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This traditional Tres Leches Cake recipe is made with a light tender sponge cake soaked in three types of milk. Topped with sweetened whipped cream and fresh berries it is a delicious and light dessert perfect with any meal.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe!
Tres leches means 3 milks in Spanish and this delicious sponge cake is made with 3 different types of milk – evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk and heavy whipping cream. The cake is soaked in a mixture of the three kinds of milk.
This recipe also calls for whipped egg whites which makes it light and spongy, perfect for soaking up the sweet milk mixture. This gives it an amazing flavor and texture.
You might think the cake would be soggy from being soaked in milk but thanks to the light and airy yet sturdy texture of the sponge cake, it’s not!
Ingredients Needed
- All Purpose Flour, unbleached
- Granulated Sugar
- Baking Powder, always use fresh baking powder for best results.
- Salt
- Vanilla Extract
- Milk, whole
- Eggs
- Evaporated Milk
- Sweetened Condensed Milk
- Heavy Whipping Cream
- Strawberries, for topping
How to Make Tres Leches Cake
- Grease a 9 x 13 inch baking pan with non stick baking spray.
- Separate egg yolks from egg whites. (see tips below for how to separate eggs)
- In the bowl of a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, beat egg yolks with 3/4 cup of sugar until pale yellow.
- Add in 1/2 cup of milk and vanilla extract.
- In another bowl, combine dry ingredients – 1 cup flour, 1 1/2 tsp baking powder, 1/4 tsp salt.
- Pour dry ingredients into egg yolk mixture. Mix to combine.
- Set this mixture into a mixing bowl and whip egg whites with the whisk attachment in the bowl of the stand mixer until soft peaks form.
- Gradually pour in remaining 1/4 cup of sugar and beat egg whites until they are stiff.
- Add whipped egg whites in with batter and gently fold egg whites until there are no white streaks.
- Pour cake batter into prepared baking pan.
- Bake at 350 degrees F until a toothpick comes out clean, about 25-30 minutes.
- Allow cake to cool.
- Remove cake from pan if desired.
- Poke holes into the cake with a fork.
- Combine the three milks and set aside 1 cup of the mixture. You will not be using this in the cake.
- Pour the milk (minus the one cup) over the top of the cake and edges of the cake. Let cake sit for 30 minutes for milk to absorb. You can tilt the serving platter slightly to help the milk run back into the cake. After 30 minutes, use a paper towel to soak up any milk that hasn’t been absorbed into the cake.
- Whip the cream, powdered sugar and vanilla extract until thick.
- Spread whipped heavy cream over the top and sides of the cake.
- Garnish with sliced strawberries.
Tips from Leigh Anne
- The cake can be left in the pan to frost or I like to loosen the edges and turn the pan upside down onto a serving tray and remove the cake from the pan for a prettier presentation. It is important that you use a good non stick baking spray to successfully remove the cake from the pan.
- There will be an extra cup of the three milk mixture that isn’t used for the cake. You can use it as a creamer in your coffee or tea, enjoy it over oatmeal, or use it to make bread pudding.
- I like to use the whisk attachment on my stand mixer when making whipped cream, but you can use your favorite method.
- When separating eggs, I use three bowls. Separate first egg putting the egg yolk into one bowl and the egg white into another. Then crack the next egg over the empty third bowl, allowing egg white to go into the empty bowl. Place egg yolk into the bowl with the other yolk and then combine the egg whites, insuring no yolk is present.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long will tres leches cake last?
Enjoy this cake the day it is made for best results. Whipped cream frosting tends to break down over time. Store leftovers in the refrigerator, wrapped in plastic wrap or in an airtight container for 2 days. The cake can be frozen for up to 2 months.
Do I have to garnish tres leches cake with strawberries?
Garnish Tres Leches cake with any type of berry. You can also use chopped maraschino cherries.
If you do not want to use fruit, you can sprinkle the top of the cake with cinnamon.
Try these other delicious desserts:
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Tres Leches Cake Recipe
Tres Leches Cake is a light tender sponge cake soaked in three types of milk, then opped with sweetened whipped cream and fresh berries. Light and delicious.
Prep:45 minutes
Cook:1 minute
Total:1 hour 45 minutes
Ingredients
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 5 eggs
- 1 cup sugar divided
- 1/2 cup mlik whole or 2 percent
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 12 oz. evaporated milk
- 14 oz sweetened condensed milk
- 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
Whipped Cream Frosting
- 2 cups heavy whipping cream
- 3 Tbsp powdered sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 pint strawberries for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F>
- Spray a 9 x 13 inch pan with non stick baking spray.
- Separate eggs into two bowls.
- Add egg yolks and 3/4 cup sugar into the bowl of a stand mixer with the whisk attachment and beat until pale yellow.
- Add in 1/2 cup milk and vanilla extract.
- Add in dry ingredients – flour, baking powder and salt. Mix until combined.
- Beat the egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer with whisk attachment until sft peaks form.
- Gradually add in remaining 1/4 cup of sugar into egg whites as they are mixing. Mix until stiff peaks form.
- Gently fold egg white mixture into cake batter until no white streaks remain.
- Pour mixture into prepared cake pan and bake for 25 – 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Allow cake to cool in the pan. If desired, remove cake from pan onto a serving tray.
- In a bowl, combine the three milks.
- Poke the top of the cake with a fork all over the surface.
- Slowly pour milk mixture over the top and sides of the cake. Let sit for 30 minutes for the milk to absorb. After 30 minutes, if any milk remains on the serving tray, use a paper towel to absorb it.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer with whisk attachment, mix 2 cups of whipping cream combined with 3 Tbsp powdered sugar and 1/2 tsp vanilla extract until thick.
- Frost the top and sides of the cake with whipped cream.
- Garnish cake with fresh strawberries if desired.
Tips & Notes:
- Use three bowls to separate eggs.
- Separate first egg putting the egg yolk into one bowl and the egg white into another.
- Crack the next egg over the empty third bowl, allowing egg white to go into the empty bowl. Place egg yolk into the bowl with the other yolk.
- Add egg white from third bowl into the other bowl with egg white only if no yolk has gotten into the egg white.
- Continue with all other eggs.
- The advantage of this method is, if you happen to get egg yolk into the egg white, it only affects one egg and not the whole bowl of egg white you have already separated.
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Nutrition Facts:
Calories: 471kcal (24%) Carbohydrates: 53g (18%) Protein: 10g (20%) Fat: 25g (38%) Saturated Fat: 15g (94%) Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g Monounsaturated Fat: 7g Trans Fat: 0.01g Cholesterol: 145mg (48%) Sodium: 165mg (7%) Potassium: 420mg (12%) Fiber: 1g (4%) Sugar: 43g (48%) Vitamin A: 1005IU (20%) Vitamin C: 25mg (30%) Calcium: 253mg (25%) Iron: 1mg (6%)
* Disclaimer: All nutrition information are estimates only. Read full disclosure here.
Beth says
This is one of my favorite cake recipes! Delicious.