Tres Leches Cake is not a dessert I grew up with. In fact I’d never even heard of it until three years ago when it suddenly seemed to be everywhere, including the freezer case at the grocery store and the local vegan restaurant. Yes, vegan tres leches cake. This was the trigger. If vegans were taking the time to make milk-free versions of “three milks cake” then it must be a pretty good cake.
Cake Mix Version
My first Tres Leches was from Food.com (formerly Recipezaar). That was and still is a solid recipe if you want to make a cake mix version. I still make that one sometimes, though I like to halve it and make it as a 9 inch pan springform Tres Leches.
Houston Chronicle Tres Leches
I also make a scratch version adapted from one in The Houston Chronicle. This one can be made in a 9×13 inch cake pan or glass dish. To make it a little thicker, you can bake it in a 9×12 inch dish. It’s a hard cake to mess up, really.
Gluten-Free Version
Gluten-free flour does not work well in this cake — or at least not for me. I tested with Thomas Keller’s Cup4Cup and the cake came out mealy. I’m sure there are ways to make gluten-free Tres Leches, but for this recipe all-purpose flour works best.
Tres Leches Cake
Ingredients
Cake:
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (200 grams)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 4 eggs separated
- 1 1/2 cup granulated sugar (300 grams)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup milk
Three-Milk Topping:
- 1 cup evaporated milk
- 14 ounce sweetened condensed milk
- 3/4 cup milk
- 1 cup sour cream room temp or slightly warm
Whipped Cream Topping:
- 1 cup cream
- ¼ cup powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. If using a glass pan, use 325 degrees F. Grease a 9×13 inch pan. For a thicker cake, you can use a 9×12 inch pan.
- Sift flour with baking powder and set aside. In a large bowl with clean beaters, beat egg whites until foamy. Gradually add sugar and continue beating until thick and white. Beat in yolks, one at a time.
- Add vanilla to the milk.
- With a heavy duty scraper, fold in flour mixture and milk; mix well but don’t beat. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake until edges are golden brown, about 30 to 35 minutes. Remove from oven; let cool on a rack.
- Prepare Milk Topping by combining all 4 ingredients (I guess this sort of makes it Four Milks Cake!). Using a skewer, poke holes all over the cake. Gradually pour milk mixture over cake and let sit until all mixture is absorbed, 20 to 30 minutes. After it has sat for 30 or so minutes at room temperature, go ahead and refrigerate it.
- Prepare Whipped Cream Topping Chill cream, bowl and beaters thoroughly. Beat cream with electric mixer until it begins to thicken. Gradually add sugar and vanilla and beat until stiff peaks form. Cover cake with whipped cream with a spatula or knife. Chill until ready to eat (tastes best the next day).
- Topping, cut cake into squares and serve, or spread Whipped Cream Topping over squares of cake.
- Cut cake and serve. Or cut the cake in squares and top with whipped cream when it is served.
- About 12 servings
Notes
This is what the cake looks like before being soaked. It’s very dry and doesn’t have any added fat.
And here’s the cake soaking up some of the liquid. I used cold sour cream and it formed unattractive lumps. To remedy the situation, I warmed the soaking liquid a bit and stirred it up until smooth. The hot cake eventually melted the lumps you see here, but in the future I will use warm sour cream.
Andrea S
Thank you. I have a Hispanic student in a class I teach who was going to bring her mom’s authentic recipe (she was going to have to translate it), but couldn’t because she didn’t get a chance to talk to her mom last night. I thought I’d try this one because, like you said, it doesn’t come from a mix, and neither did my student’s. I also wanted to offer that she said her mom often cuts the cake in half like in layers after it has soaked and adds fruit to the middle. The cake would have to come out spongy, rather than crumbly, to do that. She also referred to the batter as “bread” which I thought was interesting. Thanks for the help.
Anna
Hi Andrea, the link is on the word “Recipezaar”. Sometimes it’s a little hard to tell where the links are, so here it is.
http://www.recipezaar.com/11619
Andrea S
I’m looking at this 3 years after-the-fact, but would like Chela’s recipe. I cannot find the “links” mentioned. Can you send it?
Thanks,
Andrea
olga lopez
this is my favorite dessert.
Regards
olga.
kyla d
I loved it when my mom made it for the first time it was very sweet
Anna
Hi Emilie,
Glad you liked it….even though you didn’t use the syringe ;). Dulce de Leche is a good topping, but it’s also great with fresh strawberries.
There are a few different ways to make dulce de leche, but I’ve only used one method and I thought the result was just okay — not worth the trouble.
Emilie
Ok, I’ve tasted the cake now…and it’s good! Very moist and delicious.
I didn’t use a syringe though, because I’m NOT a nurse.
I attempted to make a homemade dulce de leche sauce, using a recipe from Food Network….a show called, “The Surreal Gourmet.” It turned into a disaster though, so I had to go buy some from the store. I guess I’m a little confused on what real dulce de leche is.
Anna
Don’t forget to let it soak. It took mine a while to soak up all the milk and then of course, it was quite moist. Make sure you keep it in the refrigerator for a while and serve it chilled.
Poutine
I have the cake in the oven now. I’ll take a square of it before I send it off with Robin tomorrow. This cake may be too exotic for this area of Ontario. We’ll see.
Anna
Emilie, I guess we have the same sense of humor. Every time I see that recipe, that one line makes me laugh. That’s probably one of the reasons I chose it.
Given this recipe (above) and Chela’s (linked from above), I’d choose Chelas.
Emilie
I made cela’s tres leches cake for my mom’s birthday, which is tomorrow. It looks really good. What caught my eye in the recipe, is, “I use a syringe, because I’m a nurse.” Lol
Anna
Let me know how it works out.
Poutine
thanks for posting this smaller recipe. I’ve always wanted to make one, but the thought of making such a big one didnt thrill me. I think I might try this tomorrow. Robin needs a dessert to bring to a dinner thing on Thursday.
Amy
Yes, yes that’s the one. On Congress next to The Great Outdoors!
Amy D.
Anna
Ah! Habana. Now I have an excuse to go there. Also, don’t worry. This cake will defintely absorb your milk because it is so very dry.
samoq
I think Amy D. is referring to Habana, and I have to agree- their tres leches is YUMMY.
I tried making it myself once, and I ended up with a cake that wouldn’t absorb a bit of milk, regardless of how many holes I poked in it. I made the impermeable cake. Maybe I’ll try again with your recipe.
Anna
Hi Chris,
I cut most of the ingredients by about third. Mathematically, that’s different than making 1/3 of the recipe. So no, don’t triple it! The best bet, should you wish to make a 13×9 inch cake, is to just use the Houson Chronicle recipe (the first recipe in the link) and add a little vanilla to the cake batter.
Chris
Looks great! So if I wanted to make it in a 9×13, should I just triple everything? Or could you post the original or send it to me? Thanks a bunch!
Anna
If it makes you feel any better, we weren’t home!
Also, the tres leches cake really needs to sit overnight.
Amy
waa! I rode right by your house. I’ve never had tres leches cake, I could have tasted it!
Amy
Anna,
My neighbor loves the Tres Leche cake at a Cuban restaurant here in Austin. I will find out the name and let you know.
Amy D.
Anna
Tracy, that is too funny! I had no idea the Bake-Off thing was on TV again. I wish I’d known. We were in a hospital room in Houston with my grandmother. If I’d known it was on, I would have turned on the TV for her. She gets a kick out of that stuff. Tell your daughter hi. I’m sure Fuzz would love to meet her.
TracysTribe3
Saw you on the Bake-Off again last night! It was fun to watch you win and to see you in your kitchen with your daughter.
When it first came on my 8 yo daughter said “Mom – I saw the Cookie Madness lady” then “LOOK MOM – THERE’S HER DAUGHTER” all excitedly because she’s seen the London pictures. At the end of the show she said, and was serious, “If you win the million dollars can I have a bouncy thing too?” LOL
carole
Thanks, Anna. I will make this next week after Passover.