This summer has been an exciting and busy one! With family and friends coming from overseas, I have been going out and trying out new restaurants around the GTA. Recently we visited a restaurant called Mai Bistro, a family owned and operated neighbourhood bistro. I thoroughly enjoyed this fusion cuisine with latin and Asian flavours.
For dessert, we ordered tres leches, a latin dessert. Tres meaning three and leches meaning milk. It is a light cake soaked in 3 different kinds of milk. I got inspired by the dessert and their fusion twist on it and decided to make this cake for my friend's birthday, but with an Indian twist!
Treat yourself, the goal of metabolic balance is to eat what makes sense for your body and your life, which means you need to learn to incorporate treat meals into your life.
As you progress through the metabolic balance program, more foods will be included in your plan and you may find yourself not using treat meals on a regular basis. Until that day arrives, you will find treat meals very useful for staying on track and on plan.
Ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
5 large eggs , separated
1 cup granulated cane sugar , divided
1/3 cup whole milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tsp freshly ground cardamom
Milk Mixture:
12 ounce can evaporated milk
14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk
1/4 cup whole milk
2 tbsp Indian flavoured sugar syrup
Whipped Topping:
1 pint heavy whipping cream (or half a pint of whole milk)
1 tbsp Indian flavoured sugar syrup (or more)
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (optional)
Indian Twist:
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup of cane
8 cardamon pods
1 cinnamon stick
2 tsp rose water
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Grease a 9×13'' pan with Ghee or neutral oil.
In a medium bowl combine flour, baking powder, and salt.
Separate the eggs into two other mixing bowls.
Add ¾ cup sugar to the bowl with the egg yolks and mix on high speed until yolks are pale yellow.
Add ⅓ cup milk and vanilla and stir to combine.
Pour the egg yolk mixture over the flour mixture and stir gently just until combined (do-not over-mix).
Beat the egg whites on high speed using an electric mixer. As the begin to whip into stiff peaks, gradually mix in the remaining ¼ cup of sugar. Fold the stiffly beaten egg whites into the batter gently, scraping the bottom and sides of the bowl, until combined.
Pour batter into prepared pan and smooth it into an even layer. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean. Remove from the oven and allow cake to cool completely.
Combine all the 3 milks in a small bowl along with the sugar syrup. While the cake is warm (not hot) poke holes all over the top of the cake.
Slowly pour the milk mixture over the the top of the cake, cover the edges as well. Refrigerate the cake for overnight for best results, to allow it to soak up the milk.
In the meantime, whip the heavy cream, sugar syrup and vanilla until stiff peaks. Smooth over the top of the cake.
Sprinkle rose petals and chopped pistachios. Serve with fresh sliced strawberries, if desired.
Enjoy!
Variations:
Make it dairy free, use coconut milk, condensed coconut milk and whipped coconut cream
Replace cane sugar with coconut sugar