TRES LECHES – HEAVENLY 3 MILK CAKE!
Anyone who knows me knows that I have huge love affair of cake – any kind of cake, well almost any. Tres Leches Cake is one of my absolute favorites. I recently celebrated my birthday with an early dinner at an amazing local Taqueria and I just had to order their Tres Leches. Let me tell you it was the BEST I have ever had and I just had to make my own recipe. For my tres leches I start with a homemade oil free and butter free sponge cake recipe. That is the key friends – you want to a sponge cake that is quite dry so that it’s able to soak up the delicious 3 milk mixture and still remain light and moist without falling apart and being mushy – you want you cake to still have some girth to it! I finish my cake off with a barely sweetened homemade whipped cream. I really hope you enjoy my recipe – please leave your comments below and share the love of tres leches #borroweddelights!!
Tres Leches Cake
Ingredients
- Sponge Cake
- 1 cup cake flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 4 eggs separated
- 2/3 cups sugar divided
- 1/3 cup milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- The 3 Milks
- 1 – 14oz can sweetened condensed milk
- 1 – 12 oz can evaporated milk
- 1/3 cup half and half OR whole milk
- Whipped Cream Topping
- 2 cups heavy whipping cream
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- For the cake: Place egg yolks and 1/3 cup of sugar into the bowl of a stand mixer. Beat on medium speed until pale in color and thick – about 3 minutes.
- Add milk and vanilla and mix to combine.
- Sift in cake flour, baking powder and salt. Stir in ingredients until just combined and then set aside. In a separate bowl and using clean beaters, beat egg whites on medium high speed until they become frothy.
- Slowly add in remaining 1/3 cup of sugar while continuing to beat egg whites. Continue beating until egg whites hold a stiff peak and are glossy.
- Fold a third of your egg whites into your batter until combined.
- Add the remaining egg whites and fold until combined and there are no streaks of white.
- Pour batter into a greased 9 by 13 inch square baking dish.
- Bake in preheated oven for 30-40 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean and cake is springy to the touch.
- Remove cake from oven and allow to cool in pan for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes invert cake onto cooling rack and cool completely to room temperature. Once cake is fully cooled place it back into pan used to bake it, with the bottom facing up. IF UNABLE TO REMOVE CAKE, ALLOW IT TO COOL COMPLETELY IN BAKING PAN.
- Using a fork poke the entire surface of the cake.
- Place ‘the 3 milk’ ingredients into a large mixing bowl, stir together using a wired whisk until fully combined.
- Pour milk mixture slowly and evenly over the entire surface of the cake.
- Place cake in fridge for at least 30 minutes to allow the milk mixture to fully soak through.
- To make the topping, place the ‘whipped cream topping’ ingredients into the bowl of a standing mixer and beat on medium speed until cream holds stiff peaks.
- Spread whipped cream over the cake.
- Slice cake and serve with fresh strawberries or dusting of cinnamon.
