Tres Leches Cake
Tres Leches Cake is a dessert cake which is very popular in central and south America and has spread to various other countries all over the world . The name literally means 3 milk cake. This is because it is a sponge cake soaked wit 3 different types pf milk. In reality though, this rich cake has 5 types of milk and cream in it (Milk, Evaporated Milk, Condensed Milk, Coconut Milk and Whipping Cream). It is very soft and literally melts in your mouth. In spite of the large quantity of milk used to make this cake, it does not taste milky. It is the perfect dessert cake for any occasion and has grown to be one of my favorite cakes.
INGREDIENTS:
Sponge Cake:
(1) 5 Large Eggs (See Note 1)
(2) 130 Grams All Purpose Flour (1 Cup)
(3) 1-1/2 Teaspoon Baking Powder
(4) 1/4 Teaspoon Salt
(5) 200 Grams Granulated White Sugar (1 Cup) (See Note 2)
(6) 1/3 Cup Milk (Whole or Reduced Fat)
(7) 1/2 Teaspoon Cream of Tartar (Optional)
(8) 1 Teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract
Tres Leches Mixture:
(1) 1 (14 Ounce) Can Sweetened Condensed Milk (1-3/4 Cups)
(2) 2/3 Cup Evaporated Milk
(3) 1/2 Cup Coconut Milk (See Note 3)
(4) 1 Tablespoon Rum (Optional)
Frosting (whipped Cream Frosting):
(1) 2 Cups Whipping Cream
(2) 3 Tablespoons Icing/Confectioners Sugar
(3) 1 Teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract
Topping (Optional):
(1) Toasted Coconut Flakes
(2) Maraschino Cherries
NOTES:
(1) Separate the egg whites and yolks. Place the yolks in the bowl of your stand mixer and place the whites in a clean bowl. If you have 2 mixing bowls, place the whites in the second mixing bowl. Cover the eggs and allow them to come to room temperature.
(2) Take out 2 tablespoons from the sugar and save that to be used when beating the egg whites.
(3) In place of coconut milk you can use whipping cream.
PROCEDURE:
(1) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
(2) Grease a 9 inch square cake pan, coat the sides of the greased pan with flour and line the bottom with parchment paper. In place of a 9 inch square pan, you can use a 9 inch round pan with high sides or a 9 x 13 rectangular pan.
(3) In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.
(4) In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, place the egg yolks and sugar (minus 2 tablespoons) and beat at high speed until the mixture becomes thick and falls back into the bowl in a ribbon when lifted. This could take anywhere between 5 and 8 minutes depending on how warm your eggs are and the speed at which you beat them.
(5) Next, add the vanilla extract and beat to incorporate. Set the mixture aside.
(6) In another mixing bowl fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites at high speed until they start to form. If using cream of tartar, pour it in now. With the mixer still running, add the sugar bits at a time and beat the egg whites until medium peaks form.
(7) Back to the beaten egg yolks. Add half of the flour to the egg yolks and fold it in gently. Be careful not to deflate the egg yolks while folding in the flour. Next, add the milk and fold in. Lastly add the remaining flour and fold in.
(8) Take a third of the beaten egg whites and fold gently into the batter. Add the remaining egg whites in 2 additions and fold in gently. The batter will be light, airy and silky like any sponge cake batter should be.
(9) Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan and bake in the preheated oven for 30 – 35 minutes or until a tester inserted into the sponge comes out clean. Remove the cake and place it on the wire rack to cool for 10 minutes before pouring in the tres leches mixture. The sponge will shrink while cooling, this is normal and do not panic.
(10) While the sponge is cooling, mix the 3 milks together with the rum if using to create the tres leches mixture
(11) Using a wooden skewer, poke holes in the sponge. After 10 minutes of cooling, pour in all the tres leches mixture a bit at a time waiting for the sponge to absorb most of the liquid before pouring more in. Do not worry about the cake becoming soggy, it wont. The tres leches mixture might look like a lot but the sponge will soak it all up.
(12) Allow the cake to cool down completely, cover the pan with cling film and place it in the fridge for at least 5 hours, preferably overnight.
(13) To decorate, make the whipped cream frosting by beating the whipping cream, vanilla extract and icing sugar together. For a more detail discussion on how to make whipped cream frosting, please click on this link.
(14) Decorate the cake. If you want the easy way out, top the cake with the whipped cream frosting while still in the pan and serve family style in slices when ready. If doing this, you might need to reduce the whipped cream recipe by half.
(15) To decorate the cake out of the pan, flip the cake onto your serving platter and peel off the parchment paper. Frost the cake with the whipped cream frosting. I decided to run an icing comb around the sides of the cake to create a pattern. I also used a knife to segment the top of the cake into 9 parts and pipped a border around the top edge of the cake. This cake can actually feed up to 20 people as 2 people had to share each segment.
(16) Finish the cake with cherries and serve with toasted coconut flakes. Cake should always be stored in the fridge. It is best consumed within a couple of days of baking. Happy baking.
Terry Adido is passionate about showing people how easy it is to recreate restaurant quality meals in the comfort of their kitchens. With a style of cooking he refers to as Afro-European Fusion, his meals are influenced greatly by French and Italian Cuisine with a West African twist. If you love good food, you are in for the ride of your life.
Tanks so so terry you re kindhearted to put up this tutorials,God bless you.pls can dis cake b cover with fondant?,and pls how does whipped cream nd coconut milk looks like,nd can any tpye of evaporated milk be used,infact pls if u don’t mind can u help with d prouduct name for d milk to use.tanks God bless ur hand work.
You are welcome. (1) No, please dont cover with fondant. (2) whipped cream and coconut milk look like milk. (3) Any brand of evaporated milk will work. (4) Just walk into any store and pick out any of the products available. You can ask the store attendants to direct you to the appropriate section of the store. All the best.
Thanks Terry. I will try this soon.
You are welcome.
Thanks so much Terry. Please are there substitutes for whipping cream?
I wanna say no as the whipped cream frosting compliments this cake perfectly. However, if you cant find it, I’d suggest using a cream cheese frosting or buttercream as a last resort. My coconut rum frosting will also be great here due to the use of coconut in the recipe. You could also pour some dulce de leche over it.
Thanks so much for all your lovely tutorials. God bless u.
You are welcome.
Tnx terry
You are welcome.
Pls is your outlet in lagos
I’m based in Edmonton, Canada.
Thanks Terry for the tutorial.i observed that there is no butter in the sponge cake recipe.Is it because the quantity of milk used?
Yes there is no butter. This makes the sponge dry and have large air holes. This is what helps is soak up all the milk you pour on it.
Ok..thanks for clarifying
Terry thanks for sharing this recipe with us, pls as where am staying in Nigeria Whipping cream is very scarce, i need to know if there is any subtitute to it (i mean the whipping cream) and if yes pls i will like to know. I really need to try this, i’ve been following your recipes and i can’t afford to miss this very one. Thanks and remain blessed.
Thanks. I wanna say no as the whipped cream frosting compliments this cake perfectly. However, if you cant find it, I’d suggest using a cream cheese frosting or buttercream as a last resort. My coconut rum frosting will also be great here due to the use of coconut in the recipe. You could also pour some dulce de leche over it.
Tank u terry I luv ur work
Thanks Stella.
So happy to be a part of this blog. Thank you Terry for all the detailed tutorials you give here.
Am sure going to try this out.
Thanks Bolanle. You will love it.
I love your work Terry, thank you so much for the tutorial. Pls do you train people who are interested?
Thanks Rekiyat. No I do not train people.
Tnx Terry for this recipe, pls if I want to do 2 9in pans is it OK to double d recipe or shud I less anyone? Tnx nd God bless u
Yes you could double the recipe. Note however that some milk will sip from the cakes if any pressure is exerted on them. Keep this in mind if you intend to stack the two tiers on each other.
Keep up the good work
Thanks Gloria.
Thanks so much terry,may God bless u,so glad I joined dis blog.cant wait 2try dis recipes I noticed u dnt use preservatives 2 ur cakes,why pls?n secondly hw many days can d cake last b4 fermenting? Tnks terry
Thanks. No I do not use preservatives in my cakes. If by fermenting you mean it’s self life, I wont keep it beyond 5 days in the fridge because of the high milk content.
Thanks for your detailed recipe as always.
You are welcome.
So I went on a baking rampage I baked this cake, coconut sponge cake and the French vanilla cake. I had guest over for my husband’s birthday and they all couldnt have enough. They couldn’t place their hands on what I used as a filling for the coconut cake ( lemon curd) . You know our Nigerian pallete is not used to “orishirishi” in cakes. My husband had to hide some cake in order to eat later. The bottom line is the cakes were awesome. Thanks Terry.
You are welcome. Such a great feedback. Good job.
Please is there any substitute for the rum or wines you usually include in some of your recipe? We don’t use wine or can any fruit wine be use as a substitute please?
Please see my previous response to this same question of yours on the Basque chicken post.
Can fruit wine be substituted please?
There is no wine in this recipe. I do not quite get your question.
Love your tutorials, now addicted to your website. will try the cakes to add variety to my cake menu. Thank you, God bless!
Thanks Anna. Thanks for your message.
Hi terry, lovely recipe. Can this cake be kept out of the fridge for an hour before serving or should it be be kept in the fridge until ready to serve. Thanks
Thanks Hanah. It can be kept out for an hour.
Glad I found you!
Glad to have you here Norma.
What tip did you use to tip the border?
Also, it won’t spill out on the bottom if you make the way you have pictured?
Hi. (1) Wilton 1M (2) No. Mine did not spill.
Hi terry – this looks awesome! Any time I’ve tried baking a tres leches cake, it rises beautifully but then sinks a great deal. Some recipes warn you about it. Was wondering if yours also experiences some shrinkage on cooling?
Hi Meheen. I do experience shrinkage. That is pretty normal as you mentioned. It i however not so much as to affect the presentation of the cake. Simply fill up voids with the whipped cream frosting.
Thank you so much for this recipe Terry. I’d like to ask though, did segmenting the top of the cake with a knife not leave ruler marks on the cake?
Sorry, I do not understand your question.