Traditional Tres Leches Cake is one of my most favorite Mexican desserts. The cake is soaked in milk to create an extra ordinary cake eating experience!
This post is sponsored by Left Field Farms but the content and opinions expressed here are my own.
Have you ever tasted Tres Leches cake when dining in a Tex-Mex restaurant? A delicious, rich and soft sponge dunked in creamy milk, topped with dollop of cream. And fresh strawberries.
My mouth is watering as I type this! Eww!
But you know what I am talking about if you tried this cake. If not, this Mexican Cake is calling your name! I mean it
Traditional Tres leches cake ingredients
This cake is made with very simple ingredients like flour, eggs, sugar, milk and leaveners. Nothing innovative there!
- Cake Flour– To create a softer textured sponge
- Eggs– Separated, for lift
- Baking powder for leavening
- A splash of oil– For extra moisture and softness
- Some Sugar to sweeten the cake
- And we are using Left Field Farms clean label Creamer both in the cake and and in the milk mixture, along with Condensed milk to soak the cake.
This way you don’t even have to open an extra can of evaporated milk! 😀
And the result? A flavor rich, sweet and oh-so-refreshing cake. The Best Tres Leches Cake if you will!
Look for yourself!
How to make Tres leches cake
- Prepare a sponge cake by separating egg whites and beating them to soft peaks. Then incorporate the wet and dry ingredients to whites.
- Let the cake cool.
- Make a milk mixture by mixing condensed milk, creamer and full fat milk.
- Poke your cake with fork and pour milk mixture all over the cake.
- Spread with fresh whipped cream and chill.
Does Tres Leches cake need to be refrigerated?
The short answer is Yes! We want the sponge to soak up the milk and get even more softer and moister and yum! Also it is best served cold. 🙂
How long can Tres Leches cake sit out?
After you soak the cake in milk mixture and top it with whipped cream, store the cake in refrigerator only. You can keep the un-soaked sponge covered tightly at room temperature for upto 2 days.
Traditional Tres Leches Cake
Ingredients
Cake
- 75 Gms (10 Tbsp) Cake Flour
- 1 tsp Baking powder
- 1/8 tsp Salt
- 3 Eggs, seperated (room temperature)
- 1/2 Cup (100 gms) Sugar
- 2 Tbsp Oil
- 80 ml Creamer or full fat milk
For the Milk Mixture
- 10.5 Oz (3/4 Can) Sweetened Condensed Milk
- 1/4 Cup Left Field Farms Creamer (of choice)
- 3/4 Cup Milk (Full fat)
For Topping
- 1 Cup Whipping Cream (Full fat)
- 2 Tbsp Granulated Sugar
- 1/8 tsp Vanilla extract
- A few fresh Strawberries (to Serve)
Instructions
- 1. Preheat your oven to 320°F (160°C) and line a 6-inch square cake tin with parchment paper. Make sure all your ingredients are at room temperature.2. Add egg yolks + half of sugar to a mixing bowl and beat for a minute. Add oil, salt and milk to the bowl and mix in till everything gets combined well. 3. Now add in sifted cake flour and baking powder to the mixture and fold it in.4. In a separate clean and dry bowl, add egg whites (at room temperature only) and beat in for a minute or until frothy. Slowly keep on adding the remaining sugar and beating continuously until the egg whites form soft peaks. This will take around 5-6 minutes.5. Mix egg whites in the cake batter in three batches. And fold in using a spatula.6. Pour the mix in your lined cake tin and bake for 25-28 mins or until a tooth pick inserted in the center comes out clean.7. Invert the cake tin, as soon as you take it out of the oven and let it cool down completely. Poke the cake with a fork.
For the Milk Mixture:
1. Mix together condensed milk, milk and creamer in a medium mixing bowl until blended well and pour over cake.2. Cover and chill the cake in refrigerator for a minimum of 4 hours.For Whipped CreamTopping:1. Add sugar and vanilla to a mixing bowl and add in chilled whipping cream to it.2. With a hand mixer whip till it gets firm and stiff peaks form. Take care not to over whip the cream or else it may curdle.3. Spread over cake. Keep the cake refrigerated until ready to eat.4. Cut cake into slices and serve cold with fresh strawberries on top.
Notes
- You can substitute cake flour with all purpose flour if you desire, but cake flour produces the best texture.
- Do not skimp on the chilling time of this cake. Tres leches tastes best when all the milk gets soaked up. So always prepare the sponge ahead of time.
- You can store the unsoaked sponge at room temperature for 2 days, or even freeze it for 2 months. Thaw before soaking.
- Milk soaked and cream topped Tres Leches cake is stored in refrigerator for 3-4 days but it tastes best when consumed with in 2 days.
Nutrition
Slightly adapted from FoodNetwork.com
I’ve actually never had this cake at a Mexican Restaurant but it looks delish! Love the ingredients and the step-by-step instructions are helpful! This cake is right up my alley!!
I’ve never had Tres Leches cake before but reading about it I can see where I’ve really been missing out. The cake soaked with milk would definitely be moist and flavorful. I’m saving this recipe to make this coming weekend. I know the family would love it.
I have never had this type of cake, but that will be changing real soon, it looks delicious!
Yummm this looks incredibly delicious! I’ll be making a cake this weekend for a mothers day bbq and this one looks perfect. Thanks for sharing!
Neha, this looks really very delicious and easy! Loved the recipe.
Love everything about this cake!
I have always wanted to make a tres leches cake!! I love the look of yours so milky and beautiful. I can’t wait to make the recipe.
Thank you so much for sharing.
Julie
Yep, I need this cake asap!! Dessert for next Taco Tuesday for sure!!
This cake looks amazing, so moist and delicious! I can’t believe I’ve never made it, but you’ve convinced me to!
This cake sounds and looks so refreshing! I love the simplicity of the recipe. I bet you could top it with just about anything and it’d be delicious!
This cake looks so light and moist! I love tres leches…wishing for a slice right now ^_^
I have never made a tres leches cake, but a friend made one for me and I can’t get enough! This looks amazing!
I’ve never tried a tres leches cake before but this sounds scrumptious! I love that it’s supposed to be served chilled too, because that is really the best kind of cake IMO.
Have tried it before and honestly mouth melting and too delicious. Will plan this recipe too for my next celebration with family. They to relish it all.
Oh, my gosh! Look at the texture of this cake! It’s perfect! And it’s a great idea to put the creamer in the cake.
Using creamer is such a clever idea, I love the simplicity of this really yummy cake.
Oh wow, I can see a weekend coming up where I need to make this cake! I love that it looks fluffy and light. We should all eat more cake I think!!
I had never made Tres Leches Cake before and was always a bit intimidated by the name, but I cant believe how easy it is to actually make! Cannot wait to try it 🙂
I tried tres leches once in a Mexican restaurant for dessert and loved it. I’m going to bookmark this and give your recipe a try. 🙂
This cake looks perfect! Thank you for sharing, can’t wait to make it soon!