Tres leches cake is a super easy and super delicious dessert perfect for rounding off every meal. A vanilla sponge soaked with a mixture of sweetened condensed, evaporated and whole milk before being slathered in vanilla whipped cream. It might sound a little strange but I promise you, this cake is a total winner.
Guys, I have a new favourite cake, tres leches cake to be exact! Oh man, I can’t even begin to describe how delicious this baby is. Tres leches is Spanish for three milks, which is what this fluffy cake is soaked in. When I first heard of tres leches cake I was a little dubious, wouldn’t the milk make the cake super soggy and inedible? Wouldn’t it just turn to mush? I had to try it and see what all the fuss was about.
Let me tell you, I am so glad I threw caution to the wind and baked this cake. There’s a reason it’s so highly regarded across the pond.
If you’ve ever made a poke cake, this is in a similar vein. You start with a light and fluffy sheet cake, give it a good old, all over poke with a fork before soaking it with a three milk mixture. Give this baby a few hours (or leave it overnight like I did) to suck up all that delicious sauce and you’re left with the most amazing textured cake you’ve ever tasted. Seriously, I dream about that light vanilla taste.
There is one thing I must stress about this recipe, you have to whip the egg whites separately before adding to the batter to create that light airy texture. Those little air bubbles you’re creating there, they’re gonna fill up with that sweet sweet milk. Oh my god, you’re really not going to regret that extra step.
Tres Leches Cake
- Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
- Yield: 12 1x
Description
A classic Mexican dessert, soaked in a mixture of three milks and topped with whipped cream and strawberries.
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 6 large free range eggs, separated
- 150g caster sugar
- 1tsp vanilla extract
- 250g plain flour
- 1tsp baking powder
- 100ml whole milk
For the three milk sauce:
- 397ml tin sweetened condensed milk
- 410ml tin evaporated milk
- 100ml whole milk
- 1tsp vanilla extract
For the whipped cream topping:
- 250ml whipping cream
- 1tsp vanilla extract
- cocoa powder and strawberries to serve
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 160°C and grease a 9×13″ high sided baking tin.
- Place your egg whites in a metal or glass bowl and whisk up until stiff peaks appear, sprinkle in 3tbsp of caster sugar and continue to mix until glossy. Put to one side while you make the batter.
- In a separate bowl mix the egg yolks and the remaining sugar until light and creamy, around 3 minutes. Add half of the flour and baking powder and mix, add the milk along with the vanilla extract followed by the remaining flour and baking powder and mix until combined. Place half of your whipped egg whites in with the batter and fold in, taking care not to knock the air out of the eggs. Once combined, fold through the remaining eggs.
- Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan. Bake for 20 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. Cool the cake for 10 minutes while you make your sauce.
- Simply pour the condensed, evaporated and whole milk into a large jug along with the vanilla extract and mix together. Once the cake has cooled slightly pierce the whole surface with a skewer then pour the milk sauce evenly over the cake. Wrap the tin in cling film and refrigerate overnight.
- Whip the cream and vanilla extract together until soft peaks form.
- Top the cake with whipped cream, cocoa powder and berries before serving.
Notes
Topping your cake with coco powder is optional but very tasty.
Leftover cake will keep in the fridge for 5 days wrapped in cling film.
- Prep Time: 40
- Cook Time: 30
- Cuisine: Mexican
Thanks so much for this recipe, it sounds amazing!! I actually had Tres Leches Cake recently on a little south american restaurant on a bus in Cambridge, and it was so gorgeous, so I will definitely be attempting it! 🙂 x
Author
So glad you like the recipe! Please let me know if you try it out, I’d love to see!!
Katie xoxo
This looks so fluffy and light – it’s right up my street! It reminds me a bit of tiramisu, which is one of my absolute favourites, but it sounds a bit lighter, which makes it the perfect summer dessert.
Author
It’s the absolute perfect Summer dessert, I’d eat it after every meal. Haha!
Thanks so much 🙂
Katie xoxo
I have never tried this cake. It really looks like tiramisu but I assume it’s very different in taste and probably texture too.
Mika
Hi Mika,
It does look super similar to tiramisu but you’re right, it’s a million miles away in taste. This is much nicer 😉
Katie xoxo
This looks very tasty and is making me hungry looking at. Will be trying this out
oh yum, this looks amazing – sounds simple enough to put together too. Such a showstopper, though. Your photography is exquisite
Thank you so much Rebecca!
Katie xoxo
I have had this cake a couple of times before anf always loved it never thought of making it myself though. This looks real yummy
This looks so soft and fluffy, I need to give this a try as who doesn’t love cake?! x
omg! that looks so yummy and so light (well probably not in calories but the texture is nice!) it reminds me of tiramisu
Everything about this sounds delicious (apart from the cocoa – I’m a weirdo that hates chocolate). But seriously, this has made me hungry …
C x
I had never heard of this cake before and it looks amazing 🙂 I could just eat some right now. Lovely photos too.
I’ve heard of this cake before but never been quite sure how it’s made. It looks amazing though, definitely one that I fancy trying!
Oh wow that looks delicious. I had never heard of this type of cake before although it reminds me a bit of Tiramisu without the alcohol. Will have to give it a go x
OMG, I am drooling over your photos! Sounds amazing,I will have to try it out.
It certainly looks delicious! I love the strawberry on top! I bet that tastes even better with the strawberry:)
I’ve always wondered what Tres Leches cake was made with. What a beautifully looking cake! I bet it tastes even better. Yummy!
Yummy, this cake looks so good. I have to try to make it. Looks a bit like Tiramisu 😉
Hi Katie, I tried the recipe and it was much better than the previous tres leches recipe I tried! The half portion worked. It it was slightly denser than I’d hoped! I guess my folding in wasn’t as good as it should be! I’ll try it again!
★★★★
So glad you liked the recipe Teresa.
Katie xoxo
Hi Katie this might sound stupid but when you say “mix” is that hand mixing the batter?
Hi Gee, you can hand mix or use an electric mixer. Just mix until combined 🙂
Hi there, thank you for sharing this recipe. I was wondering how high the tin should be? I have some disposable traybake tins which I’m hoping will be the right size.
Hi there, I used quite a high sided tin for this. I think the disposable ones may be a little shallow but could maybe work with the cake? Please let me know if it works out 🙂
Katie xoxo
Hi Katie,
When you say bake at 160°C do you mean 160°C in a fan oven or conventional oven?
Thanks
★★★★★
Hi,
It’s 160C fan assisted.
Thanks,
Katie xoxo