Tres leches cake

What better brand to work with to bring you a Tres Leches cake than Milk Life: Lo Que Nos Hace Fuertes

If you've never had or made a Tres Leches Cake, prepare to be amazed! It's a light yellow cake, soaked in a sweet blend of 3 types of milk (thus the name) and topped with a meringue icing. Tres Leches Cake does take a little bit of time to make, but the end result is completely worth it!

Growing up in a Cuban household, Tres Leches Cake was a special treat that I'm happy to share with my children now. Although it didn't start out as a Cuban dessert, we've adopted it and it's become a favorite of Cuban families! My kids' favorite way to enjoy it is always paired with a big glass of milk. There's something about the rich cake that goes so perfectly with just a glass of plain cold milk!

Both my son and daughter are big milk drinkers. They actually only drink milk and water and I'm good with that knowing that milk has the essential nutrients to help them grow strong! Tres leches cake is definitely a rich indulgence so a small piece paired with a hearty glass of milk is something that the kids get so excited for!

So tres leches has 3 main components; the actual cake, the 3 milks syrup, and the icing. Because it has multiple parts is the reason that it does take a bit of time to make.

So here's how you make it:

Combine the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt in a large bowl.

Here's where you might say "nah, this is too much"… keep going! I promise you'll be happy you did! You're going to need to separate the eggs. If you have trouble with this, just crack the egg into a small bowl, then pour the entire egg into the palm of your hand and let the whites run through your fingers while you hold on to the yolk. HERE is a video on a cool way to try the egg separating thing. (Let me know if you try it!)

After cracking the eggs, you'll add some sugar to the bowl with the egg whites, and some sugar, milk and vanilla to the bowl with the yolks and beat both separately.

Everything then gets added to the dry ingredients, combined, and then poured into a prepared baking dish.

The cake then gets baked and then stabbed all over with toothpicks to allow the liquid to absorb more evenly.

Now here comes the best part! The part that makes a tres leches, a tres (3) leches (milks). Milk pretty much makes anything better with it's creaminess but combine it with condensed milk and evaporated milk and it makes this cake insanely creamy and moist!

After the milk soaks in, you can frost the cake with the meringue icing. The icing is made with egg whites and cooked sugar. It sounds complicated but it's actually pretty easy. You just cook the water and sugar together then add it slowly to the egg whites. It makes THE BEST icing ever!!

You can top the cake with cherries if you'd like!

Here's my daughter clearly enjoying a piece of tres leches! She actually doesn't like chocolate (what?!) so when I make a cake that's chocolate-free, she's in heaven! This tres leches is a particularly huge hit with both my kids! My son happened to be sick when I took these photos so he was behind me pouting lol.

And there's that big ol' glass of milk, always by her side! Most young children in the US don't get enough calcium, vitamin D, and potassium and since milk is the top food source for these nutrients, I'm always happy to pour more milk for my kiddos!

Embedded content: https://youtu.be/GQKsz-4GCBQ

Tres Leches Cake

A fluffy yellow cake, soaked in 3 milks (whole milk, condensed milk, and evaporated milk), topped with a rich meringue icing.

Course Dessert

Cuisine Cuban

Keyword Cuban Dessert, tres leches, tres leches cake

Prep Time 30 minutes

Cook Time 50 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 20 minutes

Author Coco and Ash

Ingredients

FOR THE CAKE

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1.5 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 5 large eggs (separated)
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1 cup sugar (divided)

FOR THE 3 MILKS

• 1 cup whole milk
• 1 can sweetened condensed milk (14 ounces)
• 1 can evaporated milk (12 ounces)

FOR THE MERINGUE ICING

• 4 large egg WHITES
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup water
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

FOR THE CAKE

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and Spray a 9 x 13" pan with non-stick spray.
2. Combine the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt in a large bowl. 
3. Separate the eggs. If you have trouble with this, just crack the egg into a small bowl, then pour the entire egg into the palm of your hand and let the whites run through your fingers while you hold on to the yolk. 
4. Add the yolks to a medium bowl and add in ¾ cup of sugar. Beat with a hand mixer until they are pale yellow. Add in the milk and vanilla extract and beat one more time just until combined. 
5. Add the egg yolk mixture to the flour mixture and gently stir with a spatula until combined. 
6. Beat the egg whites and 1/4 cup sugar on high speed until you see soft peaks (about 3-4 minutes on high). 
7. Add the egg white mixture to the batter and stir gently until combined. 
8. Pour the batter into the prepared baking dish and bake for 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.

 

FOR THE 3 MILKS

1. Combine the whole milk, condensed milk, and evaporated milk and whisk together. Pour over the warm cake and allow to soak in while you make the icing. (I put it in the fridge while I make the icing)

FOR THE MERINGUE

1. Add the sugar and water to a saucepan and cook (without stirring) until it reaches the "soft ball stage" or between 234 – 240 degrees. 
2. While the sugar is coming up to temperature, beat the egg whites on high speed in a either stand mixer with the whisk attachment or use a hand mixer. 
3. When the sugar reaches the soft-ball stage. Slowly pour it into the egg whites mixture while continuing to beat. 
4. Add in the vanilla and beat until just combined. Store in the fridge until ready to use. 
5. Once the cake is cooled, you can ice the cake by just spreading it evenly over the entire cake. Garnish with maraschino cherries if you'd like! Serve cold.

Recipe Notes

Ok this is totally cheating but I won't tell if you don't:

If you're short on time, you can totally sub a yellow cake mix for the cake recipe. This cake recipe does come out very light and fluffy as the authentic version should be but I'll never judge anyone for saving some time if you need to! (I won't say a word) 🙂 

Mindy Fewless writes Coco and Ash; a blog created for families who enjoy comfort food, cooking with or for their children, and for those who enjoy the simplicity of an uncomplicated, family recipe.