Want to make Tres Leches Cake (THREE MILKS CAKE)

[LovesGenoise]

In short, I'm trying to think of a simple component to add to the cake and ice cream that will cut through the richness a bit and maybe play off of the spicier depth of the panela.

How about a dark, spicy rum? It's a traditional holiday flavor and the alcohol will cut the richness of the milk cake and also keep the ice cream from freezing too hard.

Rum was actually my third idea. Coffee was my first, followed by darkly caramelized sugar.

[Genkinaonna]

What about a cocoa nib brittle? That's one of my favorite go to garnishes, mainly because you only need a little on the dessert and the rest gets eaten while you're cooking ...

[Zeemanb]

Thanks for the ideas. Cocoa nib brittle sounds like the right direction...just a little bitterness to kind of round out the sweetness and will play well with piloncillo/panela. May throw a touch of chile in the brittle too...

But most of all because "...and a little bit of cocoa nib brittle..." just sounds cool when you tell guests what they're eating, .

[Panaderia Canadiense]

Especially if you base the brittle on panela - the more concentrated that stuff gets, the better it is....

[Jaymes]

The piloncillo/panela topic got me thinking about my choice for this year's signature holiday dessert (last year was panettone bread pudding)....I'm leaning towards tres leches cake, always a crowd pleaser and not overly involved if I end up making three or four. I'm going to make ice cream to go along with it, and until the panela topic got my brain rattling I was going to do the Milkbar cereal milk ice cream recipe. Using the raw sugar for an ice cream base will be more in-line with the tres leches...but it's a pretty rich combo.

In short, I'm trying to think of a simple component to add to the cake and ice cream that will cut through the richness a bit and maybe play off of the spicier depth of the panela. Something with a little crunch, or herbal, or spicy, salty....a syrup or a crumble or a nut, etc. etc. Any ideas appreciated, I'm not wanting to over-complicate things but there has to be a good flavor/texture bridge between my 2 holiday dessert choices.

Perhaps not everyone has had my experience with Tres Leches, or likes the same kind that I do, but to me, the best ones are really not all that "rich." They have a very similar taste profile to a piece of sponge cake that you dipped into a glass of whole milk. And honestly, I can't imagine serving a milky Tres Leches cake with ice cream. Although, of course, ice cream is pretty tasty, so I suppose it wouldn't be "bad," no matter what you did.

But still, serving a cold milky vanilla cake with a cold milky side doesn't seem to me to be ideal for spotlighting the best qualities of either.

I'd go with the traditional lightly-sweetened whipped cream (perhaps with a touch of rum, Cointreau, Kahlua, etc.) and strawberries or other fruit.

I'm trying to think back through the decades to recall anything that I've ever been served with Tres Leches. Except for the fruit, I can't think of anything. The cake is always the star, and it seems to stand best when it stands alone.