my tres leches cake shrinks =/

[QbanCrackr]

this is my recipe for tres leches cake

5 whole eggs, separated

1 cup sugar, separated (3/4 & 1/4)

1/3 cup milk

1-1/2 tsp baking powder

1 cup flour

vanilla

beat yolks w/ 3/4c sugar

add milk & vanilla

add flour & baking powder

make meringue with whites + 1/4 cup sugar

fold meringue into yolk mixture

bake for 35-40 @ 350F

it rises a nice amount, but when it cools, it invariably always shrinks back to its original volume of uncooked batter, and shrinks away from the side

should i be using non stick spray + a pan liner? its just a habit from cakes i pop out of the pan, considering this one will be served in the baking dish

the taste is great but its just not so pretty when it gets so little =/

[theabroma]

I am a bit confused by the large amount of yolks/meringue, which should be sufficient to lift this batter, combined with a rather healthy dose of chemical leavener. Have you tried using one method of lift at a time? Perhaps deleting the bp would do the trick?

Further to the cake for tres leches: in Mexico the traditional one is a marquesote, which is a sponge cake leavened by whipped egg whites and not baking powder. Rick Bayless' recipe for a tres leches uses - and credits the use of - génoise from Rose Levy Beranbaum's Cake Bible. He adds finely ground almonds to his. I love génoise for the texture, absorption capacity, and sturdiness in the presence of all of that good dairy lurking inside. You might want to consider another formula for your cake?

Regards, and success!

Theabroma

[RWood]

I've used this recipe for Tres Leches and it worked well. It's a very simple sponge and the lime zest adds a nice flavor. It's very firm and can stand up to the soaking. This is scaled down from a large recipe that makes a full size sheet pan with an extender, and it didn't shrink much. Most sponges don't need the pan sprayed, since they are egg foam based, they do better without it so it can cling to the edges.

6 whole eggs

1 cup sugar

1 cup flour

1 tsp vanilla

zest of one lime

Whip eggs and sugar to ribbon. Add vanilla and zest.

Sift flour and fold into egg mixture. Bake 350 till springs back.

[QbanCrackr]

i'm gonna try both those recipes + looking for others

but just for my own knowledge, would anyone be able to chime in on what i could be doing thatd make the cake rise 2x and then go back to its original height when the batter was poured?