Trileçe

Three different milks soak one sponge, and a caramel is poured over the top to set as a lid.

Egg. Vegetarian, but not vegan — contains egg, dairy (condensed milk), dairy (double cream), dairy (evaporated milk), dairy (whole milk).

Ingredients

the sponge

• 6 eggs
• 180 g caster sugar
• 180 g plain flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

the three milks

• 400 ml whole milk
• 370 g evaporated milk
• 200 g condensed milk

the caramel lid

• 200 g caster sugar
• 4 tablespoons water
• 150 ml double cream, warmed
• a pinch of salt

Method

1. THREE DIFFERENT MILKS SOAK ONE SPONGE, AND THEY ARE NOT INTERCHANGEABLE. Whole milk carries the liquid in; evaporated milk brings concentrated dairy flavour without much more water; condensed milk brings sweetness and a syrupy body that keeps the whole mixture from being thin. Together they soak the sponge to saturation without dissolving it. Made with a litre of ordinary milk and sugar instead, the cake collapses into wet crumbs, because plain milk is mostly water and water is what destroys a sponge.
2. A CARAMEL IS POURED OVER THE TOP AND SETS AS A LID. Sugar taken to a dark amber, warm cream whisked in, and the sauce poured over the chilled soaked cake to cover it completely. Chilled again it sets to a soft, sliceable layer, faintly bitter, which is the thing that keeps the dessert from being merely sweet and wet. It is the difference between this and the Latin American three-milk cakes it shares its name's arithmetic with, which are finished with whipped cream.
3. THE SPONGE IS A FATLESS WHISKED ONE, WITH NO BUTTER. Eggs and sugar whisked to a thick ribbon, flour folded in. Fat repels the milk; a butter cake sits in the mixture and refuses to absorb it. A fatless sponge is a dry open structure that drinks.
4. THE MILKS GO ON WHEN THE CAKE IS COMPLETELY COLD, AND GRADUALLY. Poured over in three or four additions, waiting ten minutes between, with the cake pricked all over with a skewer first. All at once, most of it sits on top and runs off the sides; in stages, it goes in.
5. IT IS SOAKED OVERNIGHT, OR AT LEAST SIX HOURS. In the fridge. Less than that and the middle of the cake is dry while the edges are sodden.
6. THE CARAMEL IS NOT STIRRED WHILE THE SUGAR COOKS. Sugar and water swirled, not stirred, until dark amber -- stirring crystallises it into a gritty mass. The cream must be WARM when it goes in, or the caramel seizes solid.
7. The eggs and sugar whisked 8 MINUTES to a thick pale ribbon.
8. The vanilla added, then the flour and baking powder FOLDED in gently.
9. Baked in a lined 30 x 20 cm tin at 180°C for 25 MINUTES.
10. COOLED COMPLETELY in the tin, then PRICKED ALL OVER with a skewer.
11. The three milks whisked together.
12. Poured over in 3 or 4 ADDITIONS, waiting 10 MINUTES between each.
13. Covered and refrigerated OVERNIGHT, or at least 6 HOURS.
14. For the caramel: the sugar and water heated WITHOUT STIRRING, swirled, to a DARK AMBER.
15. Taken off the heat and the WARMED cream whisked in with the salt. Cooled to lukewarm.
16. Poured over the soaked cake to cover completely, and chilled a further 2 HOURS.
17. TESTED: a slice should hold together, be wet through to the centre, and carry a set caramel layer. A collapsing slice means too much plain milk.
18. Cut into squares, cold.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under Turkey · All recipes