I first made tres leches cake when my baby was still a baby and I was trying to find something yummy to make for my friend Ana for her birthday. I asked her what her favorite type of cake was.
“Tres Leches,” she said.
“Tres Leches?” I said. “Three milks?”I’d passed high school Spanish. But I’d never heard of the cake.
Ana went on to explain to me what tres leches cake is: a light, airy sponge cake soaked with a mixture of three milks: evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk, and heavy cream. Yes, you heard me. It’s absolutely to die for.
To die for.
Look at all of that sweet goodness. And here’s the magical part about this cake recipe: it's such that no matter how much time passes, it will never be soggy. It’s a sponge cake, and like a sponge, it’s designed to hold moisture without falling apart.
It’s a dream.
How do you make tres leches cake?
The base of this dreamy, moist dessert is a simple vanilla sponge cake that bakes up nice and airy and delicious. Then comes the most important part—the tres leches(that is,the three milks). You stir together evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk, and heavy cream, and pour the mixture over the cooled cake.You may not use all of the milk mixture (I usually end up with about a cup left). Once the cake has magically absorbed the milk mixture, top it with clouds of whipped cream, and prepare to fall in love!
What does tres leches cake taste like?
It's sweet, but not too sweet, slightly vanilla-y, andscrumptiously moist. The milk mixture adds wonderful richness but the cake is surprisingly spongey and light, and the whipped cream on top only adds to its airiness.
What's the best way to store tres leches cake?
In the fridge! Cold leftover tres leches cake straight from the fridge is heaven sent. Plus, it contains three types of milk, so you sort of have to refrigerate it. Covered tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerated, the cake lasts 3-5 days, but it never makes it that long in my house.
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- Yields:
- 12 serving(s)
- Prep Time:
- 45 mins
- Cook Time:
- 1 hr
- Total Time:
- 1 hr 45 mins
Ingredients
For the Cake:
- 1 c.
all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 tsp.
baking powder
- 1/4 tsp.
salt
- 5
whole eggs
- 1 c.
sugar, divided
- 1 tsp.
vanilla
- 1/3 c.
milk
- 1
can evaporated milk
- 1
can sweetened, condensed milk
- 1/4 c.
heavy cream
For the Icing:
- 1 pt.
heavy cream, for whipping
- 3 tbsp.
sugar
Maraschino cherries
Directions
- Step1Preheat oven to 350˚. Spray a 9 x 13 inch pan liberally until coated.
- Step2Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Separate eggs.
- Step3Beat egg yolks with 3/4 cup sugar on high speed until yolks are pale yellow. Stir in milk and vanilla. Pour egg yolk mixture over the flour mixture and stir very gently until combined.
- Step4Beat egg whites on high speed until soft peaks form. With the mixer on, pour in remaining 1/4 cup sugar and beat until egg whites are stiff but not dry.
- Step5Fold egg white mixture into the batter very gently until just combined. Pour into prepared pan and spread to even out the surface.
- Step6Bake for about 30minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Turn cake out onto a rimmed platter and allow to cool.
- Step7Combine condensed milk, evaporated milk, and heavy cream in a small pitcher. When cake is cool, pierce the surface with a fork several times. Slowly drizzle all but about 1 cup of the milk mixture—try to get as much around the edges of the cake as you can.
- Step8Allow the cake to absorb the milk mixture for 30 minutes. To ice the cake, whip 1 pint heavy cream with 3 tablespoons of sugar until thick and spreadable.
- Step9Spread over the surface of the cake. Decorate cake with whole or chopped maraschino cherries. Cut into squares and serve.
I did some digging and some reading and wound up making this very cake for Ana’s birthday. She’d grown up eating it and hadn’t had it for over ten years, and she clapped her hands with glee. Then I took a bite and clapped my hands with glee. Then we ate it together. Then we cried together. What a cake this is!
Throw flour and baking powder into a mixing bowl…
And add a little salt. Stir it together and set aside.
Now, separate 5 eggs. Yolks in one bowl…
Whites in the other.
Now, throw the yolks and some sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer.
Mix on high until the yolks are pale yellow in color and doubled in volume.
Next add 1/3 cup of whole milk…
And 1 teaspoon vanilla.
Just gently stir the mixture together on the lowest setting, just to combine everything.
Pour the egg yolk mixture into the flour mixture.
Gently stir the mixture together.
Now QUICK! Clean out your mixing bowl and wash the whisk. We need to beat the egg whites and we don’t want to do it by hand because we’re way too lazy for that.
Throw the egg whites into the bowl.
Whip them on high speed until soft peaks form.
With the mixer on high, pour in 1/4 cup sugar. Continue beating until the whites are stiff…but not dry.
Add the egg whites into the bowl with the rest of the ingredients…
Very gently fold the ingredients together until all combined.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan…
Spread the top as evenly as you can get it, then pop it in the oven for 35 to 45 minutes.
Take it out when the cake is no longer jiggly, and when a toothpick comes out clean.
Turn the cake onto a rimmed platter…
And let it cool completely.
Now comes the bad part, which, in baking, actually means the good part. Crack open a can of sweetened condensed milk.
Look at this stuff. It’s so underrated. Sweetened condensed milk is the nectar of the southern states.
Pour the whole can into a small pitcher.
Next. pour in a can of evaporated milk. Not as thick and sweet and creamy as the other canned milk, but still a staple.
To this mixture, add 1/4 cup heavy cream, then stir the whole mixture together. (You can also add a tiny splash of rum to this mixture if you’re feeling particularly naughty.)
And those are the three milks. Now, since the cake batter actually contains whole milk, too, a stickler for details might raise a stink and demand that the name be changed to Cuatro Leches Cake.
Sticklers for details. They’re always causing trouble.
When the cake is cooled, pierce the surface with a fork.
And now. Prepare yourself. Put away all preconceived ideas and notions and prejudices and hangups.
Slowly drizzle all but 1 cup of the 3-milk mixture all over the surface of the cake.
As you pour, the mixture will begin to seep into the light, airy cake.
Try your best to evenly distribute the liquid over the surface.
The hardest part is getting the liquid around the edge of the cake.
Actually, the hardest part is holding a camera in your right hand and trying to take a photo of your left hand pouring liquid around the edge of the cake.
Food blogging: It’s not just a job—it’s an adventure.
**Just discard the last 1 cup of liquid. It usually proves to be a little much.
Now, allow the cake to sit for 20 to 30 minutes.
The liquid will soak into the top, and run down the sides and work its way underneath the cake. Just you watch.
Look! This is 30 minutes later.
Now, pour 1 pint of very cold whipped cream into the mixer. Add 3 tablespoons of sugar to give it a little sweetness.
Whip the heck out of it until it’s very stiff and spreadable. On high speed, this only takes about a minute.
Plop it right on top of the milk-soaked cake and start spreading.
I give you permission to lick the spoon when you’re finished!
Use a smaller knife to get around the sides of the cake.
And that’s it!
I’m purring like a kitten right now. Look at this lovely little treat! Now, I feel compelled to point out that the pieces in the middle of the cake—that is, the pieces with no baked edge—are the best. They’re always nice and evenly soaked with the milk mixture. Sometimes I’ll even cut around the edge of the cake with a very sharp knife and remove the drier edges. Tres Leches Cake should be ultra moist!
Tres Leches Cake should also be topped with a maraschino cherry. Ana says so.
How lovely!
But seriously. Lovely aside, I want you to look at this up close and personal.
I’m dying. I just ate a piece of this last night, but this morning I can hardly stand to look without running to the fridge and getting another piece.
If you’d like to change things up a bit, you can also chop up a bunch of cherries…
And sprinkle them over the top instead.
I prefer the kitschy nature of the single cherry, but this approach definitely gets more cherry flavor distributed to every bite.
Guys, you’ll love Tres Leches Cake. Make it sometime soon.
