This Tres Leches Cake recipe is the softest, most moist cake you will ever have. A super light and fluffy sponge is soaked in a three milk mixture to create a melt-in-your-mouth cake like no other. Topped with a light and fluffy stabilized whipped cream frosting and a dash of cinnamon, this Tres Leches Cake will be your go-to dessert when you need to please a crowd!
What is Tres Leches Cake?
Tres Leches Cake is literally one of the best desserts in the world! If you’ve never heard of it or tried it before, then I am BEYOND excited to share exactly what it is with you (and hopefully entice you enough to try it out!) 🙂
Tres Leches Cake is a popular dessert in Latin America. The name translates to “three milks” in English, reflecting the key characteristic of this cake: its soaked in a mixture of three types of milk. Below are the main elements of a Tres Leches Cake:
Base Cake: The cake itself is usually a simple sponge cake. It has a light and airy texture, designed to absorb the milky mixture without falling apart. Heavier butter or oil cakes (like my vanilla cake) are typically not used.
Three Milks: The cake is traditionally soaked in a combination of evaporated milk, condensed milk, and whole milk or heavy cream. I prefer using heavy cream over whole milk, as it’s slightly thicker and in my opinion makes the cake less soggy.
Toppings: After soaking, the cake is typically topped with whipped cream or meringue, often with a sprinkle of cinnamon for additional flavor and decoration. Some variations include fruit (I love mine with fresh strawberries!), caramel, or chocolate.
Serving: Tres Leches Cake is typically served chilled. It’s sweet and rich, with a moist, almost pudding-like consistency due to the milk mixture. This makes it a refreshing dessert – perfect for summer!
What makes this the best Tres Leches Cake recipe?
When developing this recipe, I wanted to make it one of the lightest Tres Leches Cake recipes you will come across, that melts away in your mouth like no other cake you’ve had!
To achieve this, I decided to use my 5 star rated light and airy sponge cake as a starting point for the sponge. I made some slight adjustments to make the sponge a little firmer so that it was strong enough to soak in the additional milk that would be added in, while still retaining a light and fluffy texture.
One thing I always do when trying to achieve a super light and airy sponge, is to allow the sponge to cool upside down immediately after it’s taken out of the oven. Sponge cakes tend to deflate while cooling, so allowing the cake to cool upside down will prevent this from happening due to the help of gravity! This little trick always leaves me with the most soft and light sponge cakes.
When it comes to the three milk mixture, one thing I was adamant on was the milk not being too sweet. Typically a 14 oz can of sweetened condensed milk is used for a 9×13 inch Tres Leches Cake. I decided to reduce this (I know, it’s a little annoying to have some left over condensed milk – but trust me it’s worth it if you’re someone who doesn’t like overly sweet cakes!). I also wanted to make sure the milk mixture was super creamy and rich, so opted to use heavy cream instead of whole milk.
When it came to the frosting, I wanted to make sure it was light, but stable. I opted to use my incredibly delicious stabilized whipped cream frosting that uses mascarpone as a stabilizer. It is my absolute favorite way to stabilize whipped cream and it means that your whipped cream won’t become watery or lose its shape the next day!
How to Make Tres Leches Cake
Sponge Cake
Preheat oven to 180 °C (350°F) conventional (see note 2 if using a convection oven with a fan) and lightly grease only the bottom of a 9×13 inch cake pan. Leave the sides of the pan ungreased and do not line them.
The purpose of leaving the sides of the cake pan ungreased is so that the sponge cake sticks to the sides of the pan as it rises while baking. Once the cake is baked, you will then flip the cake tin over and allow the cake to cool upside down to prevent it from deflating. Because the cake is stuck to the sides of the pan it won’t fall out, and by using gravity to prevent the cake from deflating, it’s going to help retain the cakes light and fluffy texture.
Sift together all purpose flour, cornstarch, baking powder and salt. Mix until well combined and set aside for now.
In a medium bowl add in egg whites and using an electric mixer (hand mixer or stand mixer are both fine), whip on a medium high speed for 30 seconds until foamy (see note 4). Once foamy, gradually add in 1/2 a cup (100g) of the sugar and then continue mixing until you reach stiff peaks (this should take about 3-4 minutes). Set aside.
In a large bowl add in the remaining 1/2 cup (100g) of white sugar and warm water. Mix so that the sugar is coated in the water. Add in the egg yolks and vanilla, and with a hand or stand mixer, whip on a medium high speed for 2 minutes until the yolks are pale and slightly thickened.
Stream the vegetable oil into the egg yolk mixture while mixing on a medium speed. Mix until well combined.
Add in half of your egg whites to your egg yolk mixture, and using a spatula gently fold until just combined – do not overmix. Next add in the flour mixture from earlier and fold until just combined. Finish off by adding in the remaining egg whites and fold until just combined.
You can use your spatula to break up any large chunks of unmixed egg whites by pushing them gently up against the sides of the bowl, but try not to push out too many of the air bubbles and do not overmix.
Distribute the batter evenly into the prepared pan. Drop the cake tin lightly on the counter twice to remove any large air bubbles and bake for 25 minutes.
To test whether the cake is done, gently touch the top and it should create a little indent which slowly bounces back. You can use a toothpick to check the cake too – if it comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs the cake is ready.
Once the sponge is done, immediately drop the cake tin on your counter from a height of about 10cm to help release some of the steam, and then turn it upside down (while still in the baking tin) on a wire rack to cool for 30 minutes (see note 5).
Milk Mixture
While the cake is cooling, prepare the milk mixture. In a jug (or something that will allow you to easily pour the milk) stir together the evaporated milk, condensed milk and heavy cream.
Once the cake has been cooling for 30 minutes, turn it upright and run a knife along the edges of the cake tin to release the cake from the sides. Use your fingers to gently rub off the top layer of brown ‘skin’ on the sponge (see video for demonstration).
Once the top is removed, use a fork to poke holes all over the top of the cake (only poke about 3/4s of the way into the cake – not all the way to the bottom).
Pour the liquid mixture evenly over the top of the cake. Try and do this as evenly as possible and make sure the entire top of the cake is soaked in milk, including the edges.
Cover with cling wrap and place into the fridge to rest for a minimum of 2 hours (ideally overnight if you have the time).
Stabilized Whipped Cream Frosting
Once the cake is ready to be served, prepare the whipped cream frosting.
In a large bowl, combine the mascarpone, powdered sugar and vanilla. Mix on a low speed for about 10 seconds, and then turn up the speed to a medium high and mix until well combined. If using a stand mixer use the whisk attachment.
Add in the whipping cream and mix on a low speed for about 10 seconds (to allow everything to combine without the cream splattering), and then turn up the speed to a medium high and whip until you reach stiff peaks. Keep a careful eye on the mixture as you don’t want to overwhip the cream.
Spread the whipped cream out evenly over the top of the cake, and sprinkle some cinnamon on the top using your fingers – you don’t want too much cinnamon. Slice and serve as is or with fresh fruit!
How do you store Tres Leches Cake?
Due to the milk and whipped cream, Tres Leches Cake does need to be kept refrigerated. Luckily though, Tres Leches Cake is meant to be served chilled, so you can have it straight from the fridge (no need to let it come to room temp!).
The Best Tres Leches Cake
Print Pin VideoIMPORTANT: For accuracy, I would recommend using the gram measurements provided, as those are the exact quantities I use. Cup measurements are given as estimates (based on US cup measurements) to make it easier for those who do not have a scale.
Ingredients
Sponge Cake
- 1 cup (120 g) flour - plain, all purpose
- ¼ cup (30 g) cornstarch
- 1½ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- 5 large eggs - room temperature, white and yolks separated
- 1 cup (200 g) white granulated sugar - separated in half (1/2 for the egg whites & 1/2 for the egg yolk mixture)
- 1½ tbsp warm water - not boiling
- 2 tsp vanilla extract/essence
- 2 tbsp (30 g) unflavored vegetable oil - I use canola oil
Milk Mixture
- 1¾ cups (425 g) evaporated milk - You will need two 12 oz cans (there will be some left over)
- 1 cup (305 g) sweetened condensed milk - You will need one 14 oz can (there will be a little left over)
- ¾ cup (180 g) heavy cream
Stabilized Whipped Cream (or see note 1 for simple whipped cream recipe)
- 1 cup (225 g) mascarpone - cold
- ½ cup (55 g) powdered sugar - also known as confectioners/icing sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla essence/extract
- 1½ cups (335 g) heavy cream - cold
- ground cinnamon - for sprinkling on top
Instructions
Sponge Cake
- Preheat oven to 180 °C (350°F) conventional (see note 2 if using a convection oven with a fan) and lightly grease only the bottom of a 9x13 inch cake pan. Leave the sides of the pan ungreased and do not line them (see note 3).
- Sift together flour, cornstarch, baking powder and salt. Mix until well combined and set aside.
- In a medium sized bowl add in egg whites and using a hand or stand mixer, whip on a medium high speed for 30 seconds until foamy (see note 4). Once foamy, gradually add in 1/2 a cup (100g) of the sugar and then continue mixing until you reach stiff peaks (this should take about 3-4 minutes). Set aside.
- In a large bowl add in the remaining 1/2 cup (100g) of white sugar and warm water. Mix so that the sugar is coated in the water. Add in the egg yolks and vanilla, and with a hand or stand mixer, whip on a medium high speed for 2 minutes until the yolks are pale and slightly thickened.
- Stream the vegetable oil into the egg yolk mixture while mixing on a medium speed. Mix until well combined.
- Add in half of your egg whites to your egg yolk mixture, and using a spatula gently fold until just combined - do not overmix. Next add in the sifted dry ingredients from earlier and fold until just combined. Finish off by adding in the remaining egg whites and fold until just combined. You can use your spatula to break up any large chunks of unmixed egg whites by pushing them gently up against the sides of the bowl, but try not to push out too many of the air bubbles and do not overmix.
- Distribute the batter evenly into the prepared cake pan. Drop the cake tin lightly on the counter twice to remove any large air bubbles and bake for 25 minutes. To test whether the cake is done, gently touch the top and it should create a little indent which slowly bounces back.
- Once the sponge is done, immediately drop the cake tin on your counter from a height of about 10cm to help release some of the steam, and then turn it upside down (while still in the baking tin) on a wire rack to cool for 30 minutes (see note 5).
Milk Mixture
- In a jug (or something that will allow you to easily pour the milk) combine the evaporated milk, condensed milk and heavy cream.
- Once the cake has been cooling for 30 minutes, turn it upright and run a knife along the edges of the cake tin to release the cake from the sides. Use your fingers to gently rub off the top layer of brown 'skin' on the sponge (see video for demonstration). Once the top is removed, use a fork to poke holes all over the top of the cake (only poke about 3/4s of the way into the cake - not all the way to the bottom).
- Pour the milk mixture evenly over the top of the cake. Try and do this as evenly as possible and make sure the entire top of the cake is soaked in milk, including the edges.
- Cover with cling wrap and place into the fridge to rest for a minimum of 2 hours (ideally overnight if you have the time).
Stabilized Whipped Cream Frosting
- Once the cake is ready to be served, prepare the whipped cream frosting.
- In a large bowl, combine the mascarpone, powdered sugar and vanilla. Mix on a low speed for 10 seconds, and then turn up the speed to a medium high and mix until well combined. If using a stand mixer use the whisk attachment.
- Add in the heavy cream and mix on a low speed for 10 seconds (to allow everything to combine without the cream splattering), and then turn up the speed to a medium high and whip until you reach stiff peaks. Keep a careful eye on the mixture as you don't want to overwhip the cream.
- Spread the whipped cream out evenly over the top of the cake, and sprinkle some cinnamon on the top using your fingers - you don't want too much cinnamon. Slice and serve as is or with fresh fruit!
Video
Notes
- 2 cups (480g) heavy cream
- 2 tbsp white granulated sugar
- 1 tsp of vanilla extract/essence.
Nutrition
Nutritional information are estimates only as they are automatically calculated by a third party application. Actual values may differ based on brands and types of products used.
52 Comments
In srilanka heavy cream is hard to find , instead of that can i use whipping cream for tresleches cake
I’m so excited to be making this AGAIN! It was such a hit at Christmas. Quick question – I’m wanting to make it for a BBQ. Do you have any tips on how to transport it? I’d honestly prefer to bake it in a disposable aluminum dish so its easy to take with me, but is that going to impact the cake?
love it suuuuuuuuuper moist
Thanks so much Sarah! So glad you enjoyed the recipe 🙂
I cannot recommend this recipe (and MK!) enough. This was a smash hit at Christmas dinner. I’m an amateur baker so MK’s detailed instructions in her video were SO helpful. The sponge came out perfectly – but only because of her specific tips. I was delighted. Thank you, MK!
Aww yay! So glad the tres leches cake was a success Bianca and that the extra tips helped along the way 😀
Really appreciate the wonderful feedback 🙂
This cake is absolutely DELICIOUS! Made this following along with your video- super easy and the best sponge I’ve ever made. Cake is soooooo yummy my family wolfed the whole thing down in a day and then asked me to make another one! Thank you Maryam, We love your recipes- such crowd pleasers! 😊
Aww awesome! I’m so glad to hear you and your family loved the tres leches cake Sarah 😀
Really appreciate the wonderful feedback 🙂