Authentic Tres Leches Cake Recipe (Three Milk Cake)
This super moist, authentic tres leches cake has a homemade sponge cake base soaked with three kinds of milk (evaporated, sweetened condensed, and whole). Topped with freshly whipped cream and sliced strawberries, it’s a cake unlike any other. It’s perfectly soft, but not soggy!
It’s about time we made a tres leches cake! This authentic dessert has roots in Mexico and Nicaragua and is often served during holidays and celebrations, similar to flan.
In my opinion, the secret to a good tres leches cake is a moist sponge cake that gets soft but not soggy when soaked with milk.
We’re achieving that today with a simple 5 ingredient sponge cake that gets soaked in a blend of evaporated, sweetened condensed, and whole milk overnight.
Paired with a cup of cafe con leche, it’s a match made in heaven!
What You’ll Need
For the Sponge Cake:
- butter or nonstick spray to grease the pan
- eggs, room temperature
- white granulated sugar
- all purpose flour
- baking powder
For the Tres Leches:
- evaporated milk
- sweetened condensed milk
- whole milk
Toppings:
- heavy cream
- powdered sugar
- vanilla extract
- optional toppings: cinnamon, sliced strawberries
Find the full ingredient list with exact quantities in the recipe card below.
Step by Step Instructions
All About The Milk
This wouldn’t be a pastel de tres leches without the signature combo of three milks, would it?! While it might feel like a lot of milk, each of them bring their own flavor profile and richness to the cake.
The sweetened condensed milk sweetens things up, and adds a thickness to the mix, while the evaporated milk provides a rich creaminess, and the whole milk rounds it all out.
While you’re pouring this over your sponge cake you may be thinking it’s too much, but I promise you it isn’t. It’s a trust the process sort of cake, and you won’t regret it when you’re serving up a perfectly soft slice of it.
Picking the Right Cake
The key to a perfect tres leches cake lies in the cake itself… shocking, I know!
But really, it’s super important that the sponge cake is light and airy, and not too dense, or it won’t absorb all of that delicious milk.
I’m using a recipe inspired by Pat Jinich, because of the simplicity in ingredients and because it didn’t require any butter or oil. Leaving those two ingredients out means a super light and spongier sponge cake 🍰 .
That said, any sponge cake recipe should work here – even a box of sponge cake will do!
Special Tools
Here’s the rundown:
- A 9×13 inch cake pan – this is crucial in achieving that perfect height of sponge cake to soak up all of the milk. For an even taller cake, use a 9×9 inch pan.
- Stand mixer or hand held mixer – obviously you could beat the eggs with a whisk and your bicep muscles… but it might take forever. I don’t have a fancy stand mixer but my affordable hand held mixer gets the job done, every time!
More Desserts We Love
Buen provecho,
Authentic Tres Leches Cake Recipe (Three Milk Cake)
- Prep Time: 3 hour
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Total Time: 4 hours
- Yield: 8–12 servings 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: Mexican, Latin
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
This super moist, traditional tres leches cake has a homemade sponge cake base soaked with three kinds of milk (evaporated, sweetened condensed, and whole). Topped with freshly whipped cream and sliced strawberries, it’s a cake unlike any other. It’s perfectly soft, but not soggy!
Ingredients
For the Sponge Cake:
- butter or nonstick spray to grease the pan
- 9 eggs, room temperature
- 1 cup white granulated sugar
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
For the Tres Leches:
- 1 (12 oz) can evaporated milk
- 1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk
- 1 cup whole milk
Toppings:
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 2 tbsp powdered sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- optional toppings: cinnamon, sliced strawberries
Instructions
- Prep & beat the egg whites. Preheat your oven to 350°F. Grease a 9×13 inch pan. Separate the egg yolks from the whites. Beat the egg whites in a large bowl on medium speed until soft peaks form. Continue to beat while adding the sugar, ¼ cup at a time. Continue to beat the eggs and sugar together until stiff peaks form.
- Beat the egg yolks and combine. In a separate medium sized bowl, beat the egg yolks (with a clean paddle or whisks) until the mixture thickens, turning foamy and pale yellow in color. This takes several minutes, so be patient. Fold the whipped egg yolks into the larger bowl with the egg whites. Continue to fold until evenly combined.
- Fold in dry ingredients. In a small bowl add the flour and baking powder and mix to combine. Gently fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, just until combined. Be careful to not over mix.
- Bake the cake. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean when poked in the center. Let the cake cool on the counter completely.
- Blend the tres leches. While the cake cools, add the evaporated, sweetened condensed, and whole milk to a bowl and whisk together until consistent.
- Soak the cake and chill. Loosen the sides of the cake with a knife or spatula, poke small holes all over the surface of the cake with a fork or toothpick and pour the milk mixture over the cake. Cover and refrigerate for at least 3 hours (or overnight).
- Top with whipped cream. In a medium sized bowl, add the heavy cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla and beat until medium peaks form. Be careful not to over mix. Pipe or spread over the cake and top with a dusting of cinnamon and sliced strawberries, if desired.
Salima, I made this for the first time tonight and it was tasty. But I tend to like mine a little more moist. How can we do that?
Hi Roy, if you’d like a moister cake, I recommend adding more of the tres leches mixture. You can add additional whole milk, sweetened condensed milk, and evaporated milk whisked together and poured over the cake before soaking over night.