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Tres Leches (3 Milk) Cake
By
DK
on May 04, 2010
I made...I ate....and I got conquered! That's all I have to say for this uber delicious cake. I made it cos I was curious. I was certain from the reviews that both of us would not end up eating more than 1 spoon and I already was listing the names of ppl, I was going to gift it too. Which we did anyways, but far less than what I thought originally! Now why did I think that we won't be eating more than a spoon? Well cos its supposed to be v sweet! And in our dictionary a cup of milk with 2 spoons of sugar is v v sweet. So you can imagine our taste buds!
The taste tester was my husband who actually came home early when he knew that I was making the cake - he wanted it fresh out of the Oven (in this case - out of the fridge - but he wouldn't listen!) The thing is you need to let the cake sit for some time so that it can soak up all that milk. The perfect leches cake, I personally think, is that which is soaking wet of the milk, yet retains the shape and texture - can you imagine the airy sponginess while it oozes out that delicious sweet milk in your mouth? Can you? That's heaven for some - while its rich yet too delicious to stop at one spoon for few others (like us!) It was sweet but not as sweet as we dreaded. My husband finished one row of the cake all by himself which is a RECORD in all the years I have known him! So for the sweet tooth owners - YOU GOTTO MAKE THIS!
I checked out quite a number of recipes but I finally settled down for the less complicated one. Yes, this is my first recipe from Ree of PWC fame. I admire her blog for the technical aspects of it, the simple homely pictures ( the type which makes you think, Oh yes! I can make this dish at home in my own kitchen ) yet which makes the food look stunningly beautiful. This is the kind of photography that I dig and aim for :) This is her recipe with slight modification. Although "Tres Leches" in Spanish means "Three milk cake" - this recipe calls for more than 3 milk - but well who cares for the technicality when the result is the way it is! Without further adieu - lets go to the recipe. Enjoy it for the upcoming Cinco De Mayo! :)
References
v.slightly adapted from ree's recipe of pwc
Basic Information
Prep Time: 1 to 2 hours
Cook Time: 30 min to 1 hour
Yield: Yielded one 8 inch pan (which was 2" deep) cake
Ingredients
- For the Cake
- 1 cup + 2 tbsp cake flour (or use 1 cup all purpose flour/maida)
- 1-½ teaspoon Baking Powder
- ¼ teaspoons Salt
- 5 whole Egg, separated
- 1 cup Sugar, Divided
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla
- ⅓ cups Milk
- 1 can Evaporated Milk
- 1 can Sweetened, Condensed Milk
- ¼ cups Heavy Cream
- FOR THE ICING:
- 1 pint Heavy Cream, For Whipping
- 3 Tablespoons Sugar
Method
1
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9 x 13 inch pan liberally until coated. I used an 8 inch pan which was 2" deep. Sift and Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl.
2
Beat egg yolks with 3/4 cup sugar on high speed
3
until yolks are pale yellow.
4
Stir in milk and vanilla.Pour egg yolk mixture over the flour mixture and stir very gently until combined.
5
Beat egg whites on high speed until soft peaks form.
6
With the mixer on, pour in remaining 1/4 cup sugar
7
and beat until egg whites are stiff but not dry.
8
See the cute peaks?
9
Fold egg white mixture into the batter
10
very gently
11
until just combined.
12
Pour into prepared pan and spread to even out the surface.
13
Bake for 35 to 45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.Allow to cool. If you are like me - you will commit the same mistake of opening the oven a 100 times in excited frenzy! May be that's why my cake went in a bit? who knows! As long as the taste was YUMMO who cares!
14
Combine condensed milk, evaporated milk, and heavy cream in a small pitcher.
15
When cake is cool, pierce the surface with a fork several times.
16
Slowly drizzle all but about 1 cup of the milk mixture—try to get as much around the edges of the cake as you can. Although Ree insists on pouring everything except 1 cup, I managed to squeeze in some more - thankfully cos mine was a deep pan!!! The remaining I used to make some Yummy rice pudding!!! So don't fret over left over milk mixture - make some rice pudding- that's another heaven on a plate :)
17
Allow the cake to absorb the milk mixture for 30 minutes. A trick if you find that its very soggy inspite of not pouring in all the milk mixture - let it sit in the fridge for some time. Problem solved :) To ice the cake, whip 1 pint heavy cream with 3 tablespoons of sugar
18
until thick and spreadable.
Spread over the surface of the cake. I instead of topping just kept it separately since not everyone likes the whipped cream - but if its liked by all in your home - go for it :) See how it looks after a piece is cut? You can see light milk mixture at the bottom but the cake by itself was not soggy'ish - instead it had soaked up the milk beautifully yet retained its sponginess which you can see in the first photo or the photo just below.
I have read that its traditionally served and topped with peaches, cherries etc. I had lots of mangoes and I thought why not!
Not dissapointed at all :) Cut into squares and serve.
I have read that its traditionally served and topped with peaches, cherries etc. I had lots of mangoes and I thought why not!
Not dissapointed at all :) Cut into squares and serve.
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56 Responses to “Tres Leches (3 Milk) Cake”
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My daughter is dating a mexcian,and he has missed this cake since he has been in the states, his family loves this. I have made it alot for them, they said it is exactaly the same as in mexico, but I add rum to t
he milk just about a 1/4 or little less. it is sooooooo good.
Thank you! Thank you! I made this Tres Leches recipe for Christmas Day 2012 and it was a smash hit! Mine came out exactly as your picture at the top did. You are right in gently, gently folding together the ingredients. I took extra care to do this and I believe that is why the little spongy holes soaked up the milk mixture so well. I used a 9 x 13 glass pyrex and slowly poured all but a 1/4 cup of the milk and put it into the refrigerator to absorb. There was only a very small amount of liquid in the dish as pieces were cut. Perfect! Thank you for your wonderful directions and for making me a hero on Christmas Day!!
I’m Mexican and wanted to find an easy enough recipe that was authentic and traditional! This is it! Made this last night…it was heaven! I followed it to the ‘T’ and didnt change it one bit! this recipe is worth keeping…and sharing! Thank you!!!
What is evaporated milk?? Is it available in India????
Can we substitute it with something else??
Simply said, evaporated milk is condensed milk without sugar added to it. You can make it on your own by simmering down about 2 1/4 cups of regular milk down until it becomes 1 cup. This 1 cup is evaporated milk. I posted your query in my Facebook Chefinyou Page : https://www.facebook.com/ChefInYou/posts/10152089662570297 where some members have replied with locations to its availability. Pls see if it helps. –DK
wat is evaporated milk, wud u get this in india?? plzz let me know or its subsitute as i really want to try this…. looks yum!! n also for vanilla, v hav to use vanilla essence or powdered vanilla pod?
PLs refer to Neha Soraiyur’s comment for my answer regarding evaporated milk. I used the essence/extract –DK
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE………………D EGGLESS VERSION OF D RECIPE
Why are there no measurement for the Evaporated Milk , Sweetened, and Condensed Milk? I had a hard time at the store because there were various different sized cans. I don’t know what “1 can” means now. Trying to make this today for Mother’s day…please help!!! I saw someone asked this already.
Your GREAT PHOTO shows the little holes in the cake that I WISH I could get in my cakes! Please let me know what causes those little holes to appear!
I did make the PW’s version last weekend, and it was DEVOURED at a potluck that I showed up at 10pm for. I made it in an 9×13 with strawberries all over the top. It was a taste of HEAVEN!
Please let me know how I can get those little holes in my cake! Am I overbeating?
I saw the list of egg substitute you have on your site. Fabulous! For this recipe, which egg substitute would you recommend. I would really appreciate all the help.
Btw, I chanced upon your site this week and I am really excited about it! My husband and myself love to cook just like you guys!
hi dk, the first time i made this the unsoaked cake was very soft, but today, only change i made was didn’t add sugar to the batter and after beating the eggs white, instead of folding I mixed it into the batter and beat with the hand blender to mix well, is that why it turned out hard?
This cake looks so amazing !! I always a a problem when the measurements are in cups… could you please tell the ingredients in grams. becasue 1 cup of flour is 110 grams and 1 cup of suger is 225 grams. Will thie measurement be okay
Please let me know. I want to make it for my husbands birthday!!!! Thanks again!!
Hi Dk… I need help from one of your recipe.. Tres Leches (3 Milk) Cake.. in the Ingredients 1 can Evaporated Milk , 1 can Sweetened, Condensed Milk cloud please convert this measure in cups/oz plz …as we get different sizes of can here…thank you Harsha.
Hi DK,
I regularly peep into your kitchen(website) but never found the zeal in me to try something new. Despite of my aversion towards milk, I made this cake for my husband (as he loves milk sweets)…. And it turned out very well…
The sweetness…spongy texture…mmmmm….so yummmy…. 
Thanks a lot for this recipe 
I have a request.. Can you let me know the recipe for wontons? Especially the wonton sheets.
This is the first time I am even hearing of a transparent mango! Will update my reply if I get to know anything about it though. (And sure would luv to know about it if you get to know too:))
i made this cake and it was so good
i just love the cake of 3leches 
so thank you for helping me make the a rely good cake. 
What can be used instead of evaporated milk pls thatnku..
the cake looks so yummy! Is it possible to make it eggless?
I remember PWC post on this. And I’ve always wanted to make it. But was worried I’ll end up eating the whole tray! This only reconfirms that!
My brother makes this cake for all of us whenever we need a reason to “get happy” for the sake of it
). It is insanely addictive, not to think about the 5lbs gain by the time the tray is done. He has not tried with fresh cream topping and fresh fruit, I will definitely let him know. There is no going back once you have eaten this cake.
I made this cake today. Thank you for the recipe. I have no words to explain how good it turned out to be. Soft, moist and delicious.
I would love to make this cake for my husband’s birthday this year. Have you tried baking it Gluten-Free? He has been GF for about 1 1/2 years now and hadn’t had a good birthday cake since
This looks so yummy… i am a sweet fan.. and as i browsed ur recipes, I am tempted to prepare them. recipe with pictures is a great idea, you are reaching the people…
Ohhh God, when is shravan going to end?????? I want to make this recipe……