Tres Leches Cake Recipe – Mexican Special
The Best authentic homemade Tres Leches Cake. An ultra light cake soaked
in a sweet milk mixture and topped with fresh whipped cream and cinnamon.
This simple Mexican dessert is one of our favorites!
Every person in my family would rank Tres Leches Cake in our top
favorites of all time! I love that it’s not overly sweet, it’s super easy
to make, I can make it in advance, and its absolutely delicious! We make it really often, especially when we’re having a bunch of other Mexican
food favorites to serve with it.
- Prep Time1 hr 30 min
- Cook Time40 min
- Total Time2 hr 10 min
Tres Leches Cake Ingredients:
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 5 large eggs , separated
- 1 cup granulated sugar , divided
- 1/3 cup whole milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 12 ounce can evaporated milk
- 14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk
- 1/4 cup whole milk
- 1 pint heavy whipping cream
- 3 Tablespoons powdered sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ground cinnamon , for topping
How To Make Tres Leches Cake
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a medium bowl combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Separate the
eggs into two other mixing bowls.
Add ¾ cup sugar to the bowl with the egg yolks and mix on high speed
until yolks are pale yellow. Add ? cup milk and vanilla and stir to combine. Pour the egg yolk mixture over the flour mixture and stir gently
just until combined (don’t over-mix).
Use electric beaters to beat the egg whites on high speed. As the begin
to whip into stiff peaks, gradually mix in the remaining ¼ cup of sugar.
Fold the stiffly beaten egg whites into the batter gently, scraping the
bottom and sides of the bowl, until combined.
Pour batter into un-greased pan and smooth it into an even layer. Bake
for 25 to 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the
cake comes out clean. Remove from the oven and allow cake to cool
completely.
Combine the evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk, and whole milk in a small bowl. Once the cake has cooled use a fork to poke holes all over
the top of the cake.
Slowly pour the milk mixture over the the top of the cake, making sure to
pour near the edges and all around. Refrigerate the cake for at least 1
hour or overnight, to allow it to soak up the milk.
In the meantime, whip the heavy cream, sugar and vanilla until stiff
peaks. Smooth over the top of the cake. Sprinkle cinnamon on top. Serve
with fresh sliced strawberries, if desired. Enjoy!
Recipe Notes:
Store Tres Leches Cake in the refrigerator, covered, for 3-5 days.
Make Ahead Instructions: You can make Tres leches cake 1-2 days in
advance. In fact, I love to make this cake the night before so that the
cake has a lot of time to soak up the milk mixture.
Freezing Instructions: The baked and cooled cake can be frozen for up to 3 months, covered well. Thaw overnight in the fridge before pouring the three milks on top.
