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This classic Tres Leches Cake is everything you want it to be: moist, milky, and absolutely delicious. The fluffy sponge soaks up the three-milk mixture, and it’s all topped with billowy whipped cream and cinnamon. I love this recipe because it’s simple and foolproof, with room to get creative. If you love this version, try my strawberry, pumpkin, or horchata tres leches.
This tres leches cake is perfect for celebrations or whenever you need a crowd-pleasing dessert! Serve it with Queso Fundido, Birria Tacos or Carne Asada Tacos and Strawberry Margaritas for the most delicious dinner.
Reviews from ACK Readers!
“This is my go to recipe for Tres Leches! I make it at least 2 times a year and my family and friends all love it!” – Tia Castillo
“This is the best tres leches cake I have ever had! Hands down one of the best recipes. Easy to follow! Everyone loved this cake!” – Jacinda
Ingredients for Tres Leches Cake
- Eggs – We’ll be using the egg whites and egg yolks. Both will serve different purposes; both important.
- Sweetened condensed milk – One of the three milks is an important one.
- Evaporated milk – I love evaporated milk. It has a very concentrated milk flavor.
- Whole milk – This fresh milk is one of the three milks.
- Vanilla – This cake is simple so I like to use good quality vanilla extract. If you’re feeling fancy, scrape a vanilla bean and put in the cake batter.
For the rest of the ingredients, please see the recipe card below!
How to Make Tres Leches Cake
- Whisk together the dry ingredients. All-purpose flour, baking powder and salt.
- Beat the egg yolks with the sugar. You really want to emulsify the egg yolks with the sugar until ribbons form and the color of the egg yolks turns to pale yellow.
- Mix in the vanilla extract and milk. You then want to add the milk and vanilla extract to the egg yolks and whisk until they’re smooth.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. You want to use a bit of a folding technique to combine the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients,
- Beat the egg whites. You want to clean your mixing bowl thoroughly. And dry it. If there’s any water, it may not beat until light and fluffy.
- Fold the egg whites in until you no longer see any egg white bits. You really want to be gentle with this step as to not deflate the egg whites.
- Bake. Pour the batter into a 9×13-inch cake pan.
- Cool the cake. The cake will shrink as it cools. That’s a-ok!
How to Decorate Tres Leches Cake
- Whip the heavy cream until soft peaks form. Be sure not to over whip it!
- Add it to the cake and smother it on top. Dust with cinnamon.
Tips and Tricks
- Freeze Tres Leches – I would suggest baking the cake, allowing it to cool completely and then wrapping it tightly in plastic wrap. You can freeze it for up to 3 months. When you’re ready to serve, transfer to the fridge to thaw. Pour the milks on top, let it soak in and then serve.
- Shrinkage is normal! After you bake the cake, it will be a bit shriveled up; don’t worry. After you pour the milks on top of the cake, they will be absorbed by the cake and it will plump up a bit.
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Tres Leches Cake
Equipment
- 1 (9×13-inch) cake pan
- Stand-up electric mixer or electric hand mixer
Ingredients
Cake:
- 1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 6 large eggs, separated
- 1 cup white granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup whole milk
Tres Leches:
- 1 (14-ounce) can can of sweetened condensed milk
- 1 (12-ounce) can of evaporated milk
- 1/2 cup whole milk
Topping:
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 2 tablespoons powdered sugar, sifted
- Pinch of kosher salt
Instructions
To Make the Tres Leches Sponge Cake:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9×13-inch pan and set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
- In a stand-up mixer with paddle attachment, beat egg yolks and sugar until pale yellow and double in volume. Mix in the vanilla and the milk on low speed just until combined, then fold the egg yolk mixture into the flour mixture.
- Clean and dry the egg yolk bowl. We’re doing this because the egg whites won’t have height if the bowl has any remnants of egg yolk and/or water. Add the egg whites and beat with the whisk attachment on high until stiff peaks about 3 to 4 minutes.
- In two batches, fold the egg white mixture into egg yolk and flour mixture until you no longer see any bits of egg white.
- Pour the batter into the cake pan and bake for 18 to 20 minutes. Cool the cake in the pan for about 30 minutes.
To Assemble + Topping:
- In a large serving bowl or measuring cup, whisk together the sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk and whole milk.
- When the cake is cool, using a fork, poke holes in the top of the cake. I did it about 20 times, you really want to give a way for the milks to be absorbed by the cake. Pour the milk mixture over the cake (it may seem like a lot but it will absorb!). Transfer to the fridge to 2 to 3 hours, ideally overnight.
- Just before serving, make the whipped cream! To a bowl, using an electric mixer, mix the heavy cream, sifted powdered sugar and salt until soft peaks form. Top the cake with the fluffy whipped cream. Garnish with a bit of ground cinnamon, if you like.
- This cake stays good for about 3 days when stored in the fridge.
Notes
- Freeze Tres Leches – I would suggest baking the cake, allowing it to cool completely and then wrapping it tightly in plastic wrap. You can freeze it for up to 3 months. When you’re ready to serve, transfer to the fridge to thaw. Pour the milks on top, let it soak in and then serve.
- Shrinkage is normal! After you bake the cake, it will be a bit shriveled up; don’t worry. After you pour the milks on top of the cake, they will be absorbed by the cake and it will plump up a bit.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
this looks delicious 🙂
i don’t have a mixer, can i use a food processor to mix things or would it be better to mix by hand? thanks!
unfortunately a food processor won’t work. you have to beat the egg whites until they’re stiff and they definitely requires a mixer of some kind (whether it be an electric hand mixer OR a stand-up mixer–sorry)
How many eggs are you using on this recipe? Maybe I missed it lol
I want to try it
please note the recipe – the amount is listed!
Super delicious and will definitely be making this again. I do want to share this: I baked the cake in a 9 x 13 stoneware dish which I have previously baked many cakes in but I had to add an extra 5 mins on top of the suggested 18-20 mins baking time. It was a light golden color and I did the finger test which the cake did bounce back. After letting it cool for an hour, I poked the cake with a fork and found that the middle of the cake was under baked and even had a few pockets of raw batter. Will add more baking time next time. Thank you for sharing!
Oh that’s a bummer. Yeah, I baked this is a metal baking pan and that conducts heat much faster. Interesting that it might need 5 to 7 minutes longer. Hopefully it tasted ok!
Years ago when I was in middle school, I was at a friend’s birthday party, and her mom made Tres Leches for her birthday cake, and it was SO good. I have been wanting to make this for a long time, so thank you for sharing your recipe. We are having some people over for dinner, and this will be the perfect dessert to share!
If I don’t have powdered sugar can I use regular cane sugar?
for the topping whipped cream, it should be ok!
I love this cake. When my wife and I spent some time in Nicaragua about a decade ago this cake was very popular at birthday parties and in storefronts. Thanks for bringing back some memories!
Super helpful! I’d love to see you how you laid out the kitchen – it’s GORGEOUS but I always wished people showed what they used different cabinets for, drawer organizers, etc. THANKS!
my kind of cake, light and tasty, but have never made it, now I will, thank you for the recipe!
My daugther had a tres leches cake during her Spanish class party and now she want to make one so thanks for this recipe. It looks so pretty too!
I am from Nicaragua and I like your recipe for the cake. However, the topping in Nicaragua is always merengue not cream and always decorated with maraschino cherries (that need to be super dry before placing them ) so that each piece served will have a cherry on top. Also, try using heavy cream instead of milk for the leches part.
Hi, I’m not making a traditional Nicaraguan tres leches cake==I’m making it the way I prefer. I like using whole milk vs. heavy cream because I think the texture is a bit lighter with the milk. I also don’t love it with meringue topping and prefer it with whipped cream. Tres Leches is made in a lot of places besides Nicaragua and people make it in various iterations. 🙂
Can you believe I’ve never made or even had tres leches cake? How is this even possible. Hopefully I’ll get a chance to make this soon.