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 Mex
ican 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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Recipe
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
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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
This post contains affiliate links.
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!
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.
Made it for a get-together and people raved about it.
I’ve made this cake before and while I loved the texture, the flavor was too eggy, I couldn’t bring myself to even smell the batter because it smelled so much of eggs (and not in a good way). I’ve eaten store-bought tres leches cake before and it didn’t have this eggy flavor. I want to try this again, is there something I’m doing wrong? Thank you.
Try using super fresh eggs (older ones can smell stronger), beat the yolks and whites really well (until pale and fluffy), and be sure to add the full amount of vanilla to help balance the flavor. You could even bump the vanilla up a little next time.
Can I switch out the sweet condensed milk for unseated? I need it as sugar free as possible.
Sweetened condensed milk is key for the signature flavor and texture of tres leches cake, but for a lower-sugar version, you could try a sugar-free condensed milk substitute (homemade or store-bought)
Allulose is great
My 11 yr old Grandson is glucose intolerant so I also have to use the least amount of sugar. You really must try Monk Fruit sweetener. I buy it on Amazon. I promise you it’s SO worth it & you cannot tell the difference at all! It creams up perfectly when using the mixer to blend w/butter when your baking & tastes exactly like sugar! I’m very thankful for it!
That’s so good to know; I’m definitely going to have to try it! I’m so glad you found a great alternative that still allows you to bake for your grandson!
This website sucks. I needed the largest serving, and I’m baking and looking back and next thing I know the portions are off because the website changed to the 1 serving. And now my cake is messed up.
This happened to us. The amounts listed were correct, but in the step by step they were for 1 batch. Luckily I’d made the single batch a dozen times, so I recognized the numbers right away and scrolled back and forth. Was a PITA, but it worked.
Can I use creamy oat milk instead of whole mile
Yes you can!
I don’t have a metal pan. Can I use glass?
You can definitely use a glass pan!
So easy and delicious!! I made this for Cinco de Mayo and it a hit!! Another excellent recipe, thank you!
Would like to make an apple tres leches. Have you ever tried this? Thinking of adding 2 cups of unsweetened apple sauce. Suggestions on how much more flour/baking powder to add with this?
We haven’t tested it ourselves, so we can’t say for sure—but adding 2 cups of unsweetened applesauce will definitely add moisture, so you’d likely need to increase the flour to about 1½ cups total and bump the baking powder up to 2 teaspoons to help with structure. It’s a fun idea and could be delicious—let us know how it turns out if you try it!
-Stacy
Try frozen apple juice concentrate in place of the milk and again in place of a bit of the 3 leches. I make Tiramisu flavored and that’s how we add coffee to both steps.
Made this months ago and it was so simple to make and absolutely delicious! This coming week I’m making your tres leches cupcakes.
Cake did not release from metal pan. Did I do something wrong..$
This cake is meant to be served from the pan. So just let the milk mixture soak in and then serve right from the pan.