• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Mexican Food Journal logo
  • Recipe Index
  • About
  • Contact
  • Nav Social Menu

    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • YouTube
menu icon
go to homepage
search icon
Homepage link
  • Recipe Index
  • About The Journal
  • Contact
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • YouTube
  • ×
    You are here: Home / Desserts / Tres Leches Cake

    Tres Leches Cake

    Lori Alcalá, This blog generates income via ads and affiliate links which earn us a small commission.

    Mexican Tres Leches Cake | “Three Milks” Cake

    Tres leches cake, or “three milks” cake in Spanish, is a classic dessert served throughout Mexico and other Latin American countries. Soaked in three types of milk and topped with fluffy whipped cream, this light, spongy cake is perfect for birthdays, weddings, Cinco de Mayo, or any celebration that calls for a sweet treat.

    Tres Leches Cake with Berries

    What to Expect from This Tres Leches Cake Recipe

    Authentic Tres leches cake is a sponge cake made with flour, sugar, eggs and vanilla. It’s soaked in a mixture of sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk and cream, and frosted with whipped topping.

    The taste is decadent and sweet, yet light and airy because it uses no butter or oil. That means you get spectacular flavor without added cholesterol. And a calcium boost from the milk!

    The Cake That’s Worth the Wait

    The secret to a fabulous traditional tres leches cake is the time you let the cake soak up the syrupy milk mixture. Soak for at least 8 hours, and preferably overnight. That way when you serve, it will be perfectly moist—but not soggy. Mmmm!

    Tres Leches Cake with Berries on Pedestal

    Where’s the Baking Powder?

    While many tres leches cake recipes call for baking powder, ours gets its lift from the 6 beaten egg whites, making it much lighter than other cakes.

    Tres Leches Cake with berries slice on white plate

    Pastry Chef Eli Pérez Shows You How to Make Tres Leches Cake

    Our authentic tres leches cake recipe comes from Pastry Chef Eli Pérez, owner of Casa Marietta Repostería in Moroleón, Guanajuato.

    Chef Eli Perez

    Ingredients:

    For the Sponge Cake

    • 1 cup all-purpose flour or cake flour, sifted
    • 1 cup granulated sugar
    • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
    • 6 large eggs, room temperature

    Eggs, flour, sugar, vanilla in bowls

    For the Milk Mixture

    • 7 ozs. sweetened condensed milk
    • 7 ozs. light cream or table cream
    • 2 ½ cups evaporated milk

    Three milks in bowls

    For the Whipped Cream

    • 1 ¼ cup heavy whipping cream
    • ⅓ cup granulated sugar
    • 1 teaspoon clear vanilla extract
    • ½ oz. vanilla pudding mix

    Sugar, cream, pudding mix, vanilla in bowls

    For the Garnish

    • Strawberries
    • Raspberries
    • Blueberries

    Tres Leches Cake and Berries

    Best Tres Leches Cake Step-by-Step

    Make the Sponge Cake

    Preheat your oven to 356 degrees F and bring eggs to room temperature for easier beating. Then, separate the egg whites and egg yolks into two small bowls.

    Separating eggs in red bowl

    Fit a fine mesh strainer over another bowl and pour in the flour. You can also pour into a flour sifter if you have one.

    Pouring flour from blue bowl into mesh strainer

    Sift the flour into the bowl by gently hitting your hand against the strainer.

    Sifting Flour in Mesh Strainer

    Pour the egg yolks into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. If you don’t have a stand mixer, you can use a large bowl and a hand mixer.

    Pouring Egg Yolks in Stand Mixer

    Add vanilla.

    Pouring vanilla into bowl of stand mixer with eggs

    Add a half cup of sugar.

    Adding Sugar to Stand Mixer Bowl

    Set your electric mixer to high speed.

    Beating Egg Yolks in Stand Mixer

    Beat egg yolks on high speed. You’ll see the yolks start to lighten in color.

    Beating Egg Yolks with Red Stand Mixer

    Continue blending until uniform, pale yellow and doubled in volume.

    Beating Egg Yolks in Electric Mixer

    The yolk mixture should be smooth, but not runny.

    Beaten Egg Yolks Whisk Attachment

    Pour the yolk mixture into a separate bowl.

    Pouring beaten egg yolks into white bowl

    Wash and dry the stand mixing bowl and whisk attachment, add the egg whites to the bowl and beat on high speed. Whipped egg whites are the key ingredient that make your cake light and spongy.

    Eggs Whites in Stand Mixer Bowl

    Slowly add half of the remaining sugar as you beat the egg whites.

    Adding sugar to egg whites in stand mixer

    Continue beating until soft peaks form.

    Beating Egg Whites and Sugar in Stand Mixer

    Pour in the remaining sugar.

    Adding Sugar to Egg White Mixture in Stand Mixer

    Beat on high until stiff peaks form.

    Beating Egg Whites Stiff Peaks

    Your egg white mixture should be light and fluffy and stick to the whisk attachment or beaters when you scoop it from the bowl.

    Fluffy Egg Whites on Whisk

    Now you’re ready to finish the cake batter. You should have three bowls: one with the flour, one with the egg white mixture, and the other with the egg yolk mixture.

    Baking bowls with egg whites, egg yolks and flour

    Using the egg yolk mixture as your main mixing bowl, you’ll add flour and then egg white mixture little by little, alternating as you fold into the batter. First, add two tablespoons of flour to the egg yolk mixture.

    Adding Flour to Egg Yolks

    Fold flour into the yolk mixture.

    Stirring tres leches cake batter with spatula

    Add a scoop of the egg white mixture to your main mixing bowl.

    Scooping Beaten Egg Whites

    Gently fold into the flour mixture.

    Stirring Tres Leches Cake Mix

    Add more flour.

    Adding Flour to Tres Leches Cake Batter

    Fold into the cake batter.

    Stirring Tres Leches Batter

    Add more egg white mixture.

    Adding Egg Whites to Tres Leches Batter

    Gently fold in the egg white.

    Stirring tres leches cake batter with spatula

    Continue adding flour and egg white—alternating and folding in after each—until you’ve added everything to the main bowl. The mixture will become lighter in color as you add the ingredients.

    Mixing Tres Leches Cake Batter

    The final cake batter should be smooth, thick and fluffy.

    Tres leches cake mix dripping from spatula into bowl

    Grease and flour an 8 ½ or 9 inch pan. We use a 2.5″-high pan in this recipe. Use a pastry brush to spread the butter in the round cake pan.

    Buttering round cake pan with pastry brush

    Place a cookie sheet under your cake pan. Then, pour the tres leches cake mix into the prepared pan.

    Pouring tres leches cake batter into prepared pan

    Use the spatula to scrape the sides of the bowl to get every last bit of that sweet goodness into your baking pan.

    Scraping tres leches batter into cake pan with spatula

    Smooth the top of your cake evenly with the spatula.

    Tres Leches Cake Mix in Baking Pan

    Your tres leches cake batter is now ready for the oven!

    Tres leches cake batter in round cake pan

    Place your cake on the center rack of the oven and bake at 356 degrees F for 40-60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

    Tres Leches Cake in Oven

    Remove from the oven, let sit five minutes, and then turn the cake out onto a wire rack to cool.

    Tres Leches Cake on Wire Rack

    Line the cooled cake pan with plastic wrap. You’re going to place the cake back in the pan and then cover, so be sure you leave enough wrap on the sides to do so.

    Lining Cake Pan with Plastic Wrap

    Carefully place your cake bottom up into the lined baking pan.

    Placing cake into pan lined with plastic wrap

    Make the Milk Mixture

    Gather your condensed milk, evaporated milk and light cream (or table cream) in separate bowls, as well as a large bowl, measuring cup and wire whisk.

    Three milks in bowls with measuring cup and wire whisk

    Pour the cream into the measuring cup.

    Pouring Cream into Measuring Cup

    Add the sweetened condensed milk.

    Pouring Condensed Milk into Measuring Cup

    Pour in the evaporated milk.

    Pouring evaporated milk into measuring cup

    Empty the measuring cup contents into a large bowl.

    Pouring Milk Mixture into Bowl

    Whisk the three milks until combined, and then pour back into the measuring cup.

    Whisking Three Milks Mixture

    Soak the Cake

    Using a fork, poke holes into the cooled tres leches cake.

    Poking holes into cake with fork

    Pour the milk mixture into the holes and all over the surface of the cake. Don’t forget the edges.

    Pouring tres leches mixture on cake

    Lift and fold over the flaps of the plastic wrap to cover the soaked cake.

    Covering tres leches cake with plastic wrap

    Once your cake is completely covered, place in the refrigerator and let rest for at least 8 hours. Overnight is best.

    Tres leches cake covered with plastic wrap

    Make the Whipped Cream

    Once the cake has rested, make the whipped topping. Start by gathering your ingredients: heavy whipping cream made from whole milk, clear vanilla extract, sugar and vanilla pudding mix.

    Whipped topping ingredients in bowls

    Fit your stand mixer with the whisk attachment. Then add the whipping cream to the mixing bowl.

    Pouring Cream into Stand Mixer Bowl

    Pour in the sugar.

    Pouring Sugar into Cream

    Add the vanilla extract. The frosting uses a clear vanilla extract to keep it from changing color.

    Pouring Clear Vanilla into Cream

    Finally, pour in the vanilla pudding mix. Unlike meringue which holds its shape, whipped cream can quickly deflate. The pudding creates a stabilized whipped cream so you won’t have to worry about it melting all over your cake in the refrigerator.

    Pouring Pudding Mix into Whipped Cream

    Turn your electric mixer to medium speed.

    Making Whipped Cream in Stand Mixer

    Whip the cream until soft peaks form. Take care not to over beat. If you do so, the cream could separate.

    Whipping Cream in Mixer

    The cream should be light and fluffy.

    Whipped Cream on Whisk

    Decorating Tres Leches Cake with Strawberries

    Remove your tres leches cake from the refrigerator and prepare a serving dish or cake pedestal.

    Tres Leches Cake and Serving Dish

    Turn out your cake into the center of the dish.

    Turning Cake onto Dish

    Carefully separate the pan from the cake.

    Separating Cake from Pan

    Slowly unwrap the plastic wrap by folding the wrap over itself.

    Unwrapping Tres Leches Cake

    Remove the plastic wrap completely from the cake.

    Removing Plastic Wrap from Cake

    Begin frosting the cake with the whipped topping using a frosting spatula. Start with the sides of the cake.

    Frosting Tres Leches Cake

    Continue frosting around the cake.

    Frosting Sides of Cake

    Carefully frost the top of the cake, being careful not to let the spatula touch the cake directly. You don’t want the cake crumbs to show up on your beautifully frosted cake.

    Frosting Top of Tres Leches Cake

    Be sure to cover every last bit of your cake with the whipped cream.

    Frosted Tres Leches Cake

    Now the fun part. Decorating! Gather your garnishes. You can use berries, maraschino cherries or any kind of fruit.

    Tres Leches Cake with Berry Garnish

    If you’re using strawberries, slice them in half and make a ring around the center of the cake, pressing the tops of the berries gently into the cake, cut side up. Fill in the ring with more strawberries, then sprinkle with raspberries and blueberries.

    Decorating tres leches cake with strawberries

    Behold. Have you ever seen a more beautiful cake? It definitely tastes as good as it looks.

    Tres Leches Cake with Berries on Pedestal

    Best Tres Leches Cake

    This gorgeous tres leches cake is one of our favorites. So sweet. So creamy. So airy. And so yummy! Go ahead, try a slice!

    Tres Leches Cake Slice

    Tres Leches Cake with Berries
    Print Pin
    3.78 from 57 votes

    Mexican Tres Leches Cake Recipe

    Tres leches cake is a sponge cake made with flour, sugar, eggs and vanilla. It’s soaked in a mixture of sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk and cream, and frosted with whipped topping.
    Course Dessert
    Cuisine Mexican
    Keyword tres leches cake
    Prep Time 1 hour hour 30 minutes minutes
    Cook Time 1 hour hour
    Resting Time 8 hours hours
    Total Time 10 hours hours 30 minutes minutes
    Author Chef Elizabeth Pérez Camarena

    Equipment

    • Mesh Strainer or Flour Sifter
    • Prep Bowls
    • Mixing Bowls
    • Stand Mixer or Hand Mixer
    • Measuring Cup
    • Wire whisk
    • Silicone Spatulas
    • Round cake pan - 8 ½ or 9 inch
    • Pastry Brush
    • fork
    • Wire Rack
    • Plastic Wrap
    • Frosting Spatula
    • Serving Dish or Cake Pedestal

    Ingredients

    Sponge Cake

    • 1 cup all-purpose flour or cake flour sifted
    • 1 cup granulated sugar
    • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
    • 6 large eggs room temperature

    Milk Mixture

    • 7 ozs. sweetened condensed milk
    • 7 ozs. light cream or table cream 18-30% milk fat
    • 2 ½ cups evaporated milk

    Whipped Cream

    • 1 ¼ cup heavy whipping cream
    • ⅓ cup granulated sugar
    • 1 teaspoon clear vanilla extract
    • ½ oz. vanilla pudding mix for a stable whipped cream

    Garnish

    • Strawberries, blueberries, raspberries or other fruit

    Instructions

    Make the Sponge Cake

    • Preheat oven to 356 degrees F and bring eggs to room temperature for easier beating. Separate egg whites and egg yolks into two small bowls.
    • Sift flour using a fine mesh strainer or flour sifter.
    • Pour egg yolks, vanilla and ½ cup sugar into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, or use a hand mixer.
    • Beat egg yolks until uniform, smooth, pale yellow and doubled in volume. Pour mixture into a separate bowl.
    • Wash and dry the stand mixing bowl and whisk, add egg whites to the bowl and beat on high speed. This is the secret to a light and spongy cake.
    • Slowly add half of the remaining sugar and beat until soft peaks form.
    • Add remaining sugar and beat on high until stiff peaks form. Mixture should be light and fluffy and stick to the whisk attachment or beaters when scooped from the bowl.
    • Gather your three bowls: one with flour, one with egg white mixture, and the other with the egg yolk mixture. Using the egg yolk mixture as your main mixing bowl, you’ll add flour and then egg white mixture little by little, alternating as you fold into the batter.
    • First, add two tablespoons of flour to the egg yolk mixture.
    • Fold flour into the yolk mixture.
    • Add a scoop of the egg white mixture to your main mixing bowl.
    • Gently fold into the flour mixture.
    • Add more flour.
    • Fold into the cake batter.
    • Add more egg white mixture.
    • Gently fold in the egg white.
    • Continue alternating and folding in flour and egg white until you’ve added everything to the main bowl. Mixture will become lighter in color as you add ingredients and the final cake batter should be smooth, thick and fluffy.
    • Grease and flour an 8 ½ or 9 inch pan. Use a pastry brush to spread the butter in the round cake pan.
    • Place a cookie sheet under your cake pan. Then, pour the tres leches cake mix into the prepared pan.
    • Use the spatula to scrape the batter from sides of the bowl into the pan.
    • Smooth the top of your cake evenly with the spatula.
    • Place your cake on the center rack of the oven and bake at 356 degrees F for 40-60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
    • Remove from the oven, let sit five minutes, and then turn the cake out onto a wire rack to cool.
    • Line the cooled cake pan with plastic wrap. You’re going to place the cake back in the pan and then cover, so be sure you leave enough wrap on the sides to do so.
    • Carefully place your cake bottom up into the lined baking pan.

    Make the Milk Mixture

    • Gather your condensed milk, evaporated milk and light cream (or table cream) in separate bowls, as well as a large bowl, measuring cup and wire whisk.
    • Pour the cream into the measuring cup.
    • Add the sweetened condensed milk.
    • Pour in the evaporated milk.
    • Empty the measuring cup contents into a large bowl.
    • Whisk the three milks until combined, and then pour back into the measuring cup.

    Soak the Cake

    • Using a fork, poke holes into the cooled tres leches cake.
    • Pour the milk mixture into the holes and all over the surface of the cake. Don’t forget the edges.
    • Lift and fold over the flaps of the plastic wrap to cover the soaked cake.
    • Once your cake is completely covered, place in the refrigerator and let rest for at least 8 hours. Overnight is best.

    Make the Whipped Cream

    • Once the cake has rested, make the whipped topping. Gather your ingredients: heavy whipping cream, clear vanilla extract, sugar and vanilla pudding mix.
    • Fit your stand mixer with the whisk attachment. Then add the whipping cream to the mixing bowl.
    • Pour in the sugar and vanilla extract. The frosting uses a clear vanilla extract to keep it from changing color.
    • Pour in the vanilla pudding mix.The pudding creates a stabilized whipped cream so you won’t have to worry about it melting all over your cake in the refrigerator.
    • Whip the cream on medium speed until soft peaks form. Take care not to over beat. If you do so, the cream could separate. The cream should be light and fluffy.

    Decorate Your Cake

    • Remove your tres leches cake from the refrigerator and prepare a serving dish or cake pedestal.
    • Turn out your cake into the center of the dish.
    • Carefully separate the pan from the cake.
    • Slowly unwrap the plastic wrap by folding the wrap over itself.
    • Remove the plastic wrap completely from the cake.
    • Frost the sides of the cake with the whipped topping using a frosting spatula.
    • Carefully frost the top of the cake, being careful not to let the spatula touch the cake directly. You don’t want the cake crumbs to show up on your beautifully frosted cake.
    • Gather your garnishes. If you’re using strawberries, slice them in half and make a ring around the center of the cake, pressing the tops of the berries gently into the cake, cut side up. Fill in the ring with more strawberries, then sprinkle with raspberries and blueberries. Serve cold.

    Notes

    Substitutions
    While some recipes may call for using coconut milk, you’ll get the most authentic flavor with cream made from whole cow’s milk.  
    You can also make this as a layer cake, using two standard 9" pans. Simply separate the batter evenly between your pans and bake. Then soak each piece with half the milk mixture before refrigerating overnight. Don't skip refrigeration, as it keeps your cake from falling apart!

    More Mexican Dessert Recipes

    • Pan de Muerto
    • Arroz con Leche – Rice Pudding
    • Pan Fried Bananas with Lechera
    • Vegan Strawberry Tamales

    More Desserts

    • Traditional Mexican Pineapple Empanadas
      Pineapple Empanadas
    • Authentic Buñuelos
      Buñuelos
    • Flan slice topped with fruit
      Traditional Mexican Flan Napolitano
    • Loaf of Pan de Muerto - Day of the Dead Bread
      Pan de Muerto

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Hannah says

      February 01, 2022 at 10:48 am

      I am curious about the ratio of sweetened condensed milk to evaporated milk. I noticed in your recipe it calls for less condensed and way more evaporated than I’ve seen in other recipes before. Do you find this ratio of liquids soaks into the sponge better?

      Reply
    2. Laura says

      October 09, 2022 at 1:34 pm

      5 stars
      This cake is AMAZING! In our family we have celebrated birthdays with pound cakes. The recipe is one that has been handed down for four generations. I decided to change things up a bit and made this for my niece’s birthday. It was a a resounding success! I searched the internet for Tres Leches cake recipes and decided on this one. The deciding factor was it did not “look” soggy! I followed the recipe as written with three differences. The first is, I did not use all the milk mixture the recipe called for. I shorted the mixture by about eight ounces of evaporated milk. The second is my oven would not allow me to set the temperature at 356 degrees. So, I baked it at 350. The cake rested (soaked) in the refrigerator for a good 48 hours. I frosted the cake with the whipped cream/pudding, but I could not find clear vanilla, so I used almond instead. With the vanilla pudding the icing still came out more yellow that white. The flavor was heavenly!
      Thank you so much for this delectable recipe. Our family is starting a “new” tradition with this cake. Many, many thanks!

      Reply
    3. Adarah Amir’lah says

      February 26, 2023 at 5:19 pm

      Thanks

      Reply
    4. Lauren says

      March 15, 2023 at 2:50 pm

      4 stars
      I was a bit skeptical about the sponge cake but it worked out great. It held up a lot better than any other TL cake I’ve made. I love this milk mixture, my biggest complaint with my previous tres leches cakes was that the milk was just a little too sweet but this one is perfect. This pairs perfectly with “Sturdy Whipped Cream Frosting” on Allrecipes, I’ve found that this recipe rarely needs the sugar with most cakes, I added the sweetened condensed milk so I didn’t waste it, and left out the almond extract. I will definitely follow this recipe again.

      Reply
    5. Shirley Jeffers says

      April 08, 2023 at 7:14 am

      Can you make a layered cake with this recipe?

      Reply
    6. Lis says

      June 24, 2023 at 8:23 pm

      I’m curious why no one calls for mango papaya that a lot of the tres Leche cakes you buy. It says all the fruit that no one I know uses

      Reply
    7. Kimberly Goodwin says

      September 25, 2023 at 8:10 am

      I would like to make this cake including refrigerator soaking 2 days in advance for a birthday. So I’m done with the whole recipe 1 day before, your advice please 🙏 🙂

      Reply
    « Older Comments

    Leave a Reply to Hannah Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe Rating




    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

    Primary Sidebar

    D. Cullen Profile Picture

    Hola, I am Douglas. Let me share my love of Mexican Cuisine with you that developed over 20+ years of living in Mexico.

    More about me →


    Most Popular Recipes

    • Classic Salsa Verde
    • Bowl of Mexican Restaurant Style Salsa
      Restaurant Style Salsa
    • Bowl of Traditional Mexican Sopa de Fideo
      Traditional Sopa de Fideo
    • Bowl of Authentic Red Pozole
      Red Pork Pozole
    • Bowl of Chicken Tinga
      Chicken Tinga
    • Agua de Jamaica
    • Tres Leches Cake with Berries
      Tres Leches Cake
    • Beet Salad Citrus Balsamic Vinaigrette Recipe
      Beet Salad with Feta Cheese and Citrus Balsamic Viniagrette
    • Cheese Enchiladas with Red Enchilada Sauce
      Red Enchilada Sauce
    • Authentic Mole Poblano
      Mole Poblano

    Footer

    ↑ back to top

    About

    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms & Conditions

    Newsletter

    • Sign Up! for emails and updates

    Contact

    • Contact

    As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.

    Copyright © 2021 Mexico Publishing LLC