Tres Leches Cake Recipe

Tres Leches Cake Recipe also known as three milk cake is a Popular Mexican dessert cake recipe. Sponge cake soaked in three milk mixture made with evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk and heavy cream creates this iconic Three milk cake. Serve this melt in mouth cake with whipped cream topping and you are in heaven.

Tres Leches Cake Recipe

I had been seeing Mexican tres leches cake all over the internet for the longest time, and the temptation finally got to me. A few days back, I decided to give it a try and honestly, I'm so glad I did. 

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• About Tres Leches Cake 
• Tres Leches Cake Ingredients
• Step by Step Pictures
• Expert Tips
• FAQ
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From whipping the egg to a soft, airy sponge, the whole process felt special. Once the warm cake soaked up the rich three milk mixture, it transformed into something magical. Each bite was unbelievably soft, moist, and truly melt-in-the-mouth. Sprinkle of cinnamon takes it to another level.

About Tres Leches Cake 

Tres leches cake, also known as a pan tres leches cake or three milk cake is one of the popular recipe from Mexico. Tres leches cake is made with a butter or sponge cake is soaked in three types of milk like evaporated milk, condensed milk, and heavy cream. Similar recipe made using three milk is this Mexican Flan.

Tres leches cake is a popular Latin American dessert and these recipes for soaked-cake were originated in Mexico. Tres leches cake means three milk cake where the word "tres" means three, "leches" means " milk". 

The cake used for Tres leches is a very light with lots of air bubbles so it absorbs the milk better. I like to use a dry no butter sponge cake for this tres leches cake. In some recipes egg yolk mixture and egg whites mixture is whipped separately before combining with dry ingredients. But the recipe which I use is easy to follow and quick to make. 

The three milk uses is evaporated milk, condensed milk, and heavy cream. I couldn't find evaporated milk, so I used whole milk instead. The cake turned out so good. This cake taste best when served cold, so store in refrigerator and enjoy cold.

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• Sponge Cake Recipe

This tres leches recipe is not at all hard. It is so easy to make. First you have to make a simple sponge cake, then soak the cake in a delicious three milk. Normally they use evaporated milk, condensed milk and cream for this. 

But I used full fat milk for this which gave that same texture and taste. This cake is best served cold with a dollop of fresh cream on top. And it is so rich a small slice satisfy your cravings.

Tres Leches Cake Ingredients

• Eggs - one of the main ingredient in making this cake. Egg is whipped using electric beater till frothy which makes the cake light and airy. 
• Sugar - you can use granulated sugar or castor sugar for the cake batter. Make sure to add little at a time.
• Vanilla - pure vanilla extract adds so much flavour to the cake. 
• Plain Flour - all purpose flour is used and swapping it for wheat flour can make the cake dense.
• Baking powder - a small amount of baking powder gives the lift to the cake. 
• Three Milk Used - The three milk uses is regular full fat milk, condensed milk, and heavy cream.

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Step by Step Pictures

Pre-Prep

1)Preheat oven to 160 degree C (340 degree F). Start by greasing a 20 cm square baking tray with oil and set aside.

Dry & Wet Ingredients

2)Take plain flour in a sieve, add in baking powder.

3)Add in salt.

4)Sieve this together so there is no lumps. I recommend to sieve it for 2 to 3 times.

4)Mix cold water with vanilla extract in a bowl and set aside.

Mixing Egg & Sugar

5)Take 2 eggs in a clean dry bowl and use an electric beater to whip this till foamy and frothy. The bowl has to be dry so eggs whip up better. If there is any water in the bowl then the eggs won't gets fluffy.

6)This step is important to incorporate air into the batter so the cake turns out fluffy.

7)Once the eggs get frothy and foamy. Start adding the sugar little at a time.

8)I like to add spoonful of sugar at a time while I whip it using electric beater simultaneously.

9)Add spoonful of sugar until you add all the ¾ cup of sugar.

10)Whip this sugar into the eggs. The eggs will get frothy.

Making Tres Leches Cake Batter

11)Now lets add the dry and wet ingredients in batches. Start with half of the dry ingredients into the frothy eggs.

12)Pour in all the wet ingredients (water and vanilla mix) into the eggs.

13)You can use a spatula to combine this or use the electric beater to mix it on low speed.

14)Once the first dry ingredients is combined into the batter, add the remaining half of the dry ingredients.

15)I like to switch to a spatula to mix the batter in the end so you don't end up over mixing. Now the batter is ready.

Baking the Cake

16)Pour the cake batter into the prepared cake pan. Spread evenly. Pop the cake pan in the middle rack of the preheated oven to bake.

17)After 30 to35 mins the cakes are baked. Remove the cake from oven and set aside while we make the three milk mixture.

Three Milk Mixture

18)Take milk, cream and sweetened condensed milk. These are your three milk mixture.

19)Use any cup of jug with a spout so it will be easy to pour over the cake. Take condensed milk in a jug.

20)Some recipe uses evaporated milk. If you have evaporated milk, use one can of it. I used regular full fat milk.

22)Add in the heavy cream.

23)Mix this really well. This is your three milk mixture which we will pour over the cake.

Preparing the Cake

24)Once the milk mixture is ready. Take your cake, use fork to make holes all over the cake.

24)These holes help the cake absorb the milk mixture better.

Soaking the Cake

25)Now pour the milk mixture slowly all over the cake.

26)You will see the cake absorb the milk mixture faster.

27)Once the first bit of milk is absorbed into the cake. Pour more milk over the cake.

28)Once the cake stop absorbing the milk a bit, cover the cake with plastic wrap and pop it into the fridge for 2 hours.

29)After 2 hours you will see the cake absorbed even more milk and it looks almost dry.

30)Pour more milk over the cake.

Serving

31)Cut the cake into pieces.

32)I whipped up some cream to serve with the tres leches cake.

33)Take a piece of cake on a serving plate.

34)Pipe the whipped cream over the cake piece. Alternatively you can spread the whipped cream all over the cake.

25)Pour over reserved milk mixture if you have any.

26)Decorate cake with a piece of cherry.

27)Serve tres leches cake cold.

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Expert Tips

• Electric beater is used for whipping. You can use whisk to whip, but it takes so much time and elbow grease.
• Make sure egg is whipped really well so the cake turns out fluffy.
• Pour the milk mixture over the cake slowly so it absorbs better.
• Resting the cake once milk is poured is important, so the cake absorbs better. 
• You can make extra milk mixture if you prefer serving the cake with more milk.

FAQ

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