan slightly ahead due to the number to steps involved. A little time consuming maybe but not complicated at all.

Use your preferred combination of plant based milks, either store bought or homemade. The milks listed in the recipe are my personal preference and I have made both the almond and pistachio milks myself.

Some may feel that a chilled Café Con Tres Leches Cake is perhaps a little summery for autumn/fall since the season mostly calls for warming desserts and cosy sweets.

 

If you’re one of those folks, please be assured that this is pretty good enjoyed at room temperature too.

Tips For Making A Stunning Café Con Tres Leches Cake:

• The cocoa can be omitted from the cake base for an uninterrupted coffee experience.
• I added cocoa + coffee to the lovely Vegan Tres Leches Cake recipe by Cook’s Hideout for 2 reasons:

-For visual drama, since the topping, berries and skulls show up more vibrantly on a darker base

-The flavour combination, as coffee is one of my favourite pairings with chocolate based desserts.

The chocolate skulls are of course, in honour of Halloween though if you’re a true horror fan like me, you wouldn’t mind adding these to your celebratory desserts throughout the year.

On to the recipe for this easy and eerily elegant Café Con Tres Leches Cake.

 

CAFÉ CON TRES LECHES CAKE

 

Recipe Type: Dessert    Author: Alice In Eatland

Serves: 6 – 8

 

Milky mocha sponge, creamy topping, tart berries & dark chocolate skulls make this elegant vegan Café Con Tres Leches Cake perfect for Halloween or for any time of the year.

CAKE

• 1 cup plant based milk (oat, almond, coconut or any milk of your choice)
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice or white vinegar
• 1 teaspoons instant coffee dissolved in 1 teaspoon boiling water, cooled completely
• 3/4 caster sugar
• 1/3 cup oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or essence
• 1 1/4 cups plain flour
• 3 tablespoons cornflour
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

3 MILK SOAK

• 1 teaspoon instant coffee
• 1/4 cup sweetened coconut condensed milk *(recipe below)
• 1/4 cup almond milk **(for homemade option, please see the recipe below)
• 1/4 cup pistachio milk **(for homemade option, please see the recipe below)

TOPPING

• 1/2 – 3/4 cup coconut cream, well chilled
• 1/4 – 1/2 cup sifted icing sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract or essence
• Raspberries, blueberries or any fruit of choice
• Chocolate skulls*** (recipe below)

 

METHOD

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees C / 350 degrees F.
2. Oil & flour an 8” square cake pan.
3. Stir plant based milk & lemon juice or white vinegar to make buttermilk & set aside for 5 minutes.
4. Whisk in the cooled coffee, sugar, oil & vanilla until combined.
5. Sieve flour, cornflour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt together.
6. Stir dry ingredient mixture into the wet ingredient mixture until just combined. Do not over mix.
7. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake 30 – 35 minutes or until toothpick inserted near center of cake comes out clean.
8. Remove cake from oven and let cool in pan 10 minutes.
9. Poke the entire surface of the cake with either a fork, a skewer or a toothpick.
10. For the 3 Milk Soak, stir the coffee, coconut condensed milk, almond milk, pistachio milk & vanilla together in a pan and bring to the boil.
11. Lower the heat, let simmer 5 – 7 minutes & pour evenly over warm cake.
12. Let the cake cool completely and then chill covered for at least 2-4 hours. Overnight is best.
13. To make the topping, whip the cold coconut cream with icing sugar & vanilla until thick and fluffy.
14. Spread or pipe topping all over the top of the chilled cake.
15. Decorate with fresh fruit & chocolate skulls, if using. I also added some well-washed leaves of a rose plant from my garden.
16.  Keep refrigerated.

 

*Sweetened Coconut Condensed Milk

Stir 1/2 cup full fat coconut milk & 4 tablespoons sugar in a pan over medium heat.

Bring to the boil, stirring constantly and then lower heat and cook stirring frequently, until milk thickens & reduces by half ( 20 minutes or so).

Cool completely & store airtight in the fridge.

 

**Nut Milk

Soak 1/4 cup raw unroasted almonds or pistachios in 1 cup water for 8 -12 hours.

Drain, rinse with clean water and add to blender jar with 1/2 – 3/4 cups drinking water.

Blend until smooth and then strain through a nut bag, cheesecloth or muslin, squeezing all the milk out.

Save the leftover nut solids airtight in the freezer and add to things like roti dough, pizza dough or cookie dough for a nutty flavour & texture.

Stir a drop or so of vanilla extract into the strained milk, if you wish.

Cover airtight & store in the fridge.

Stir before using and consume within 2-3 days.

 

***Chocolate Skulls

Break a bar of vegan friendly chocolate (I used a bar of Nestlé Bourneville Classic Dark Chocolate) into pieces.

Microwave on high in 20 second increments, stirring every time until the chocolate is completely melted, being careful not to burn it.

You can melt the chocolate on top of a double boiler instead of using the microwave.

Pour melted chocolate into silicone skull moulds (I purchased my skull mould from Darak.pk) and freeze for an hour.

Unmould and store chocolate skulls in a paper towel lined airtight container in the fridge.

 

The raspberries & blueberries adorning this Café Con Tres Leches Cake were purchased from Al Fatah Gold Crest Mall, Lahore.