Tres leche birthday cake with fresh strawberry sauce

It was my mom's birthday today, so I wanted to do something special. She's been raving about a tres leche cake from Hell's Kitchen, so I decided on tres leche. The recipe doesn't contain butter, so the cake doesn't feel heavy. On the contrary. Despite being soaked through, this cake is as light as air. But that doesn't mean that it's not bad for you. Oh no, my friends. Where the butter leaves off, the heavy cream, condensed milk, and sweetened evaporated milk pick up. The three milks seep through every pore of this spongey cake and the result is a cake that drips with sweet, almost caramel-flavored milky goodness with each bite.

Tres Leches Cake
1 cup All-purpose Flour
1-½ teaspoon Baking Powder
¼ teaspoons Salt
5 whole Eggs
1 cup Sugar, Divided
1 teaspoon Vanilla
⅓ cups Milk
1 can Evaporated Milk
1 can Sweetened, Condensed Milk
¼ cups Heavy Cream

12 strawberries, quartered
1 cup water
1/4 cup sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9 x 13 inch pan liberally until coated.
2. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Separate eggs.
3. Beat egg yolks with 3/4 cup sugar on high speed until yolks are pale yellow. Stir in milk and vanilla. Pour egg yolk mixture over the flour mixture and stir very gently until combined.
4. Beat egg whites on high speed until soft peaks form. With the mixer on, pour in remaining 1/4 cup sugar and beat until egg whites are stiff but not dry.
5. Fold egg white mixture into the batter very gently until just combined. Pour into prepared pan and spread to even out the surface.
6. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Turn cake out onto a rimmed platter and allow to cool.
7. Combine condensed milk, evaporated milk, heavy cream and rum in a small pitcher. When cake is cool, pierce the surface with a fork several times. Slowly drizzle all but about 1 cup of the milk mixture—try to get as much around the edges of the cake as you can.
8. Allow the cake to absorb the milk mixture for a minimum of 3 hours, ideally overnight.
9. To make sauce, combine all ingredients in a small pot until berries are tender, blend and cool.