The Ultimate Dark Liquor That Give Tres Leches Cake A Boozy Kick

A creamy, decadent delight, the Central and Latin American staple tres leches cake has garnered universal acclaim for its satisfying simplicity and effortless blend of ingredients. While the three milks that are in tres leches cake tend to earn much of the attention, there's another ingredient that ought to be on your radar that'll ensure you get even more flavor into your cake. Interestingly, this ingredient is fairly close to tres leches cake if you look geographically.

On top of producing some truly exceptional foods, the tropical environs of Central and South America are also well known for various liquors. Though Caribbean rum gets more of the limelight, rum from Central America has become a quintessential spirit in bars the world over. This area's rum has been praised for its rich blend of sweetness, strength, and sometimes spice (which isn't to be confused with spiced rum outright -– that's best left at the liquor store). As it turns out, rum is the perfect companion for the ingredients in tres leches cake. The vanilla, fruit, and subtle citrus notes complement and deepen the dessert's already-exquisite flavors. You simply need to stir a few tablespoons of rum into your milk mixture before pouring it over your cake. 

While all rum is often made of the same ingredients (that is, some kind of sugar-based product), the differences in color, taste, and intensity can vary greatly. Unlike a spirit such as bourbon, which has very strict rules surrounding its production, rum has a little more leniency with regards to the exact process of mixing, distilling, and finally completing the spirit. And while this could be a history lesson on how this came to be, what's important to consider here is that this means you have a litany of rums that'll lend different aspects to your cake's flavor. This is something that you can experiment with to find the ultimate tasty combo.

The advantage for you here is that many rums are going to be at least satisfactory when added to your tres leches cake, simply based on the sugary, somewhat fruity flavors inherent in many rums. Some rums, such as a Guatemalan rum, are going to have a complex flavor profile thanks to being slowly aged in wine barrels, while others, like Guyanese rum, have a more earthy, woodsy taste. Whatever the case may be, you can find rums that'll add different notes to your tres leches cake; it really just comes down to what kind of flavor you wish to incorporate into your dessert.