erik still says i don’t make enough mexican food, but it seems lately that’s all we’re eating. this morning, i wanted breakfast tacos and went in search of a simpler tortilla recipe. the one on Homesick Texan’s blog always made me give it the side eye and just stick to my usual manner of making tortillas but i take back that side eye. because that recipe is freaking awesome. the tortillas were nice and fluffy and perfect for our papas con huevos.
Homesick Texan’s Flour Tortillas
her recipe says it is from The Border Cookbook, by Cheryl and Bill Jamison
You Need:
2 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vegetable or canola oil
3/4 cup warm milk
in a saucepan, set your milk to warming (don’t scorch or scald it). dump the flour, baking powder, and salt into a bowl. mix together. drizzle the 2 teaspoons of oil over the flour. mix in. pour your milk over the flour mixture and mix it together until it forms a dough. cover the bowl with a towel and let it rest like 10 minutes or so. get your comal or cast iron skillet heating. tear some dough off into about 7 balls (recipe says 8 but my balls were uneven so i only got 7). shape them into small flat disks. on a floured surface, roll out into tortillas. cook one at a time on your comal/skillet.

my weekend baking, i’m happy to report, has gone much better this weekend than last. i haven’t had one mishap yet (keyword being yet. i’m still baking pan de muerto tomorrow). ever since Pioneer Woman posted this recipe for Tres Leches cake and since Tres Leches is one of my favorite types of cake ever (second only to a good Italian Cream cake), i’ve had a wicked craving for it. i promised my friend Son i would make a cake in honor of his birthday so duh, let’s make a tres leches cake. i previously used a really, really good Alton Brown recipe for the cake but i really think i like this cake base better. it’s not dense, it’s really spongy and soaks up all that milky goodness to the last drop. it doesn’t make the cake a goopy mess either, just a soft, moist, milk laden, not overly sweet beauty of a cake.
Pioneer Woman’s Tres Leches Cake
You Need:
1 cup flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
5 eggs, separated
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/3 cup milk
1 can evaporated milk
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup cream
1 pint of cream
3 Tablespoons sugar
fruit to top it with, if you want. i like slices of strawberries and kiwis
preheat the oven to 350. spray down a 9×13 pan well. in a bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, and salt. set aside. in the stand mixer, whip the egg yolks together with 3/4 cup sugar until the yolks are pale and fluffy. stir in the milk and vanilla. scrape the egg mixture into the flour mixture and incorporate it well. clean your mixer bowl out. or just get another one out, it’s up to you. start whipping the egg whites until soft peaks form. add 1/4 cup sugar and keep whipping until the whites are stiff. they’re going to be nice nice and glossy and when you hold the bowl upside down, they won’t move. you don’t want them TOO whipped. fold the egg whites into the cake batter. pour this into the prepared pan. bake 35-40 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean. turn the cake onto a foil lined jelly roll pan (the cookie sheets with the lip on it). let it cool for a bit. in a bowl, mix together the evaporated milk, the sweetened condensed milk, and the 1/2 cup cream. pierce the cooled cake well all over with a fork. pour the milk mixture onto the cake, even the corners. i didn’t need to use all of the milk mixture, by the way. let it sit, covered in the fridge for about 30 minutes or so, so that the milk gets all soaked up. whip the pint of cream with the sugar. frost the cake. top with your fruit slices.
(as you can see i did not have any fruit on mine today. usually i do but the grocery store was not carrying either kiwis or strawberries. and yes, i cut an uneven piece here).