Tres Leches Cake

“Tres Leches Cake is dry”, said no one ever! Welcome to the moistest and most heavenly of the Mexican desserts, our authentic Tres Leches Cake.

Who would think that a soaked sponge cake could be so temptingly delicious? With few ingredients you can create a touch of paradise your taste buds will be deeply grateful for.

What is Tres Leches Cake, anyway? Tres Leches translates to “Three Milks”. One of the milks, the whole one, goes in the batter. The other two, evaporated and sweetened condensed milks, are part of the soaking liquid.

Basically this cake is a vanilla (or other extract) flavored sponge cake, soaked in a mixture of milks. This mixture can be boozy, if you so desire. Since I used orange liquor to soak the cake, I omitted the vanilla flavoring. By all means use the vanilla extract if your cake is not boozy.

For the frosting you can use meringue. Whipped cream is great too. and the toppings run the gamut from maraschino cherries, to a dusting of ground cinnamon, to just fresh fruit. I used the whipping cream and the fresh fruit.

So, What’s the Story?

Historically, this cake became popular in the 1940’s. The culprit? The main canned milk manufacturer in Mexico. They stuck the recipe to their cans to, ahem, ahem, sell more of them, of course.

But the history of this dessert goes way back to the Colonial era in Mexico. Back to when Viceroys were the rulers and Mexico was the New Spain. Some recipes for wine soaked cakes date to the XVII and XVIII centuries, and even the medieval times. The European Conquistadores imported them to Mexico.

Later on, new versions of milk-soaked cakes emerged in different spots of the country. Think about it, soak stale cake in sweet milk and the cake is reborn.

This cake is a favorite in Mexico and now it’s one of the United States’ most popular desserts. And get this: this cake is a beloved dessert in Turkey too. They have not only rehashed Mexican telenovelas (soap operas) into their language. Legend has it that they reversed engineered the cake recipes from those telenovelas and learned to love this very Mexican dessert too. Now they have their tres leches cake, they eat it too and they call it trileçe.

Tres Leches Cake

Yazzy

Print Recipe

Total Time 3 hours hrs 30 minutes mins

Course Dessert

Cuisine Mexican

Servings 10

Ingredients

  

• butter, flour and parchment for the baking pan
• 1.5 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 4 units eggs separated
• 3/4 – 1 cup granulated sugar see Notes
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract if you don't use the orange liqueur in the soaking liquid
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• 1 – 14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 – 12 oz. can evaporated milk
• 2 cups heavy whipping cream divided
• 2 – 3 tbsp orange liqueur (optional)
• For garnish:
• whipping cream
• 1 tbsp powdered sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract if you don't use the orange liqueur in the soaking liquid
• fresh fruit, maraschino cherries or ground cinnamon

Instructions

 

• Preheat the oven to 350 F. Grease and flour a round 10" baking pan that is 2" deep. Cut a circle of parchment paper the size of the baking pan, line it and grease it with butter too. This will make flipping your cake easier.
• In a medium bowl whisk together the flour and the baking powder.
• In a large mixing bowl whip the egg whites until they become frothy. Gradually add the granulated sugar, with the mixer running until egg whites increase in volume and turn white. Beat in the yolks, 1 at a time, blending well after each yolk. Add the flour mixture in 3 separate amounts, not all at once, alternating with the whole milk and the vanilla extract in 2 separate amounts. Omit the vanilla extract if you use the orange liqueur in the soaking liquid.
• Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean, 35 minutes. If your cake domed, simply cut off the dome. You can soak the cut off dome in the soaking milk liquid and enjoy it too. Cool the cake slightly, about 10 minutes, then invert onto a platter with 1-inch high sides.
• Using a bamboo or metal skewer, poke holes all the way through the cake and all over the surface of the cake. Mix the sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk, 1 cup heavy whipping cream (unwhipped) and orange liqueur in a medium bowl (omit the latter if you don't want a boozy cake). Pour the mixture all over the cake while it is still warm. Cover and refrigerate until cold, at least 3 hours or overnight.
• Combine the remaining 1 cup heavy whipping cream and powdered sugar in a medium bowl. Using an electric mixer, beat the cream until soft peaks form, add the vanilla extract and beat a bit more until fully blended. Omit the vanilla extract if using the orange liqueur. Spread the whipped cream on the top and sides of the cake with an offset spatula and garnish with the fresh fruit or maraschino cherries.

Notes

The can of sweetened condensed milk adds enough sweetness to the cake, hence the 3/4 cup of granulated sugar for the sponge cake. Feel free to add more sugar if you like your desserts richer.

If you are using the orange liqueur, omit the vanilla extract.