El Salvador: Maria Luisa Cake

The Dish: Orange sponge cake
The Country:  El Salvador uses the US dollar.

messy ingredient pile

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 cup butter
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• Orange zest
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 5 eggs
• 1/4 cup orange juice
• 1 cup orange marmalade
• powdered sugar 

I didn't have even sized cake pans, so it's a little lopsided and ugly...

Procedure

-Preheat oven to 350°.
-Grease three equal sized cake tins
-Mix flour and baking powder
-mix butter and sugar until fluffy.  Add in vanilla and eggs (one at a time). Mix.
-Slowly add in flour and orange juice.
-Equally spoon batter into the cake pans.
-Bake for 20 minutes.
-Mix marmalade with a little bit of water so that it is spreadable.
-Use marmalade as frosting between cake layers.
-Sprinkle powdered sugar on top.

boom. layer cake.

Notes: I loved it. It's nice and soft if you eat it while it's still a little warm.  It might be even better if you try it with chocolate ice cream.

Rating: 4.8

Domican Republic: Tres Leches Cake

The Dish: Tres Leches
The Country: The Dominican Republic is the second largest Caribbean nation after Cuba.

ugh. the picture is backwards. oh well.

Ingredients:
cake:
1 3/4 cups of flour
3 eggs
1 tsp baking power
1 cup butter (softened)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup sugar


toppings:
1 cup whipping cream
2 cups condensed milk
2 cups evaporated milk
1/3 cup sugar

whipped cream.

Procedure:
Preheat oven to 350°
Grease a medium size cake pan
Mix the butter and sugar until creamy.  Beat in eggs, vanilla, baking powder, and flour.
Bake for 35 minutes.

For the topping cream stuff:
mix evaporated and condensed milks.  set aside.
Beat whipping cream and 1/3 cup sugar until you form stiff peaks. 
When the cake is done cooking, pour a little bit of the milk mixture on top.  Place in fridge.  Add more of the condensed/ evaporated milk mix every few minutes (let each pour absorb fully before adding the next).
When ready to eat: slice the cake into small squares.  Pour a little bit of the remaining milk mix on top.  Add some whipped cream.

I haven't quite mastered the art of beautiful presentation....

Notes: This is one of my favorite cakes. Ever. I was kind of intimidated to try it, but I only ended up messing up a little bit.  I totally forgot baking powder and had to take the cake out of the oven and add it! So, the cake was a little stiffer than it should have been. 
Rating: 3.99999