Got Milk(s)?

PLANTAIN TRES LECHES CAKE
 
plantain-tres-leches-cake

Cookies dipped in milk too basic for you? (blasphemy!) Try cake soaked in many milks― a.k.a tres leches cake for those of you who haven’t tried this Latin American favorite. My twist on this well-loved recipe? Plantain Tres Leches Cake.

Sliced plantains, pan-fried in sugar and spices, cover the bottom of a light sponge cake soaked in evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk and 2% milk. Topped with whipped cream and sprinkled with a combination of cinnamon and allspice, you’ll be digging into this cake with a spoon.

Some recipes use a butter cake but many prefer a sponge cake. Various online sources claim a butterless sponge is more authentic but whether this is true, I’m not sure. Without butter or oil, the lightened batter is able to better absorb all that liquid without falling apart.

Plantain-Tres-Leches-Cake-Milk-Bath

No milky mess here.

A self-saucing cake, yes. But never a milky mess.

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The Mother’s Day Mission

NJ DINER MUSEUM EXHIBIT + THE PRETTIEST CUBAN FOOD

Cornelius Low House and Esquina Latina Outing
At the Cornelius Low House and Esquina Latina

It’s been almost a year since my mom first mentioned the “History of New Jersey Diners” exhibit at the Cornelius Low House.  Even though the museum is right around the corner from us, we only just took her there last Sunday for Mother’s Day.  Better late than never!

For those of you who aren’t familiar with the Cornelius Low House, it is the Middlesex County Museum, which holds rotating exhibits free of charge.  It’s actually down the street from the Metlar-Bodine House Museum where I interned back in 2014.

(Fun Fact: The Metlar family actually bought the Low home in 1870 and it became known as “Ivy Manor” after George and Catherine Metlar planted ivy around it.)

This two-story Gregorian-style stone house was built back in 1741 for wealthy Dutch merchant Cornelius Low.  As one of only two surviving 18th century structures from the Colonial port community of Raritan Landing, it has been cited in the Historic American Building Survey of the Library of Congress.

 

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