Tres Leches - Three-Milk Cake

October 12, 2010 by Monica in Baking, Desserts, Cake, Family Cookbook

I wrote about the Tres Leches cake before.

When I just started baking for the Heavenly Cake Bakers group back in January the “Torta de las Tres Leches” from the book was my first “official” post into the group.

I mention in that post that this is in fact my “signature cake” with my family and friends. What? Don’t you have a signature dessert or food? I been baking this cake for over 20 years for birthdays, special dinner parties, events, because any time my family or friends has “something special” this is the dessert that is requested.

When I made Rose’s version of the cake, my family went up in arms… how crazy was I to change this? To “cheat” on my original recipe and do something else! Don’t do it! And while Rose’s version was “ok” in everyone’s verdicts, mine own recipe continue to come on top.

This past weekend as most of you know by now, we celebrated my mother’s birthday. And of course as soon as I asked her what birthday cake she wanted, she all but shouted “TRES LECHES!”

So, I thought it would be the perfect time to share my version of this cake.

HCB: Mini Vanilla Pound Cake

July 13, 2010 by Monica in Baking, Baking Club, Cake, Cookbooks, Desserts, Family Cookbook, HCB

This past weekend was insane around our house, last week I was away in Orlando for work-related training, so upon arriving on Friday the amount of stuff that accumulated in the To Do list was ridiculous – laundry, cleaning, folding, dishes and on and on. I mean, Tom does his share around here, but I guess what they say it true – when the cat is away…. Apparently everything goes to the dogs! So I was very happy about this week's HCB choice, since I knew it was going to be a snap to prepare, bake and have ready for those hungry boys I live with.

This is straight easy pound cake recipe, with three perfect twist: One, they are mini cake (can you say perfect give-aways? yes you can!). Two, they are made with vanilla bean and three, soaked in a cognac base syrup. (On a side note, I'm on to Rose and her boozy syrups because in my world I trust anything that is made with liquor - it makes everything better - trust).

How can you go wrong?

You can’t.

Mango-Orange Salad

July 01, 2010 by Monica in BBQ, Entertaining, Family Cookbook, Fruit, Holiday, Salad, Sides, Vegetable

Did you know that grilling is a Patriotic Duty? According to HPBA (the Hearth, Patio & Barbecue Association) independence day is the number one holiday for barbecues and outdoor cooking and based on a national grilling poll, 80% of adults plan to host or attend a cookout this forth of July.

The U.S. Census Bureau - better known for telling Americans how many of them there are and how much they make on the average - surveyed 66 million people who attended barbecues last year and figured "it's probably safe to assume a large number of these events took place on the Fourth."