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The BEST authentic homemade Tres Leches Cake. An ultra light cake soaked in a sweet milk mixture and topped with fresh whipped cream and cinnamon. This simple Mexican dessert is one of our favorites!
Want more dessert recipes? Try my Sticky Toffee Pudding, Chocolate Mug Cake, Key Lime Pie, or Apple Crisp!
Every person in my family would rank Tres Leches Cake in our top favorites of all time! I love that it's not overly sweet, it's super easy to make, I can make it in advance, and its absolutely delicious! We make it really often, especially when we're having a bunch of other Mexican food favorites to serve with it.
What is Tres Leches?
Tres leches literally means, “three milks” and Tres Leches Cake is an ultra light sponge cake soaked in a sweet milk mixture. It's popular in Mexico and Latin America and throughout the United States as it's often available at Mexican restaurants.
The cake is similar to an angel food cake. The whipped egg whites in the batter make it extra light and spongy. After baking the cake you poke holes in it with a fork and pour three types of milk over the top–evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk, and whole milk–hence the name “tres leches”.
How to Make Tres Leches Cake:
- In a medium bowl combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Separate the eggs into two other mixing bowls.
- Add ¾ cup sugar to the bowl with the egg yolks and mix on high speed until yolks are pale yellow. Add ⅓ cup milk and vanilla and stir to combine. Pour the egg yolk mixture over the flour mixture and stir gently just until combined (don't over-mix).
- Use electric beaters to beat the egg whites on high speed. As the begin to whip into stiff peaks, gradually mix in the remaining ¼ cup of sugar. Fold the stiffly beaten egg whites into the batter gently, scraping the bottom and sides of the bowl, until combined.
- Pour batter into pan and smooth it into an even layer. Bake for 25 to 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Remove from the oven and allow cake to cool completely.
- Combine the evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk, and whole milk in a small bowl. Once the cake has cooled use a fork to poke holes all over the top of the cake.
- Slowly pour the milk mixture over the the top of the cake, making sure to pour near the edges and all around. Refrigerate the cake for at least 1 hour or overnight, to allow it to soak up the milk.
- In the meantime, whip the heavy cream, sugar and vanilla until stiff peaks. Smooth over the top of the cake.
- Serve with a sprinkle of cinnamon on top, and fresh sliced strawberries, if desired. Store Tres Leches Cake in the refrigerator, covered, for 3-5 days.
Make Ahead and Freezing Instructions:
You can make Tres leches cake 1-2 days in advance. In fact, I love to make this cake the night before so that the cake has a lot of time to soak up the milk mixture.
No oil or butter in the cake?
That's right, this Tres Leches Cake is NOT made with butter or oil. The egg whites are the main leavening agent that give it a sponge cake texture, and the three milks poured on top get absorbed by the cake, making it moist without the need of oil or butter.
Serve Tres Leches with:
- Cheese Enchiladas
- Elote
- Authentic Mexican Rice
- Refried Beans
- Horchata
- or any of my other popular Mexican Recipes!
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Tres Leches Cake
Equipment
Ingredients
Cake:
- 1 cup all-purpose flour, (120 g)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder, (6 g)
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 5 large eggs, , separated
- 1 cup granulated sugar, , divided (200 g)
- 1/3 cup whole milk, (80 ml)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, (5 ml)
Milk Mixture:
- 12 ounce can evaporated milk, (354 ml)
- 14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk, (396 ml)
- 1/4 cup whole milk, (60 ml)
Whipped Topping:
- 1 pint heavy whipping cream, (475 ml)
- 3 Tablespoons powdered sugar, (24 g)
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract, (2.5 ml)
- ground cinnamon, , for topping
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- In a medium bowl combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Separate the eggs into two other mixing bowls.
- Add ¾ cup sugar to the bowl with the egg yolks and mix on high speed until yolks are pale yellow. Add ⅓ cup milk and vanilla and stir to combine. Pour the egg yolk mixture over the flour mixture and stir gently just until combined (don't over-mix).
- Use electric beaters to beat the egg whites on high speed. As the begin to whip into stiff peaks, gradually mix in the remaining ¼ cup of sugar. Fold the stiffly beaten egg whites into the batter gently, scraping the bottom and sides of the bowl, until combined.
- Pour batter into un-greased pan and smooth it into an even layer. Bake for 25 to 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Remove from the oven and allow cake to cool completely.
- Combine the evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk, and whole milk in a small bowl. Once the cake has cooled use a fork to poke holes all over the top of the cake.
- Slowly pour the milk mixture over the the top of the cake, making sure to pour near the edges and all around. Refrigerate the cake for at least 1 hour or overnight, to allow it to soak up the milk.
- In the meantime, whip the heavy cream, sugar and vanilla until stiff peaks. Smooth over the top of the cake. Sprinkle cinnamon on top. Serve with fresh sliced strawberries, if desired. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Have you tried this recipe?!
RATE and COMMENT below! I would love to hear your experience.
I originally shared this recipe May 2015. Updated April 2017 and May 2021.
Recipe adapted from The Pioneer Woman.
Process photos by Nikole of The Travel Palate
I have made this a few times and everyone LOVES it! Now I am asked to bring it to gatherings, and it is requested for every birthday and even Christmas! I came on here to get the recipe because our exchange student from Germany wants it for her birthday tomorrow and my daughter wants it for her birthday next week!
I had two different people tell me this was the best Tres Leches Cake they’ve ever had. One of those people went further and said it’s the best cake they’ve ever had. Needless to say, this was a hit!
I love this cake! 😋
My kids LOVE this cake.
The best cake I’ve ever had in my life. My family is always asking when I’ll make again! I’m back on here cause making it AGAIN just thought I’d leave a comment as well.
Not gonna lie, I was very skeptical when the cake came out of the oven as it was looking very thin and a little over baked. But I stayed the course and I brought the cake in for my team’s monthly birthday celebration and it’s literally the top of the entire office. We have a very diverse Latin team and everybody thought the cake was absolutely delicious.
This cake is so so good omg. Never had a tres leches cake before making it and now it’s my new favourite dessert.
My 6 year old son who only eats chocolate cake proclaimed this was the best cake in the world and is begging to have it for his upcoming birthday and my 3 year old daughter, who usually just eats frosting off cake, literally inhaled her slice. Suffice to say, this was a huge hit!
This was my first time using the whipped egg white method for cakes, so I was nervous, but it was way easier than I expected! Overall it was a very easy and effective recipe. I will definitely be making it again.
I’m not Mexican, but I make this for my relatives who are born and raised, and they say this is the best tres leches cake they have ever eaten. I make it with 1-to-1 gluten free baking flour and nobody knows the difference. I also use just the cake part for my strawberry shortcake because it holds up to strawberry juice just like it does to the milk and doesn’t turn to mush. It’s the best!!
I just made one with the king Arther’s 1:1 gf flour, I’m currently waiting for it to cool to pour the milk over! Wish me luck. I told my son I’d make him a regular flour one if the gf isn’t good, but I’ve never had Tres’ leches cake and I have celiacs and wanted to be able to try it!
Have you looked into fresh milling your own wheat berries? I’ve seen so many ppl with “celiacs disease” who are actually just allergic to the chemicals being sprayed on the crops that the super processed flour is coming from. People who are sensitive to gluten, actually are just allergic or tolerate the fertilizer, herbicides and all that. You should look into it a little if you love bread & cakes like me it’s really kinda life changing. ❤️
Awesome to hear that gluten free flour works. Thank you for sharing. It saves me so much time and energy. Will post once I’ve baked it.
I’m giving it 5 stars even tho i haven’t made it yet. I have a good feeling from Lauren’s words and from the reviews.
Just wanted to say I live at 5k feet up and I did not need to make adjustments for high altitude. Also, this recipe is amazing!
My son wanted a Tres Leches cake for his birthday. I have never made one before. This recipe was easy to follow, and the cake turned out perfect! Thank you! This recipe is now added to our family favorites!
THE best Tres Leches recipe I have come across! I make it about six times a year and it is always a huge hit at family gatherings. The sponge cake itself is tender and has just the right amount of texture to hold the milk mixture without losing volume or falling apart.
This cake!! Wow!! So delicious and so fun to make. A definite crowd pleaser. It will be a new family favorite for sure.
I’ve made this recipe twice now exactly as written. The cake turns out better than what we can buy at our local authentic panderia/pastelleria. It’s also easy enough with the directions that my 9 year old (kitchen experienced) made the last one himself with me sitting at the counter supervising, but the end result is spectacular. It does cook quickly in our oven, so pay close attention the first couple times you bake it. The first one we made was still delicious when we finished the last pieces on the third day. We made the second one for a potluck and made the cake and milks the night before. The next day before we left we added the whipped cream topping. We didn’t have any to bring back home. Penzey’s cinnamon, which is quite strong, is a great topper for this.
Hi there. I see you have doubled up on the whole milk in the ingredients list. It says 1/3 and then 1/4 of a cup. How much whole milk do I add?
You will see in Step 3, that 1/3 cup goes into cake. After cake has baked the other 1/4 c. is mixed with the evaporated milk and sweetened condensed milk to pour over the cake. Hope this helps clarify.
Hello! This recipe looks delicious and I would love to give it a try! Would it be okay for the cake to sit for about 24 hours before cutting into it? I am planning on making this for a party but I don’t have time the morning of to make it and was planning on making it a day before. Any tips would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
Yes, that would work really well 🙂 Enjoy!
I made this for a colleague and we had leftovers for the next week. It actually got better the longer it sat!
This is so good to know!
This recipe was delicious!!!! While it was fairly labor intensive and took almost 2 hours from start to putting the cake with leche into the fridge, it was worth the effort!!!
I usually use cake flour when baking a cake, instead of all purpose flour. Do you think cake flour would work well for this cake? Thanks!!
It should work fine! Enjoy
How did the cake turn out with cake flour?
It not just for Cinco De Mayo – in my culture its a cake, that’s associated with birthday parties, graduations, baptisms, and all kind of celebrations.
Yet you come on here to find a recipe instead of asking a cousin, mom or grandma??? Lmao comment on the recipe your irrelevant personal feelings are not wanted
What a dick. People like you are what’s wrong with this world. Save your irrelevant self hating comments for Facebook.
There was nothing wrong with their comment jeez. Who hurt u so bad in life that u gotta be so rude to someone?
Also your comment had nothing to do with the recipe either.
I didn’t take her comment to be snarky at all! She was just saying that tres leches is a treat that can be shared at any celebration. However, your comment was rude. And for the record, this recipe is delicious!
Yeah because there’s different ways to make it. Like this one is like angel food cake while most are like a pound cake this one is different.
Don’t be mean. It is just about cake. She was sharing that it is for celebrations of all kind.
Lauren,
Thank you for this easy to follow recipe that yields the most DELICIOUS Tres Leches Cake that I have ever made and eaten!
A new fan of Tastes Better From Scratch,
-Iza.
Thanks Iza! I’m glad you liked it and I hope you get to try more of my recipes soon!
Hi
I’m going to make this for the first time but I want to halve it.
How many eggs do I put in then?
Thanks
I would use two whole eggs plus one extra yolk. YOLKS Make cakes moist while whites add firmness and can be more dry as an end result. Since tres leches is to be moist and fluffy i would do two whole and one yolk . You could also use three medium eggs instead of large to an extra firmness to stand up to the added moisture of the three milks. At the end of the day it is up to your personal preference. I like the cake extra moist and fluffy.
Hello,
If make this cupcake, what would be the right temp how long should it be in the oven? Btw, I already tried it with the baking dish and it was a sucess. I just want to try it with cupcake this time.
Cupcakes would probably bake in 13-15 minutes (I can’t say for sure since I haven’t tested them)–just watch them carefully. I wouldn’t put a liner in them either, since the milk mixture would make it soggy. You would probably want to serve them on a plate 🙂
Tres leches is my absolute favorite dessert and I’m so glad I found your blog. I’ve been baking the same tres leches for years, but yours is my new go-to recipe! Even my husband, who isn’t much into desserts, loved it. It’s even better the next day, for sure. For anyone who wants to bake this, I recommend not skipping the cinnamon. It adds a whole new depth of flavor. Thanks for this recipe!
Did you add the cream the next day, or make it all at once?