The Best Tres Leches Cake

Tres leches cakes is one of my favorites of all times, and, it’s probably the one I’ve made the most in my life. I polished my recipe for years, and I came up with this fluffy, delicate sponge cake, which I soak with a mixture of evaporated milk, whipping cream, and condensed milk. It’s a simple dessert, great for any occasion. Today I’m sharing two presentations I really love for tres leches cake. One is topped with Chantilly cream, berries and fresh flowers. The other one is decorated with Chantilly cream and dulce de leche.

How to make evaporated milk

I’ve made my own evaporated milk for years before moving to Canada. This is my one-step recipe: For making 400g of evaporated milk, place 800 ml of whole milk in a saucepan and bring it to low heat. Let it simmer, mixing occasionally, until you see that the milk has reduced by half. It can be measured by pouring the milk into a measuring cup or weighing it out, until the milk reaches 400g/ml.

Decoration ideas for Tres Leches Cake

• Chantilly cream, fresh berries and flowers: I used a piping bag with a star tip to pipe a moon shape on top of the cake, and added fresh strawberries and flowers. Fresh berries go really well with tres leches cake! See more details in the recipe box.
• Chantilly cream and dulce de leche: I used a a piping bag with a star tip to pipe chantilly cream blobs, and a round tip to make dulce de leche blobs. I love this decoration for a fall or winter version. See more details in the recipe box.
• Toasted Meringue: A sweet tooth option is to cover the cake with Swiss or Italian meringue, making a rough decoration with a spatula, and then burn it using a torch.

Tres Leches Cake conservation

Keep the cake refrigerated for up to a week, covered with plastic wrap or a cake dome. Tres leches cake can be frozen but I would recommend serving it fresh.

Baker’s tips

1) Bake on the serving dish to contain the liquid that could drip off the sponge cake. If you prefer to unmold the dessert, it is better to do it on a plate with a shallow rim, to contain the excess liquid.
2) Use a ladle or a pitcher to soak the cake. Both work fine, just keep in mind to pour the liquid evenly through the center and edges of the cake.
3) Bake and soak the cake a day ahead. That way the cake absorbs the liquids completely and the flavors set. It can be stored wrapped in plastic and decorated the day you’ll serve it.

Print Recipe

No ratings yet

The Best Tres Leches Cake

Tres leches Cake is a soft and fluffy sponge soaked in the most delicious mixture of condensed milk, evaporated milk and whipping cream. Top this cake with whipped cream and strawberries. Or add dulce de leche to take it to the next level. This Mexican dessert is the best for dairy lovers!

Prep Time45 minutes mins

Cook Time30 minutes mins

Cooling time4 hours hrs

Total Time5 hours hrs 15 minutes mins

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: Mexican

Keyword: Chantilly Cream, Condensed milk, dulce de leche, Evaporated milk, strawberries, sweet, tres leches

Servings: 12 slices

Author: Lucia Paula Acevedo

Equipment

• 8 inch round cake pan

Ingredients

Cake:

• 130 g Granulated Sugar
• 6 yolks
• 3 eggs
• 2 tsp Vanilla extract
• 150 g All Purpose Flour
• 5 g baking powder
• 100 g unsalted butter

Tres leches mixture:

• 400 g condensed milk
• 400 g evaporated milk
• 300 g heavy cream

Decoration 1: Dulce de leche

• 300 g heavy cream
• 2 tbsp icing sugar
• 150 g Dulce de leche

Decoration 2: Strawberries

• 300 g heavy cream
• 2 tbsp icing sugar
• 2 cups strawberries
• edible flowers

Instructions

• On a mixer with the whisk attachment on, beat the eggs and yolks together with the sugar and vanilla until reaching ribbon stage: when lifting the whisk attachment, the batter should fall forming ribbon-like trails that will remain visible on the batter for several seconds.
• Sift the flour and baking powder and add to the batter in three parts, folding gently with a spatula or hand whisk until the flour is completely incorporated.
• Melt the butter and add to the mixture, folding in gently but quickly so that the batter doesn’t sink.
• Pour the mixture into a buttered pan (I prefer to bake this dessert in the same dish where I am going to serve it). Bake in a preheated oven at 355° F for 25-30 minutes, until golden brown. To know if it is ready, gently press the top of the cake, if it springs back, it's ready. If the indentation remains, give it a little more time.
• Remove from the oven and poke with a fork several times and let cool before soaking with the milk mixture.
• For the tres leches mixture, mix all the ingredients until they are combined and pour it slowly over the entire surface of the cake, until completely soaked. Let rest for four hours or overnight before decorating so that the milk mixture has finished settling.

Decoration 1: Dulce de leche

• For making chantilly cream, mix the heavy cream with the icing sugar at medium speed until getting stiff peaks. I recommend previously chilling the bowl and whisk for a better result. You can also sweeten it with a little sugar.
• Use a piping bag with a wilton 6B tip and pipe chantilly cream blobs on the cake. Use another piping bag with an 8 or 10mm round tip to pipe the dulce de leche in between the cream.

Decoration 2: strawberries

• For making chantilly cream, mix the heavy cream with the icing sugar at medium speed until getting stiff peaks. I recommend previously chilling the bowl and whisk for a better result. You can also sweeten it with a little sugar.
• Cover a cake with a thin layer of chantilly cream. With the rest of the cream, pipe chantilly cream blobs on the cake, following a moon shape. Use a piping bag with a wilton 6B tip. Add strawberries cut in half and fresh flowers to finish up.