brown butter tres leches cake with RumChata ice cream, dulce de leche Italian buttercream, pecan hojarascas
Recipe courtesy of Vanessa Tristan, CEPC, Executive Pastry Chef, The Club at Carlton Woods (The Woodlands, Texas)
Ingredients
- Ingredients for brown butter cake (yields ½ sheet pan):
- browned butter - 114 gms., room temperature
- neutral oil - 57 gms.
- granulated sugar - 114 gms.
- brown sugar - 57 gms.
- eggs - 2 ea., whole, large
- vanilla extract - 1/2 Tbsp.
- cake flour - 198 gms., sifted
- baking powder - 1/2 tsp.
- baking soda - 1/2 tsp.
- kosher salt - 1/2 tsp.
- buttermilk - 142 gms.
- Ingredients for RumChata ice cream (yields 1 ½ qts.):
- heavy cream - 363 gms.
- whole milk - 363 gms.
- Ceylon cinnamon sticks - 2 ea.
- vanilla bean - 1 ea.
- granulated sugar - 134 gms., divided
- long grain rice - 186 gms.
- egg yolks - 12 ea., large
- RumChata liqueur - 236 gms.
- Ingredients for dulce de leche Italian buttercream (yields 485 gms.):
- granulated (sugar 2) - 85 gms.
- water - 29 gms.
- egg whites - 57 gms.
- granulated (sugar 1) - 29 gms.
- salt - 1/2 tsp.
- unsalted butter - 170 gms., cubed, room temperature
- vanilla extract - 1 tsp.
- dulce de leche - 95 gms.
- Ingredients for pecan hojarascas (yields 679 gms.):
- pecans - 25 gms., minced
- granulated sugar - 160 gms.
- shortening - 113 gms.
- unsalted butter - 58 gms., room temperature
- cinnamon - 1/2 tsp., ground
- egg - 1 ea., large
- vanilla extract - 1 tsp.
- kosher salt - 1/2 tsp.
- all-purpose flour - 295 gms.
- baking powder - 1 1/2 tsp.
- granulated sugar - 100 gms., for dusting
- allspice - 1/8 tsp., for dusting
- Ingredients for tres leches:
- sweetened condensed milk - 1 can
- evaporated milk - 1 can
- whole milk - 300 gms.
- vanilla extract - 1 Tbsp.
- Ingredients to plate:
- toasted coconut - as needed
- gold leaf - as needed
- dulce de leche - as needed, in a small piping bag
- hojarascas - 3 ea.
Instructions
Procedure for brown butter cake:
- In a mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, cream the brown butter, oil, and sugars until light and fluffy.
- Add the eggs one at a time, followed by the vanilla.
- Mix in the sifted dry ingredients. Add the buttermilk last.
- Scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix one final time.
- Spread the batter evenly onto a half-sheet pan lined with parchment paper.
- Bake at 325°F for 12 minutes.
Procedure for RumChata ice cream:
- In a medium saucepan, heat the cream, milk, cinnamon, and a split and scraped vanilla bean along with half of the sugar. Once it reaches a simmer, pour it over the rice and let it infuse for about an hour.
- In a small bowl, combine the remaining sugar and egg yolks, and whisk them together.
- After the cream mixture has infused, remove the vanilla bean pod and blend the rest of the ingredients.
- Strain cream mixture through fine mesh strainer into a new saucepan.
- Bring the strained cream mixture to a boil and then pour it over the egg yolks to temper them. Return the mixture back to the saucepan.
- Cook the ice cream base until it reaches 85°C.
- Once the mixture is chilled, add the RumChata liqueur and let it mature overnight.
- Churn the mixture the next day.
Procedure for dulce de leche Italian buttercream:
- Place sugar (labeled “sugar 2”) and water in small saucepan over medium heat.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, whip the egg whites. Gradually add sugar (labeled “sugar 1”) and salt to the egg whites.
- When the syrup reaches 116°C, very slowly pour it over the whipped egg whites, continuing to whip the mixture.
- Add the cubed butter one piece at a time, whipping until the buttercream becomes light and fluffy.
- Finally, add the vanilla and dulce de leche to the mixture.
Procedure for pecan hojarascas:
- In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the pecans, sugar, shortening, butter, and cinnamon until the mixture is light and fluffy.
- Add the egg and vanilla extract to the mixture.
- Add the dry ingredients and mix until just combined.
- Wrap dough in plastic wrap. Let rest in refrigerator for 1 hour.
- Once the dough is chilled, roll it out and cut out cookies using a small, round cookie cutter.
- Place on a lined sheet pan. Bake at 325°F for about 11 minutes.
- When the cookies are ready, remove them from the oven and sprinkle spiced sugar over them while they are still hot.
- Allow the cookies to cool to room temperature before serving.
Procedure for tres leches:
- In a bowl, whisk together all the ingredients.
- Set aside until ready to use.
To plate:
- When the brown butter cake reaches room temperature, cut it into four equal rectangles.
- Evenly layer the rectangles with dulce de leche buttercream, then partially freeze.
- Once the cake is sufficiently chilled, slice into portions measuring 3 inches by 1 ½ inches; you should get 8 total portions from the recipe.
- Submerge each into the tres leches mixture until soaked, then place it on your plate.
- Garnish with a quenelle of RumChata ice cream, toasted coconut, gold leaf, hojarasca cookies and dulce de leche.
