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HomeDietStraightforward Tres Leches Cake Recipe

Straightforward Tres Leches Cake Recipe


This genuine tres leches cake recipe is a lightweight, spongy cake soaked in a candy milk combination and topped with fluffy home made whipped cream. It’s a favourite Mexican dessert, and really easy to make!

A fork cutting into the corner of a slice of tres leches cake topped with a sliced strawberry on a plate.

 

Relating to desserts, this home made tres leches cake is at all times my first decide, and a slice of churro cheesecake is an in depth second. My household, particularly my daughter Ana, is obsessive about tres leches, and it’s what I make anytime tacos or different Mexican meals are on the menu. It’s traditional, so scrumptious, and simple to make forward, which is strictly why it stays on repeat.

I like serving it with a scoop of home made ice cream or mango sorbet, or alongside a comfortable Mexican espresso, one other favourite that at all times will get my folks excited.

Inform Me About This Tres Leches Cake Recipe

  • Genuine recipe. I did my finest to maintain this tres leches recipe as true to the Latin unique as potential. It’s not too candy and quite simple to make.
  • Positively scrumptious. The tender, spongy cake soaks up the candy milk combination because it chills within the fridge. Topped with whipped cream, it’s certainly one of my favourite desserts!
  • Make it upfront. The tres leches cake wants to take a seat within the fridge for some time, so it’s an awesome dessert to make forward for events like Easter. 
Tres leches cake in a baking pan with a slice missing from the corner.

What Is Tres Leches?

Tres leches is Spanish for “three milks.” It’s a nod to the condensed milk, evaporated milk, and plain milk within the recipe. Tres leches cake is a traditional Latin dessert, additionally standard in Mexican eating places within the U.S. 

The tactic for tres leches cake is much like a semolina cake or baklava, by which the desserts are soaked in easy syrup after baking. Right here, we poke holes within the mild, ethereal sponge cake and soak it with a combination of three sorts of milk as a substitute. 

Tres leches cake ingredients with text labels overlaying each ingredient.

Substances Wanted to Make This Cake

Listed below are the notes on the elements in my tres leches cake recipe. Scroll to the recipe card for the printable quantities and step-by-step directions.

  • Dry Substances – You’ll want baking staples like all-purpose flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Make it possible for your baking powder is recent.
  • Moist Substances – Eggs, milk, and vanilla. You should use any milk (entire milk, 2%, and many others.)
  • Condensed Milk – Milk #1 is condensed milk. Condensed milk is sweetened with sugar and is available in cans.
  • Evaporated Milk – Milk #2 is evaporated milk, the unsweetened model of condensed milk. 
  • Milk – The third of our tres leches! Once more, this may be any kind of milk, simply to skinny out the sauce a little bit.
  • Whipped Cream – I make the whipped topping from scratch with heavy whipping cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla. You should use Cool Whip or store-bought whipped cream should you’d like.

The place Is the Oil and Butter?

You could discover that the tres leches cake elements above don’t embody oil or butter. That is appropriate! The eggs do the heavy lifting on this recipe to offer the cake rise and construction, whereas the three milks lend moisture to the crumb with out the necessity for oil or butter.

Baking Suggestions

  • Keep away from overbrowning. The cake can be golden brown when it’s finished. For those who discover that it’s browning too shortly, cowl the cake with foil whereas it finishes baking.
  • Don’t over-poke the cake. Use a fork and poke the cake fastidiously. Too many holes can have an effect on the feel of the cake.
  • Totally beat the eggs and sugar. Cream the sugar with the eggs till the combination is fluffy and lightweight in coloration. This step is essential!
  • For a caramel taste, swap the condensed milk with dulce de leche, and improve the plain milk within the milk combination to ¼ cup.
  • Let it soak. As soon as the milk combination is poured over the cake, let it soak for a number of hours, and even higher, in a single day. The longer it sits, the higher the feel and taste.
A slice of tres leches cake on a plate with a second slice of cake in the background.

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Make the sponge cake:

  • Put together to bake. Preheat the oven to 350°F.

  • Combine the dry elements. In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt. Put aside.

  • Beat the eggs. In a separate bowl, utilizing an electrical mixer, beat the sugar with the eggs till fluffy and pale, about 2 to three minutes.

  • Mix. Whisk the milk and vanilla into the egg combination till clean. Utilizing a spatula, gently fold within the flour combination simply till the batter is clean and lump-free.

  • Bake the cake. Grease your 9×13-inch baking dish with some butter. Pour within the ready cake batter and faucet gently onto the kitchen counter to take away air bubbles. Bake the cake for 30-35 minutes, or till a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clear.

Put together the milk combination:

  • Mix the milks. In the meantime, whisk collectively the condensed milk, evaporated milk, and plain milk in a bowl till mixed.

  • Drizzle the cake. Take away the cake from the oven and permit it to chill down utterly. Then, use a fork to poke holes within the cake. Pour the milk combination everywhere in the cake, particularly saturating the sides, as they’re the firmest. Refrigerate the cake for at the least 2 to three hours, however in a single day is finest.

Add the topping:

  • Whip the cream. Add heavy cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract to a big bowl. Whip with a handheld mixer till stiff peaks kind.

  • End and serve. Prime the tres leches cake with the whipped cream. Lower the cake into squares and serve.

  • Don’t burn the cake. The cake prime turns golden brown as soon as baked. For those who really feel the cake is browning too shortly or an excessive amount of throughout baking, you may cowl it with aluminum foil and proceed baking till finished.
  • Fastidiously poke the cake. Use a fork to poke holes evenly throughout the cake. Keep away from poking too many holes as it could actually wreck the cake’s texture.
  • Beat your eggs with sugar till fluffy and pale. This can be a crucial step.
  • As a substitute of condensed milk, you should use dulce de leche and improve plain milk (within the milk combination) from 3 tablespoons to a full ¼ cup. It will give the cake a caramel taste.

Serving: 1slice | Energy: 386kcal | Carbohydrates: 49g | Protein: 9g | Fats: 18g | Saturated Fats: 11g | Polyunsaturated Fats: 1g | Monounsaturated Fats: 5g | Trans Fats: 0.01g | Ldl cholesterol: 109mg | Sodium: 154mg | Potassium: 336mg | Fiber: 0.3g | Sugar: 41g | Vitamin A: 690IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 232mg | Iron: 1mg

Dietary information is an estimate and supplied as courtesy. Values might fluctuate in response to the elements and instruments used. Please use your most well-liked dietary calculator for extra detailed information.

The best way to Make a Tres Leches Cake

  • Combine the cake batter. Mix the dry elements in a bowl. In a separate bowl, beat the sugar and eggs till they’re fluffy and pale. Steadily fold the dry elements, milk, and vanilla into the sugar-egg combination.
  • Bake the cake. Pour the cake batter right into a well-greased 9×13-inch baking dish. Faucet the pan in opposition to the counter a couple of instances to launch any air bubbles within the batter. Then, bake the cake at 350ºF for 30-35 minutes. A toothpick caught into the center of the cake ought to come out clear.
  • Put together the milk combination. Subsequent, stir collectively the condensed milk, evaporated milk, and plain milk. 
  • Soak the cake. As soon as the baked cake cools utterly, poke holes everywhere in the prime with a fork or a toothpick. Pour the ready milk sauce over the entire cake, ensuring to saturate the sides. Pop the cake into the fridge for two to three hours, however I’ll typically depart it in there in a single day.
  • Add the topping. Earlier than serving, whip heavy cream with powdered sugar and vanilla till the combination types stiff peaks. Unfold the whipped cream over the chilled cake, then lower and serve. For those who’d like, give the cake a dusting with cinnamon!
A fork cutting into the corner of a slice of tres leches cake topped with a sliced strawberry on a plate.

The best way to Retailer

  • Maintain the cake refrigerated. It’s finest to retailer this milk cake with out the whipped topping every time potential. You possibly can hold the soaked cake refrigerated for as much as 3 days.
  • Freeze. To freeze your tres leches cake, depart off the whipped cream. Tightly wrap the cake in plastic wrap, then in foil, and freeze it for as much as 2 months. Thaw the cake within the fridge earlier than including the topping and serving.
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