Tres Leches Cake

Tres Leches, the famous Latin American “3 Milk” soaked cake, has arrived!! Tastes like a soft vanilla pudding, except cold rather than warm. One bite, and you’ll understand why the world is so obsessed with it!

Tres Leches Cake

If you have never tried Tres Leches cake before, you’re in for a treat! It’s one of Latin America’s most iconic desserts – a cake that 700 million people are proud to call their own, that the rest of the world has fallen in love with.

Tres Leches – which literally means “three milks” – is made by soaking a vanilla sponge with a sweet mixture of three kinds of milk: sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk and cream. The cake drinks it all up, turning into something that’s almost like a cold vanilla pudding. Despite all that liquid, it’s not soggy or mushy because the sponge is designed to absorb it while staying incredibly light and springy.

It’s a brilliant cake for sharing because of its size – 20 slices comfortably, or 12 giant slices. It stays in the pan (easy transport!), must be made ahead, and is just as good – if not better – the next day, and the next.

Oh, and it’s surprisingly on the low-end of sweet, even by Latin American standards! 😉

Adapted from an Ina Garten recipe

This Tres Leche recipe is ever so slightly adapted from Ina Garten’s recipe. Compared to other recipes I’ve tried in the past, I found her cake has an exceptionally good soft bouncy texture that holds up perfectly even when soaked with almost 4 cups of the milk mixture. It doesn’t disintegrate or get mushy and soggy, the milk mixture disperses evenly through the crumb, and the texture of the cake is plush – almost like my Vanilla Cake.

Plus it’s super simple to make. I see myself using it for other flavour-soaked cakes in the future!

See FAQ for changes I made to Ina’s recipe. Nothing significant, just a handful of minor details. 🙂

Ingredients in Tres Leches Cake

Here’s what you need to make Tres Leches Cake. I know South American desserts have a reputation for being quite sweet, but this Tres Leches actually is not. It is less sweet than typical western cakes. 🙂

1. Three Milk Soaking Mixture

Well, 2 types of milk, plus cream! Some recipes use milk instead of cream, but I much prefer cream. It adds richness to the cake which, although soft and springy, is made without any fat (other than the fat in eggs). For this reason, I also recommend using full fat for each of the milks below though if, for health reasons, I needed to, I would absolutely still make this recipe with low fat of all three.

• Sweetened condensed milk – This the milk in a can that has been sweetened and it has a thick syrup consistency. It brings sweetness into the cake. Find it in the long-life milk aisle.

• Evaporated milk – Unsweetened concentrated milk that has a slightly thicker pourable consistency than fresh milk. Sold in cans alongside the sweetened condensed milk.

• Cream – As noted above, I like to use cream rather than milk to bring a little much needed fat into the cake. But actually, you could use milk instead, if you prefer. But use less, as it is thinner so it will soak the crumb faster than cream.

• Vanilla – Use natural extract rather than imitation essence which is artificial.

** Optional: almond extract ** Ina Garten’s recipe also includes a small amount of almond extract (just 1/2 teaspoon). It’s not traditional but it’s a common variation, particularly in US versions, I’ve noticed. It adds the smaller hint of amaretto flavour and it is really lovely. So while it’s not in my base recipe, if you’ve got almond extract I highly recommend giving it a go!

2. THE CAKE

Here’s what you need to make the cake.

• Flour – Just plain / all-purpose flour. Don’t use self raising flour, the rise of this cake is more delicate than some and if you don’t use the exact amount of baking powder, it might not be as fluffy as it should be.

• White sugar – You can use either caster sugar (superfine sugar) or regular / granulated sugar. Caster sugar is my default as it is suitable for 95% of my cooking and baking, whereas granulated sugar is not (larger grains so it doesn’t dissolve as quickly).

• Eggs – You will need 3 large eggs which are eggs sold in cartons labelled “large eggs”. They are ~50 – 55g/60g each. If yours are much larger or smaller, see this post for how to convert to use the correct amount.

  Make sure the eggs are at room temperature as fridge-cold eggs do not fluff up as well when whipped, and this cake relies heavily on the whipped eggs to make it rise. To bring them to room temperature quickly, just pop them in a bowl of warm water for 5 minutes. (Not hot – you’ll cook the eggs!)

• Baking powder – In addition to the whipped eggs, baking powder also lends a hand to make the cake rise. If yours has been sitting in the pantry for a while, check to make sure it’s not dead (here’s how). Don’t substitute with baking soda in this cake.

• Vanilla – For flavour.

• Salt – To bring out the flavours in the cake. Standard baking protocol these days. 🙂

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How to make Tres Leches Cake

You’ll need to start this cake at least 5 1/2 hours before you plan to serve it as it needs at least 4 hours in the fridge for the cake to absorb all that milky goodness and disperse evenly, plus 30 minutes cooling time. To be honest, it’s even better the next day as I feel like the cake has settled and slices more neatly once it is well and truly chilled all the way through.

1. make the cake

Like my Vanilla Cake, this cake gets its soft, springy crumb by beating whole eggs for 10 minutes to aerate them. If you’ve got a stand mixer, it’s wonderfully efficient – while the eggs are whipping, you can measure the remaining ingredients and butter the pan.

1. Whisk dry ingredients – Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl, then set aside.

2. Beat eggs 10 minutes – Put the eggs, sugar and vanilla in a bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Then beat on medium high (speed 8) for 10 minutes. It will be pale yellow and fluffy, and the aeration in the eggs is what makes the cake rise.

   If using a handheld electric beater, use high speed and just alternate arms if they start getting tired!

3. Flour and milk – Turn the speed down to low. Then with the beater still going, slowly pour in half the flour, all the milk, then remaining flour. Stop the beater once most of the flour is incorporated.

4. Finish by hand – Use a rubber spatular to ensure the batter is properly combined (check the base), but don’t keep mixing unnecessarily as you will deflate the batter and end up with a cake less fluffy than it could be!

5. Pour into a 23 x 33cm / 9 x 13″ butter greased metal pan. Bake for 25 minutes at 180°C/350°F (160°C fan-forced), or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. The top will be a deep golden.

   – Other pan sizes: See FAQ
   – Don’t use a glass or ceramic pan, it doesn’t conduct heat the same so the cake won’t rise as well. And don’t line the pan with paper! It becomes impossible to scoop up a slice without scraping up paper!

6. Cool for 30 minutes in the pan before proceeding with the poke and soak. This ensures your cake won’t disintegrate into a soggy mess when you pour the milk mixture over. Cakes are fragile when hot.

2. poke, soak and refrigerate

Poke with enthusiasm! More poking = more even soaking!

1. 3-Milk mixture – In either a very large jug (~1.5 litres / quarts) or a large bowl, whisk the 3-Milk ingredients together.

2. Poke lots and lots of holes in the cake, all the way down to the base using a thin chopstick*. I do around 130 – ten rows of thirteen holes. Lots of holes encourages more even distribution of the milk mixture. Nobody wants to hit a dry patch with Tres Leches cake!

   * Note on poking device – I know most recipes say to use a bamboo skewer or fork, but I kept ending up with some dry patches because the holes are too small, even with lots of poking. A thin chopstick lets the milk soak through faster and more evenly. Don’t worry about the larger holes, the crumb expands as it absorbs the milk, so the tunnels disappear.

3. Soak – Slowly pour the milk mixture over in about 3 additions, giving it a minute or between pours if needed to allow it to soak in before pouring more on. Because we poked with chopsticks, you’ll find the milk mixture absorbs much faster and more evenly than tiny holes made using skewers.

4. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours, or even overnight, to allow the milk mixture to soak evenly into the cake.

5. Whip the cream then spread it all over the cake.

6. Sprinkle with cinnamon then cut! Keep it in the pan so it holds all the milky goodness in.

Storing and making ahead

Tres Leches Cake is one of those rare cakes that is actually better made ahead which makes it a terrific one for gatherings – especially in summer. It keeps beautifully for 2 days, and is still terrific for up to 4 days in the fridge, and I also appreciate that it’s a cake that is great eaten cold, straight out of the fridge. Because, how frustrating is it when the urge for cake hits you but that buttercream frosting has gone rock hard in the fridge and you have to wait half an hour before digging in?? 😖

The whipped cream will hold up well for 2 days because it’s not pipped or sandwiched, though it will stay in freshly-whipped-fluffy-perfection if you stabilise the whipped cream. McKenzie’s Cream Stabiliser powder is now a staple in my pantry – just add into the cream, whip as usual, and it stays fluffy for 3 days. For other ways to stabilise whipped cream, see the recipe here.

Righto, I’m off! I have leftover cake to enjoy. Happy poking and soaking – and even happier eating! – Nagi x

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Watch how to make it

Life of Jaffle

My first dog park…..

….and my first Tres Leches cake!!

It is hard to know which one he enjoyed more!