While many credit Nicaraguans for the dessert, others claim it as their own: Mexico, Cuba, Venezuela, Puerto Rico (the list goes on). The stories and recipes of its origin vary by country; delve a little deeper and the history gets even more elusive.
From crisis emerge new cuisines. The colonial period in Nicaragua gave rise to an extensive process of experimenting and mixing foods that had never before been combined. During this time of great change, many products from both cuisines disappeared or fell out of use, but on the other hand, ingredients were added to each country's indigenous cuisines, paving the way for a varied diet and new recipes.
Products like sugarcane and livestock, along with new cooking techniques such as milk preservation, were introduced and quickly adopted. Sugar became one of the most important crops produced in Nicaragua. One of the earliest accounts of American exploration of Nicaragua in 1897 describes numerous sugar plantations across the country.
Canned milk was already produced in the 1850s and gained popularity during the World Wars. Companies like Nestlé and Borden struggled to keep up with demand, opening operations in various parts of Latin America, including Nicaragua. Largely due to the Great Depression of the 1930s, sales in the country soared.
Canned milks were affordable and added a touch of luxury to cooking during tough times. At some point during this era, someone got creative (possibly inspired by other Nicaraguan desserts like Pio V and Sopa Borracha) by combining evaporated, condensed, and whole milks and soaking a sponge cake with milk mixture. Yet, there remains something uniquely magical about three milks.
