Tres Leches Cake is a classic cake soaked with a mixture of heavy cream, evaporated milk and sweetened condensed milk. This cake can be made up to 5 days in advance of serving!
I first tried Tres Leches Cake at Cafe BaBa-Reeba many years ago. It was so good that I've always wanted to make a version at home, like I did with the Tortilla Espanola and Spanish Tomato Bread.
The original recipe for this cake comes from Ina Garten's "Make It Ahead" Cookbook. I love every Ina recipe I try, so I knew it wouldn't disappoint.
Interestingly, this cake has no butter or oil, just eggs!
Prepare and Bake the Cake
Preheat the oven and prepare a 9x13-inch baking pan by buttering or spraying with non-stick baking spray.
In a small bowl, sift together the dry ingredients and set them aside.
In the bowl of stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the eggs, sugar and vanilla. Beat on medium-high speed for 10 minutes until the mixture is light yellow and fluffy. This seems like a long time, but it is necessary to really whip the eggs, similar to this step in Cranberry Christmas Cake.
Reduce the speed of the mixer to low, and slowly add in half of the flour mixture, then the milk, then the rest of the flour mixture.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan. It will be thin.
Bake the cake for until a cake tester comes out clean and the middle of the cake is springy when touched.
Remove the cake from the oven and cool for 30 minutes while you prepare the soak.
Make the Tres Leches Soak
In a large liquid measuring cup, combine the cream, evaporated milk, condensed milk and almond extract.
Use a bamboo skewer to poke holes all over the cake.
Pour the cream mixture all over the cake slowly, allowing it to soak in before pouring more, until all of it has been poured over the cake.
Cover the cake with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 6 hours, or up to 5 days, before serving.
Serve the Cake
Toss the sliced sliced berries with some granulated sugar to serve alongside the cake.
You can use any type of berries you like to go with this cake. I've used strawberries, but you can do a combination of raspberries and strawberries, just raspberries, or any other berry you have on hand.
To plate the cake, slice it into 12 squares and place each square on a plate. Arrange some of the berries around the cake, top it with whipped cream, and sprinkle some ground cinnamon on top.
Gluten Free Option
I have made this cake using a 1:1 Gluten Free Baking Flour Blend. The flavor was good, but the texture was a little soggy. You could scale back the amount of the tres leches soak, or just know to expect it to be more grainy and wet than the traditional all purpose flour version.
📖 Recipe
Tres Leches Cake
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
- 3 eggs (at room temperature)
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ cup whole milk
- 1 ¼ cups heavy cream
- 12 ounces evaporated milk (1 can)
- 14 ounces sweetened condensed milk (1 can)
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
For Serving
- 4 cups Fresh sliced strawberries
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- Whipped cream
- Ground cinnamon
Instructions
Make the Cake
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Grease a 9x13-inch baking pan.
- Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt into a small bowl. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the eggs, 1 cup of sugar and vanilla. Beat on medium-high for 10 full minutes until the mixture becomes light yellow and fluffy.
- Reduce the speed to low and add half of the flour mixture slowly. Add the milk, then add the remaining flour mixture. Use a rubber spatula to make sure all of the ingredients are incorporated but do not overmix.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake until the cake is is springy when touched in the center, about 25 minutes.
- Remove the cake from the oven and allow it to cool for 30 minutes.
Make the Tres Leches Soak
- In a large liquid measuring cup, combine the cream, evaporated milk, condensed milk and almond extract.
- Use a bamboo skewer to poke holes all over the cake.
- Pour the cream mixture all over the cake slowly, allowing it to soak in before pouring more, until all of the mixture has been poured over the cake.
- Cover the cake with plastic wrap. Refrigerate the cake for at least 6 hours, up to 5 days.
Serve the Cake
- Toss the sliced strawberries with the sugar.
- Slice the cake into squares. Plate the cake with the fruit around it, topped with whipped cream and a dusting of cinnamon, if desired.
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