I'm A Dashionista- Southwest Chipotle Tres Leches Cake With Candied Bacon Recipe

***I received promotional items in order to facilitate the creation of the following recipe.

Momma Told Me: Every little girl wanted to be Betty Crocker.


Now, not everybody considers cooking fun; but I was one of those little girls who likely has some sort of radiation residual from staring directly into the bulb of  working Easy Bake Oven. I've been obsessed with food my whole life, really; though I hardly consider myself a culinary snob. One thing I do look down upon is  lack of flavor. What is the point of putting something in your mouth, and calories in your body, of it's not going to bring you some sort of temporary enjoyment? Yes, yes, nutrients and energy, blah, blah- All valid points, but even those types of foods should be rich in flavor!

I won't lie, around 14 my parents got divorced and I was left learning to cook with my bachelor father. We relied on  lot of 'just add meat' boxed meals, and cans. My father was always insistent that we consume  serving of fresh vegetables each meal, but I remember one day asking; "Dad, do you like the way the vegetables taste, or are you just eating them because you have to?" He stopped, mid salt shake and furrowed his brow. I was smart enough to know he was trying to balance a 'good father' answer with 'the truth.' Let's just say my father's form of cooking education was that 'salt enhances every flavor,' and high sodium runs in his bloodline. But that's precisely the problem, lots of 'highs' run in my family line, and I often need to watch what I eat (or else I won't be able to enjoy dessert and the sweeter moments in life.)

So, for every boy, girl, and cat- What? The rules didn't say anything about what species you had to be, just that you had to be a U.S. resident- who ever dreamed of having cookbooks with their face upon them, Mrs. Dash has thrown down the gauntlet in search of the next Mrs. Dashionista. I bet you didn't know that Mrs. Dash has 14 unique and flavorful blends of SALT FREE seasonings, did you?  We keep an arsenal of our favorites on hand at all times (hello Fiesta Lime and Lemon Pepper) to kick up our favorite recipes an extra notch. Even better, because these seasonings are packed full of flavor (not salt,) I can indulge a little extra here and there with actual food and flavor (not salt.)

While the submission period for the Mrs. Dashionista Recipe Challenge has closed, the finalists have just been announced, and voting opens today. Up for grabs is a $5k grand prize, and 13 $250 first place prizes. I won't lie, I firmly believe that online voting based competitions are highly unfair and not at all a judge of actual contention (buy popularity and bought votes,) but that is entirely irrelevant to the value to you, my reader. You will want to head on over and check out the finalists to snap up some awesome recipes made with these salt free seasonings.

In the spirit of the competition, I did create my own Dashionista original recipe featuring our favorite, Southwest Chipotle, Mrs. Dash seasoning. I somehow missed that 'healthfulness' (is that a word?) was one of the pro-judging criteria for finalists, so I doubt my candied bacon garnished Southwest Chipotle Tres Leches Cake will make the cut. Regardless, I was trying to think outside the box and show that these versatile seasonings can be used in more than savory recipes, since they are SALT FREE! Not only did the Southwest Chipotle add a beautiful depth of warm (not spicy) flavor to this milk cake, but the candied bacon was incredibly easy and one of our favorite batches yet!

So, if you're still reading this post, then I've done you a great disservice- you really need to get on over to the Mrs. Dashionista app now and check out all the great low sodium, high flavor, recipes their fans have submitted. Perhaps scroll through them a little bit and give someone a deserving boost with an honest vote, okay? Voting will run July 7th, through 13th, 2014, and one vote, per IP may be registered per day. Drooling may occur during recipe browsing, Mrs.Dash and subsidiaries are not responsible for damaged electronics.

What Daughter Says: Times may be changing but this girl still dreams of recipe greatness.

Southwest Chipotle Tres Leches Cake

**click for printable tres leches cake recipe

Ingredients:

Cake:

1 1/2 C All Purpose Flour

1 TSP Baking Powder

1/2 C Unsalted Butter

1 C White Sugar

5 Eggs

1/2 TSP Vanilla Extract

1 TBS (Ground/Processed) Mrs. Dash Southwest Chipotle Seasoning

Filling/Frosting:

1 1/2 C Whole Milk

12 OZ Sweetened Condensed Milk

10 OZ Evaporated Milk

1 1/4 C Heavy Whipping Cream

1 C Granulated Sugar

1 TSP Vanilla Extract

Garnish:

1/2 Package Thick Cut Bacon

1/2 C Granulated Sugar

3 TBS Mrs. Dash Southwest Chipotle Seasoning

Directions:

Preheat Oven To 350F

Grease And Flour 9x13 Baking Pan

1.) Sift flour and baking powder and set aside. 

2.) Cream butter and margarine together until fluffy. Add your ground/processed Southwest Chipotle powder to taste. Keep in mind the flavor will bake off a bit in the oven, season just stronger than preference.

3.) Add eggs and 1/2 TSP vanilla extract, mix until combined well. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture 2 TBS at a time. Combine well.

4.) Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake at 350F for 30 MINS. Remove from oven and pierce with a fork several times. Refrigerate and allow to cool entirely.

5.) While cake is cooling, combine remaining whole milk, condensed milk, and evaporated milk together. Pour over the top of the cooled cake.

6.) Whip whipping cream, the remaining 1 cup of the sugar, and the remaining 1 teaspoon vanilla together until thick. Spread over the top of cake

 

If desired you may garnish with Chipotle Candied Bacon. Combine brown sugar and seasoning in bowl and pat onto bacon slices. Bake in a deep baking sheet, double lined with foil, at 350F for 20 MINS. Remove from pan while hot and onto parchment paper or other non-stick surface. Allow to cool