Tres Leches Cake

Helga Glaesel de BlandingApril 25, 2021

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I made this cake for my daughter’s birthday. Each year she asks for a different flavor, and I am always happy to make it for her! I’ve made her lemon meringue cake (not pie, she wanted the cake version), Vietnamese coffee cake, and Orange Creamsicle-flavored cake have been the latest. Let’s see what I make for her this year!

Tres Leches Cake is popular in Latin American countries, the recipe from Preppy Kitchen is spot on! This is a wet cake, not moist. Wet. I doubled up on the milk quantities of the recipe after reading the introduction to get the right amount of liquid, I think the recipe was scaled down to appeal to people who prefer a drier cake, just moist but not wet. Do use the three different types of milk: condensed, evaporated, and whole milk. What I loved about the recipe is that it is not overly sweet, the cake’s consistency is excellent! And the topping is whipped cream mixed with mascarpone which just adds a creamy component without being too sweet. A popular topping for this cake is meringue, but to me, that would make this dessert too sweet.

As usual, I love a make-ahead recipe. You can make the cake, let it cool and add the milk to it the day before, actually, it tastes better if you do it ahead of time! A great touch is to add some berries on top, which not only make it look pretty but is a delicious combination of flavors.

Helga

Tres Leches Cake

Recipe adapted from Preppy Kitchen
Yields 12 servings

Ingredients, for the Cake:
3 ⅔ cups (450g) cake flour
2 ¼ cups (480g) granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 ½ cups (355ml) whole milk, room temperature
8 egg whites room temperature, large
1 tablespoon (15ml) vanilla extract
17 tablespoons (240g) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/3 cup (80ml) yogurt, room temperature

Ingredients, for the three-milk mix:
1 ½ cup (375 ml) whole milk
28-oz. (794g) sweetened condensed milk
25 fl-oz. (708 ml) evaporated milk

Ingredients, for the whipped cream frosting:
3 cups (710ml) heavy whipping cream, cold
⅔ cup confectioner’s sugar
8-oz. mascarpone cheese room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the Assembly:
9 strawberries hulled and sliced
1 spring mint

Procedure:

Preheat the oven to 350F. Prepare a 13″ x 9″ baking pan by lightly greasing and flouring it.
In a standing mixer, sift in the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Give it a whisk and set aside.
In a large bowl, add egg whites, milk, vanilla, and yogurt. Whisk together.
Attach a paddle attachment to the stand mixer. Get the mixer going on low speed and add the room temperature butter in cubes or pieces a little at a time. Mix until crumbly, and resembles sand.
On medium speed, beat ½ of the wet mixture into the crumby dry mixture. Scrape the bowl down and add the remaining wet mixture. Beat until combined.
Pour the batter into the prepared sheet cake pan.
Bake for 40 -50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
Let the cake cool to room temperature.

Procedure, for the three-milk. mixture:

Add the three milks into a large bowl, whisk together and set aside. You can add more milk to cut the sweetness if desired. If you’re adding dark rum go ahead and mix it in now. Start with 1/4 cup and add more to taste.

Procedure, for the frosting:

In a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, add heavy whipping cream, mascarpone and confectioners’ sugar.
Beat on high until whipped and thickened.
Add vanilla extract

For the assembly:

Slowly drizzle on the tres leches mixture onto the COOLED cake. You can poke holes with a fork all over the cake to make more room for the sweet milk mixture, if desired. Add the milk mixture in thirds, let is soak in before adding more, until you have used it all.
After the milk has been absorbed, add the frosting in dollops all over the top.
Smooth with an offset spatula to make it look nice.
When serving, garnish each piece with a fan of strawberry slices and a sprig of mint.

Notes:

Add ½ cup of rum to the tres leches mixture if being served only to adults, for a more authentic version of this recipe.

Have you made this recipe?

Please let me know how it turned out for you! Leave a comment below and share a picture with the hashtag #thefoodieskitchen!

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