Tres Leche Torta Para Mis Tres Amores . . .

. . . Three Milk Cake For My Three Loves

What better treat for my husband and two kids for Valentine's Day?  For those of you that are not familiar, Tres Leche Cake is a cake popular in Latin America.  It is normally made with a very spongy cake then soaked in three milks:  sweetened condensed, evaporated and heavy cream.  To get such a spongy texture most of the recipes use several eggs.  This has been one of my biggest changes to make egg-free!  The result is a cross between cake and pudding.  It is so rich and delicious!  I don't know if would best be served with a fork or a spoon.  I do think this would be quite the treat for your own egg-free loves this Valentine's Day.

Tres Leche Cake

Cake:

4 T butter or margarine

1 c sugar

2 c flour

1 T baking powder

1 c whole milk

½ t pure vanilla

Three Milks:

½ c heavy cream

1 c condensed milk

1 c evaporated milk

Topping:

3/4 cup heavy cream

1 t vanilla

1 T sugar

Fresh strawberries, sliced

Preheat oven to 350°.  Cream together sugar and butter.  Slowly mix in flour and baking powder.  While mixing, slowly pour in milk and vanilla.  Mix until fully incorporated.  Immediately, pour into a greased 8” square baking pan and bake for about 35 minutes.  Do not let the batter sit out before baking.  This recipe has a lot of baking powder and will start rising quickly. 

Cool cake in the pan on a wire rack.  Once the cake is cool, poke holes all over the top of the cake with a straw.  In a blender, combine the evaporated milk, condensed milk, and heavy cream and blend on high speed.  Pour three milk mixture evenly over cake.  Cover the cake and refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight.

Before serving, prepare the whipped topping.  In a chilled mixing bowl beat heavy cream on high.  While beating, add in the vanilla and sugar. Beat on high speed until peaks form. Spread over the cake and top with fresh strawberries.

Serves 9 

 Here is a picture of the cake after soaking all night in the milk mixture.  This gives you an idea about how many holes to poke in the cake.

The finished cake with whipped topping prior to cutting.

 

Shrimp Gumbo

As previously mentioned, I used to work under a boss with Creole ancestry.  I have always enjoyed Creole and Cajun cuisine and I asked him if he had any great recipes to share.  He directed me to a couple of excellent cookbooks and gave me his family recipe for Jambalaya.  One of the cookbooks he recommended is small little paperback called Cajun Cooking by Confident Cooking.  This cookbook assumes you keep chopped Cajun vegetables, roux and a homemade Cajun spice mix on hand.  So, I tried to adapt the recipe for those of us that don't cook Cajun food frequently enough to keep such things readily available.  Also, this recipe calls for file powder.  If you do not live close to Louisiana, this may be a difficult spice to find.  I found it at a specialty grocery store.  This ingredient can be omitted, if necessary.

If you like this recipe, you may also like Jambalaya (EF, DF, GF).

Shrimp Gumbo
Adapted from Cajun Cooking by Confident Cooking

¼ c butter

1 c onion, chopped

1 c bell pepper, chopped

1 stalk celery, chopped (1T Celery flakes)*

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 10 oz package frozen cut okra

1 14½ oz can diced tomatoes

3 T vegetable oil

3 T flour

2 t tomato paste

2 t red chili powder

½  t garlic powder

½ t onion powder

½ t dried thyme

¼ t white pepper

¼ t black pepper

¼ t ground allspice

1/8 t cayenne pepper

Pinch of dried oregano

2 bay leaves

1 T Worcestershire sauce

2 c seafood or chicken stock

1 ¼ pounds medium shrimp

1 t file powder, optional
Long-grain white rice

Sauté the onion, bell pepper and celery in butter for about 5 minutes, or until vegetables start to get tender.  Add garlic, okra and crushed tomatoes in a pan.  Bring to a boil; reduce heat.  Cover and simmer gently for 15 minutes. 

Meanwhile, start the rice, according to directions on the package.  Then prepare the roux.  Heat a heavy pan (don’t use nonstick) and add the oil.  When the oil is very hot, remove from heat and sprinkle on the flour.  Wisk briskly using a long-handled whisk.  The mixture should be on a slow boil with tiny bubbles constantly breaking on the surface.  Cook for about 2-5 minutes, returning to heat periodically to keep at the desired temperature.  Whisking must be constant and fast to avoid scorching.  If roux does burn, it will be bitter and unusable.  You can let roux cool slightly until ready to use.

Stir in tomato paste, red chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, thyme, white pepper, black pepper, allspice, cayenne pepper, oregano, bay leaves, and Worcestershire.  Stir for 2 minutes.  Add stock and roux and cook 15 minutes more.  Add shrimp and simmer gently until just cooked.  Season to taste and stir in the file powder, if using.  Top with a scoop of white rice.

Serves 6

*I really do not care for celery so I use 1 T of celery flakes added at the same time as the other dry spices.

Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies {Egg-free, Dairy-free}

I have previously posted recipes for Chocolate Chip Oat Cookies and Chocolate Chip Cookies.  I make both of these recipes with butter.  One of my readers, successfully made Chocolate Chip Cookies without dairy, but I still wanted to create a truly dairy-free chocolate chip cookie recipe of my own.  Plus, I usually buy three pounds of bananas a week.  So, I am always looking for creative ways to use my leftover, slightly overripe bananas.  These were a hit with the family.  My husband still prefers the buttery versions, but said he will happily eat these anytime I want to make them.  He will likely see the Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies more frequently, as they are slightly healthier than their buttery counterparts.   

Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies

½ c mashed bananas, about one medium
½ c vegetable shortening
½ c sugar
1 c brown sugar
1 t vanilla
2 t baking powder
1 t baking soda
½ t salt
2½ c flour
1 c semi-sweet chocolate chips*

Preheat oven to 375^o.  Cream together the banana, shortening, both sugars and vanilla.  Add the baking powder, baking soda and salt, mixing constantly.  Slowly mix in the flour.  Stir in chocolate chips.  Roll into balls and place two inches apart on a cookie sheet.  Bake for about 8-10 minutes.  Let cool for 2 minutes on cookie sheet before removing. 
Makes about 3 dozen cookies.

*If you are allergic to dairy, make sure the chocolate chips you use are dairy-free.

Beef Taco Macaroni

I wanted to try something different with ground beef.  When you are feeding a family, you just need some tasty ground beef recipes.  I found this recipe for Cheeseburger Macaroni on Pinterest.  I have renamed my post Beef Taco Macaroni because it more accurately describes the flavor of the dish.  She uses taco seasonings, so I am labeling it as such.  It was a hit with the family, especially my youngest who loves anything taco. 

Beef Taco Macaroni - I made this recipe as originally written.  Click the link for the recipe.

Pancakes {Egg-free}

The first recipe I posted, over a year ago, was for egg-free Pancakes.  Of all my recipes, this is one that I make the most. My husband and kids LOVE pancakes.  We actually have these for dinner with turkey sausage and fruit about two or three times a month.  I make extra so we can have leftovers for breakfast.  When I posted this recipe, my blog activity was pretty low.  So, I feel like this recipe hasn't gotten enough attention.  If you are allergic to eggs and like pancakes, you must try these!

If you like these pancakes, you may also like this recipe for buttermilk waffles.

 

Pancakes - Please link to my original post here.

Crispy Apricot Pork Chops

My family didn't eat much pork growing up.  I don't really have anything against pork but I also don't make it much.  I think the main reason I don't cook much pork is simply because I don't have very many recipes for it.  My brother and his wife gave me the cookbook Everyday Food for Christmas.  I decided to try a new recipe and pork chops were on special at the store, so I made Crispy Apricot Pork Chops.  My husband very much prefers his pork chops grilled, but he did say these were the best baked pork chops he had ever had!  The kids ate them pretty well, too!

The same night, I also decided to try a vegetable we don't normally eat . . . Brussels Sprouts.  It was pretty risky to make two items we don't normally eat.  So, I made some delicious rolls that I knew everyone would love.  I selected this recipe for Crispy Roasted Brussels Sprouts found on Pinterest.  Mine were more like charred Brussels Sprouts.  My husband kind of liked them charred because he said they tasted less like a Brussels sprout.  So, I think my conclusion is that maybe we just aren't a Brussels Sprouts family.  But maybe yours is, so I am providing the link.  Let me know if you have better luck with yours.

Crispy Apricot Pork Chops - I made these pretty close to the recipe, except that I used boneless pork chops.  Click the link for the recipe.

Gluten-free notes:  I also think you could easily substitute gluten-free bread in this recipe.  If anyone tries it, let me know how it turns out.  Thanks.