Tres Leches Cake
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My Tres Leches Cake is designed to be soft, perfectly moist, and NOT soggy! It’s made with a homemade vanilla cake soaked in three milks and topped with whipped cream. You’ll be amazed at how incredible this tastes! Recipe includes a how-to video.
The Best Tres Leches Cake Recipe
Tres leches cake or “Three Milks” cake should be soft, moist, and super flavorful. My recipe checks every box, with a fluffy vanilla sponge cake soaked in three different types of milk and topped with whipped cream. With all that liquid, it’s easy to assume this cake would be soggy–but don’t worry, my recipe has been tested and perfected to be perfectly balanced and NOT soggy!
This is a cake that took me a long time to get just right. Because we’ll be drenching it with a mixture of milks, the base of this cake is critical (and is what took me the longest to perfect).
It needs to be light and airy, but sturdy enough that it doesn’t become a soupy mess. Pound cake is too dense, and classic vanilla cake disintegrates. Ultimately, a variation of my grandmother’s hot milk cake did the trick, and while the cake ingredients are almost identical, you’ll notice the technique is quite different (as is the resulting cake!). You’re going to love it!
What You Need
Here are the key ingredients in my recipe. Some of them may surprise you!
- Eggs. We’ll be using both the egg whites and yolks, but you’ll need to separate them first. Whipping the egg whites adds airiness to the cake without making it so delicate that it dissolves from the moisture of our three milks.
- Butter. Many tres leches cakes do not use butter, but after a lot of testing I’m firmly standing by this version. It produces a light but wonderfully flavorful cake that’s spongy, but sturdy enough to absorb all of the milk.
- Flour. I use all-purpose flour. Cake flour could be substituted if done properly.
- Milks. Precisely three of them. We’ll be using condensed milk, evaporated milk, and heavy cream along with just a drop of vanilla extract for our three milks. We’ll also need whole milk for the cake itself.
- Heavy cream. Some recipes use a third milk for the tres leches mixture, but I actually prefer heavy cream. It creates a perfect consistency and doesn’t make the cake soggy or soupy.
SAM’S TIP: I like to top off my cake with a sprinkle of cinnamon (freshly ground, if you have it!), but this is optional.
Remember, this is just an overview of the ingredients I used and why. For the full recipe please scroll down to the bottom of the post!
How to Make It
- Whip the egg whites and 1 cup of sugar to stiff peaks, then set this aside.
- Beat together the butter and remaining 1 cup of sugar until creamy, then stir in the egg yolks and vanilla extract.
- Whisk together dry ingredients, then alternate stirring the whole milk and dry ingredients into your into egg yolk mixture.
- Gently fold in egg whites, then pour into a prepared pan and bake for 35-40 minutes.
- Let the cake cool for an hour, poke holes all over, and slowly drizzle with the three milks mixture.
- Cover and chill for a few hours or overnight before frosting with whipped cream and serving.
SAM’S TIP: If you’ve never whipped egg whites to stiff peaks before, it simply means that the egg whites don’t fold over or fall back into themselves when you pull your whisk straight out of the mixture. If you’ve made my meringues or white cake you’ve done this before! For a visual, check out my video below.
With most of my cakes I encourage you to play around with different frostings on top, but not so with today’s recipe. You need something light that pairs well with the milks-drenched cake and the whipped cream frosting is a classic for a reason!
Frequently Asked Questions
The true origins of this cake are actually widely disputed. Many Latin American countries have been named as possible points of origin, and some sources even cite Nestle as perpetuating this milk-heavy recipe as a way to sell more of their condensed and evaporated milk (a delicious marketing ploy, if you ask me).
Kind of. I don’t recommend freezing the cake after you’ve soaked it in the milk mixture. However, if you’d like to make this cake in advance you can bake the cake, cool it completely, and then tightly wrap it and freeze as you would any other cake.
Several hours to 1 day before you are ready to serve, thaw the cake and then follow the instructions in the recipe for drenching with milk and topping with whipped cream.
Traditionally this cake is made with evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk, and whole milk. However, I found that using whole milk tends to make the cake a bit more soggy than is desirable, so for my tres leches cake recipe I use heavy cream instead.
This cake would be a great dessert after enjoying some taco salad or chips and queso!
Enjoy!
Let’s bake together! I’ll be walking you through all the steps in my written recipe and video below! If you try this recipe, be sure to tag me on Instagram, and you can also find me on YouTube and Facebook
Tres Leches Cake Recipe
Ingredients
- 5 large eggs, whites and yolks separated
- ½ cup (113 g) butter, softened
- 2 cups (400 g) granulated sugar, divided
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 cups (250 g) all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (235 ml) milk
LECHES TOPPING
- 14 oz (397 g) sweetened condensed milk
- 12 oz (340 g) evaporated milk
- ½ cup (118 ml) heavy cream
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
WHIPPED CREAM
- 1 ½ cups (355 ml) heavy cream
- ½ cup (65 g) powdered sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- Ground cinnamon for sprinkling, optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F (175C) and spray a 9×13 glass baking dish with baking spray. Set aside.
- Place egg whites in a large bowl or in the bowl of a stand mixer and use an electric mixer or your stand mixer’s whisk attachment to beat until foamy. Gradually increase mixer speed to medium-high and add just 1 cup (200g) of sugar, adding about 2 Tablespoons at a time and allowing about 10 seconds after each addition. Increase mixer speed to high and beat until egg white mixture is thick and glossy and you achieve stiff peaks¹ (much like you are making a meringue).5 large eggs
- If you used a stand mixer, scoop egg whites into a separate clean bowl and set aside and carry on using the same bowl for the next step (no need to clean the bowl). If you used an electric hand mixer, just grab a new bowl at this point.
- Place softened butter and remaining 1 cup (200g) of sugar in bowl. Beat until creamy and well-combined.½ cup (113 g) butter
- Add egg yolks, one at a time, stirring after each addition.
- Stir in vanilla extract.1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.2 cups (250 g) all-purpose flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder, 1 teaspoon salt
- Using a spatula and stirring by hand, alternate adding milk and flour mixture to your egg yolk mixture (I usually do this in about 4 parts, about ¼ cup of the milk at a time and ¼ of the flour mixture at a time).1 cup (235 ml) milk
- Once milk and flour have been stirred into egg yolk mixture, grab your egg white meringue from earlier and use a spatula to gently fold meringue into batter. Make sure it is completely combined and no white spots of egg remain, but use a gentle hand to not deflate the egg whites or over-mix the batter or you'll have a dense cake.
- Spread batter evenly into prepared 9×13 pan and transfer to 350F (175C) oven and bake for 35-40 minutes.
- Once cake has finished baking, allow to cool for about 30-60 minutes.
LECHES TOPPING
- Once cake has cooled (do not invert it, leave it in the cake pan), prepare topping by whisking together condensed milk, evaporated milk, heavy cream, and vanilla extract.14 oz (397 g) sweetened condensed milk, 12 oz (340 g) evaporated milk, ½ cup (118 ml) heavy cream, ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- Use a large fork or a wooden skewer to poke holes all over the cake (poke down to the bottom of the cake pan). Pour milk mixture slowly and evenly over cake. Cover and transfer cake to refrigerator and allow to chill for at least several hours or overnight.
- Once ready to serve, prepare whipped cream:
WHIPPED CREAM
- Combine heavy cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract in a large bowl and use an electric mixer to beat until thickened and you achieve stiff peaks and a Cool Whip consistency.1 ½ cups (355 ml) heavy cream, ½ cup (65 g) powdered sugar, ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- Spread whipped cream over tres leches cake and sprinkle with ground cinnamon, if desired.Ground cinnamon for sprinkling
- Slice and serve! Enjoy!
Notes
¹Stiff Peaks
Stiff peaks simply means that if you lift the beater straight out of the batter, the peak that forms will not recede back or melt back into itself. It should hold a tall, stiff peak, and if you turn the beater upside down the peak that has formed on the end of it should hold its shape as well. See photo in post or video for visual!How to Store
Store Tres Leches cake covered in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like this? Leave a comment below!
Related Recipes
Recipe originally published September 2019, it has been updated to include more information but the recipe is unchanged.
I made this cake for my mom’s birthday and everyone loved it. It tasted absolutely amazing.
Question for next time: When I poked holes in the cake, big chunks of the cake came out with the fork (not at all the type of holes in your video/post). Although a frustrating issue to work around, it luckily ended up being an aesthetic issue that the whipped cream covered up. However, I do wonder what the cause might have been. Is that a sign the cake need to cool longer?
Hi Sarah! I’m sorry to hear about the chunks of cake coming out. I’m wondering if it was slightly underbaked. If you tried to do it when the cake was too hot it may not have finished baking completely and that could cause your issue. 🙁
Just made it and it’s AMAZING! My visiting family is going to town on it as we speaj. 🤣Unfortunately no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t get the “stiff peaks”, so my cake ended up more of a fluffier traditional cake than a light spongey one, but still it still tastes amazing! I highly recommend learning how to successfully make those “stiff peaks” (it’s an art) to make the optimal cake, which I plan on learning to repeat the recipe. Regardless, it tastes so good.
Oh no! Could it be that your bowl was contaminated with grease or egg yolk? Even the tiniest bit can prevent the whites from reaching stiff peaks. We’re happy it was still a hit regardless though 😊
Hi, a trick I learned is to use a metal bowl (mine is from the Kitchen aid mixer) and to place the beaters and bowl in the freezer. It has never failed me plus it seems to speed up the process.
My family loved it. Baked and served today. Instant hit. Thank you so much
I made it yesterday and had it today and it came out perfectly. Not soggy and so delicious.
I couldnt find evaporated milk in the supermarket so I made it from myself which is not difficult, just takes a lot of time to prepare.
Thank you so much for the recipe.
Hi Sam,
I cant wait to make this cake, however I cannot find evaporated milk anywhere.
Is there a decent substitute I can use?
Hi Yasmin! You can either evaporate regular milk yourself (cook it down on the stove by adding 2.5 cups into a saucepan and simmering it until it is reduced to 1.5 cups) or substitute an equal amount of half and half (the flavor will be different though). Hope that helps!
Hi there , I was wondering if I could use this recipe for 5×3 mini pans . Can I make one batch of tres leches batter and pour it into those size pans to make mini cakes and everything will be okay ?
Hi there! This recipe makes about 10 cups of batter. You can use this to determine if your pans will work (we estimate you’d end up filling 5 pans of that size). The bake time will be different, so you’ll need to keep an eye on them 😊
I’ve made your recipe several times! It is my go to cake when I have company! We love it!!!
We love hearing that, Rita! ❤️❤️
Felt compelled to leave a review because this cake was just so delicious. Everyone that tried it had a second serving. Not too sweet, and the texture is just right. All the milk soaked in well and it didn’t feel soggy or dense. Really glad I followed this recipe.
I added mixed berries over the whipped cream instead of cinnamon, very refreshing.
We appreciate you coming back to leave a review, Vic! So happy it turned out so well for you ☺️
Could this be made in large cupcakes? I know baking time will vary but sometimes cake recipes bake differently when they made into cupcakes without adjustments
Thank you
Honestly I haven’t tried it so I can’t say for sure how it would turn out. 🙁
Hi, I don’t have heavy cream, can I use whole milk instead?
Hi Miriam! I think it could work, my only concern is that the milk could make the cake a little bit soggier than it should be. 🙁
That really helps! I will wait until I have the heavy cream. I want it to be perfect!
Being from South Texas, Tres Leches is a dessert often found in restaurants and in local bakeries. I have always loved this dessert but had failed at making cakes until I found your site. Everyone who has tried “my” Tres Leches says it is the best they have ever had, and I agree. Thanks for the wonderful recipe and directions that helped me overcome my fear of baking cakes from scratch!
Thanks for your review, Robin! We’re so happy our recipes have inspired you…homemade is always best! ❤
Wow!!!’ This is delicious! I always hesitate with Tres Leches because I often find it too soggy, but this was not! Light, fluffy, and the perfect amount of milks. I baked it with my niece and she wanted to stack them and add strawberries in the middle. So perfect!
We’re so happy our recipe was a hit for you, Theresa! Thanks for giving it a shot and coming back to leave a review ❤
My mother-in-law loved it so much that she asked if there was still more cake left. Very delicious! Thank you guys for sharing the recipe.
Theresa,
How did you go about stacking without them falling apart? And what size pans did you use? Would love stacking tips.
Ty!
Pretty good. Nah, really good. I halved the recipe as a rest batch. Rather sweet, next time I’d reduce the condensed milk in the milk mixture and the sugar in the frosting.
Additional note: My brother found it was too “damp,” so will reduce the overall milk mixture as well. I didn’t find it soggy, but very almost excessively moist
I’ve been beating the egg whites and sugar for about 2hrs!!!
I’m so sorry this happened, Megan! I wonder if your bowl maybe had a little moisture, or was maybe a little greasy, or somehow you got a little bit of egg yolk in the egg whites. That’s a little too long for them to not come to stiff peaks. 🙁
Hello dear ..
Can the amount of sugar be reduced?!
I made it the texture is to die for .. but it just too sweet for us .
Hi Doha! I haven’t tried reducing the sugars. I suppose you could a bit, but I can’t say exactly for sure how much you could reduce it.
Amazing recipe, I made it many times and everyone loves it. Thank you!!
We’re so happy its a hit for you! Thanks so much for your review ♥