Food travels-Nicaragua

One of my favorite things about Nicaragua was its food-plain and simple yet hearty and delicious. The hostel I stayed at while in the colonial city of Granada served a complete breakfast each morning for all its guests-eggs, tortillas, fresh fruit, and gallo pinto, a traditional dish of the country comprised of rice and beans that are fried together (along with some spices).

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Another thing I loved was its rum, flor de caña (Spanish for sugarcane flower) to be exact. Although Bacardi and Captain Morgan are generally the two most popular brands of rum in the United States, I highly recommend branching out of your comfort zone and trying flor de caña, you won't regret it. After coming back hot and tired from an excursion to the Masaya Market, I came across friends who were preparing impromptu afternoon cocktails in the hostel's courtyard area. I was offered one, I partook, and  have preferred flor de caña for my cuba libres (rum and cokes) ever since.

I had off from work this past Monday so I decided to put my free time to good use. I made tres leches nicaraguense (Nicaraguan Three Milks Cake). Tres leches is Nicaragua's national dessert, a cake soaked in a syrup made from three different kinds of milk-fresh milk, evaporated milk, and sweetened condensed milk. Although I never had tres leches while in Nicaragua, I ate a ton of it while working in Mexico as it was the cake that was always served at any kind of celebration. All these years later I finally made my own although it wasn't as good as those from the pastelarias. Although it may sound incredibly rich, the recipe I used reduces the amount of eggs and butter in the cake and uses nonfat milk for the syrup.

It's hard to tell but there is a cake underneath all of the meringue topping. The only thing I would do differently is perhaps make it a three layer cake the next time.

The recipe is quite long but if anyone is interested in it, please leave a comment or send me an email and I'll be happy to provide it!