Tres Leches Cake has a soft and ultra-moist crumb. It is soaked with a 3 milk mixture and topped with a lightly sweetened whipped cream. This is an authentic Tres Leches Cake recipe and the best we have tried. It beats any store-bought version all day long!
We love the simple, crowd-pleasing desserts that come together in a casserole dish like classic Tiramisu, our popular Strawberry Pretzel Salad, and of course this easy Tres Leches Cake. They are easy to make and perfect to bring to potlucks and parties. They transfer well and are always the first to disappear.
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What is Tres Leches Cake?
Tres Leches is a popular authentic Mexican cake. I am a fan of moist cakes and this Tres Leches Cake blew me away. The syrup is made of – you guessed it – tres leches (which means three kinds of milk). You poke holes into the cake before pouring over the syrup so every bite is decadently moist. The cake is rich but has a light feel to it and is balanced by the lightly sweetened whipped cream. We even bravely turned it into a Layered Tres Leches Cake!
My cousin Katerina sent me this Tres Leches Cake recipe a (long) while back and I finally found time to make it. It was adapted from the Pioneer Woman.
Tres Leches Ingredients:
This recipe calls for very simple ingredients, most of which are refrigerator and pantry staples. It has 3 kinds of milk poured over the cake: evaporated milk, heavy whipping cream, and sweetened condensed milk. It’s topped with a 2-ingredient whipped cream frosting. We love adding fresh berries like strawberries and raspberries over the top for a prettier presentation.
Tips for the Best Tres Leches Cake:
- Watch the video tutorial below before beginning to gauge the process and tools needed before starting.
- Measure dry and wet ingredients correctly. For the flour, spoon it into dry ingredients measuring cup and level off the top.
- Cold eggs are easier to separate into whites and yolks.
- Fold the batter with a spatula just until it is well incorporated then stop. Do not overmix since the cake relies on the volume of the eggs to rise.
- While cooling the cake to room temperature, avoid any outdoor draft. Any egg-based cake can take on an “eggy” aroma if it gets outdoor air.
- Let the cake rest 30 min after pouring on the syrup so it can absorb every drop.
- Bake in a ceramic or glass casserole dish for the best rise and it’s easier to serve right out of the casserole dish.
Answering Your Burning Questions:
How long does tres leches cake last? You can fully assemble and make a tres leches cake 1 to 2 days ahead. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Add fresh berries just before serving, especially if berries are sliced.
Is Tres Leches supposed to be soggy? It is supposed to be very moist. The cake base is a sponge cake so it takes on the generous amount of syrup without getting soggy. This is why I avoid using a boxed white cake mix which can quickly become “soggy” since it’s not meant to absorb liquid.
Can Tres Leches Cake be frozen? You can make the cake base ahead of time. Allow the cake to cool to room temperature then cover the casserole dish tightly with a couple of layers of plastic wrap and freeze the tres leches cake base up to 2 months. Thaw the cake in the refrigerator overnight or on the counter before using it. It is not recommended to freeze the cake once the syrup and frosting are added.
How to Make Tres Leches Cake:
- Preheat oven to 350°F and butter a casserole dish. Set up 3 mixing bowls.
- Sift the dry ingredients into the first bowl. Separate egg whites and yolks into the other 2 bowls.
- Using an electric hand mixer beat yolks with 3/4 cup sugar on high speed, until pale yellow (2 min). Stir in 1/3 cup milk and vanilla.
- With clean and dry egg beaters, beat whites on high speed until soft peaks form (1 min). With the mixer on, add remaining 1/4 cup sugar and beat on high speed until whites are stiff but not dry (1 min).
- Pour egg yolk mixture over the flour mixture and use a spatula to blend together. Gently fold in egg white mixture until just combined. Pour batter into prepared casserole and bake 30-35 minutes.
- When the cake has cooled, pierce all over with a fork and slowly drizzle on the 3-milks mixture. Let rest 30 minutes then top with whipped cream and berries.
This has to be one of the moistest cakes around. It goes down easy and you’ll savor every bite. Make this for your next party and you will become known for your Tres Leches recipe!
Our Best Potluck Desserts:
If you’re looking for more party favorite desserts that are simple to make, transport well and can even be made ahead, you will love these dessert recipes.
- Strawberry Pretzel Salad – A dangerously good jello dessert
- Tiramisu – a no-bake authentic Italian dessert
- Baklava – this can even be frozen months ahead
- Chocolate Cake – with the best chocolate frosting
- Mini Caramel Cheesecakes – beautiful and so easy
- Fruit Salad – a healthy “dessert” with honey syrup
Watch Natasha Make this Tres Leches Cake:
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Tres Leches Cake Recipe
Ingredients
Ingredients:
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 5 eggs, (large)
- 1 cup sugar, divided into 3/4 and 1/4 cups
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup whole milk
Syrup:
- 12 oz evaporated milk
- 9 oz sweetened condensed milk
- 1/3 cup heavy whipping cream
Frosting:
- 2 cups heavy whipping cream
- 2 Tbsp granulated sugar
- 1 cup berries, to garnish, optional
Instructions
How to Make Tres Leches Cake Base:
- Preheat the oven to 350 °F and butter a 9x13 casserole pan. Set up three mixing bowls.
- In a large bowl, sift together 1 cup flour, 1 1/2 tsp baking powder, and 1/4 salt. Separate egg whites and yolks into the other two bowls.
- Beat egg yolks with 3/4 cup sugar with an electric mixer on high speed, until yolks are a pale yellow (2 minutes). Stir in 1/3 cup milk and 1 tsp vanilla.
- Beat egg whites on high speed until soft peaks form (1 minute). With the mixer on, pour in remaining 1/4 cup sugar and beat on high speed until egg whites are stiff but not dry (1 minute)
- Pour egg yolk mixture over the flour mixture and combine gently with a spatula.
- Gently fold in egg white mixture with the spatula until just combined. Pour batter into prepared pan and spread to even out the surface and bake at 350˚F for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
For the 3-Milk Syrup:
- In a large measuring cup (or a bowl with a pouring lip), combine 1/3 cup heavy whipping cream, 12 oz evaporated milk and 9 oz condensed milk. When the cake is cool, pierce the surface all over with a fork. Slowly drizzle the milk mixture over the cake.
To Make the Whipped Cream Frosting:
- Pour 2 cups cold heavy whipping cream and 2 Tbsp sugar into a large chilled mixing bowl and beat on high speed 1 1/2 to 2 minutes or until thick, whipped and spreadable. Spread over the cake with a spatula then decorate with berries if desired.
Nutrition Per Serving
If you make this recipe, I’d love to see pics of your creations on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter! Hashtag them #natashaskitchen
We first published this recipe in 2011. We updated the photos and recipe Dec 2019, baking and serving out of a casserole dish and adding a little more evaporated milk to achieve that signature moistness of an authentic tres leches cake. Here is what the original photo looked like:
Hi. Great recipe. I had a question about evaporated milk. What size of can do you use? The bigger or the smaller one? I used 3/4 can of a bigger can (12 oz) hopefully it wont be too much. Thanks.
It is the 12 oz can. Let me know how you like the recipe 🙂
I love it, ate most of the cake my self in a few days! Ooppss!!
But my hubby said that it was to moist, that’s why I was thinking that the 12 oz of evap. milk was too much?
I’m glad you loved it 🙂 Did you use the whole can or 3/4 of the can? You can always use less and make it less moist.
This cake is awesome.
I never ate homemade. I going to make it.
Thanks for recipe.
You’re welcome. Enjoy it!
I tried this recipe twIce already and came accross the same 2 problems both times, even tho I really tried to make it perfectly the second time without missing any steps so I don’t know what I did wrong :/ first the cake rose really nicely in the oven but when it was done and I took it out it flattened some so it wasn’t as nice and tall and fluffy… Any idea why? And second it ended up being too soggy even with the reduction of the syrup and wiping away the extra syrup on the platter, the finished product was more soggy than moist so it was kinda interesting.. Something Im doing wrong maybe?
I hope you are aren’t discouraged. I think you are getting a cake that’s too moist because it’s not rising correctly. Try a little less syrup next time. You may not be beating your egg whites for the right amount of time. They should be fluffy but not too stiff. If you over or under beat them, you will end up with a flatter cake. Also, what kind of baking dish are you using? I’ve had better results in my metal one. I’m not sure why it would go down after rising in the oven so well. Try leave it in a few extra minutes Your oven may take a little longer to bake it.
Just made this cake! wow, it’s like eating air (if forget about all the calories hehe 🙂 it’s really really delicious!!!! Will make again! Thanks, Natasha!
Awesome! I’m so glad you enjoyed it! 🙂
hi 🙂
Do you happen to know of a frosting that is pretty stiff and will hold any design and is not buttercream frosting?
Hmmm, that’s a tough one. The frosting from the roulade is pretty stiff, but has cool whip in it. A chantilly frosting would be the next best thing I have, but it’s not really that stiff. I guess I should ask, what are you trying to accomplish with the frosting?
Here’s a good one that my sister has been making and I haven’t posted. It’s very good, but again, not sure if it’s stiff enough for your purposes:
Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting:
8oz Cream cheese with 1 cup powdered sugar – beat well till smooth.
Beat heavy cream in a very cold bowl till whipped.
Fold cream cheese mix into heavy cream and add vanilla to taste (1 tsp)
I wanted to make a ruffled cake but really dont like the buttercream frosting. I was wondering if there was a yummy, yet stiff enough frosting to accomplish that.
I don’t know if any of my creams are stiff enough to accomplish that but it does sound wonderful. Let me know if you find something good!
Also, how much heavy cream for your sister’s frosting?
Sorry it’s 1 cup
I updated (improved) the recipe to be 1/3 cup heavy cream for the syrup instead of 1/2 cup. Also, I included notes about wiping down the platter with paper towels after you let it soak in for at least 30 minutes. I use up two paper towels to soak up the extra syrup that wasn’t absorbed by the cake.
This looks amazing, I will have to try it.
This looks Ahh-mazing! I LOVE tres leches cakes from the store, but nothing beats a homemade cake. I want to make this in 2 weeks for my sons 1st Birthday 🙂 Is it really moist? I like it moist … mmmm… can’t wait to try it! Thanks for posting this 🙂
Yes it is super moist!! I have to wipe the cake platter with 1 to 2 paper towels afterward because it’s so moist!! You will love it!
Natasha,
Do you think this cake will be able to withstand layers? if i make this two tiered for a birthday cake? Or you think it should remain in sheet cake form?
I have never tried that. I think it will be too heavy for a layer cake. It can still be a single layer bday cake 🙂
Natasha, I made this cake just as written and it turned out to be very soggy is that how its supposed to be, or was I not supposed to use all the syrup? Also I’m not sure what I’m doing wrong but I’ve tried a couple recipes from your site and I always end up having alot of extra frosting left over. Thanks for you help : )
You can always use less of the syrup. I usually wipe away the extra syrup and it soaks up a paper towel. As far as frosting – I love homemade frosting and lots of it!! Im pretty generous when frosting my cakes so I guess that is just my preference. This recipe is very easy to reduce the amount if you wanted to. Hope that helps 😉
Best Coffee cake EVER!
For Cake-
■1-1/2 stick Butter, Softened
■2 cups Scant Sugar
■3 cups Flour, Sifted
■4 teaspoons Baking Powder
■1 teaspoon Salt
■1-1/4 cup Whole Milk
■3 whole Egg Whites, Beaten Until Stiff
Topping-
■1-1/2 stick Butter, Softened
■3/4 cups Flour
■1-1/2 cup Brown Sugar
■2 Tablespoons Cinnamon
■1-1/2 cup Pecans, Chopped
Directions-
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Beat egg whites and set aside.
Cream butter and sugar. Add flour mixture and milk alternately until combined. Don’t overbeat. Fold in beaten egg whites with a rubber spatula. Spread in a well-greased 9 x 13 (or LARGER!) baking pan. A cake pan with higher sides would be best.
In a separate bowl, combine topping ingredients with a pastry cutter until crumbly. Sprinkle all over the top.
Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, or until no longer jiggly. Serve warm—delicious!
Posted by Ree on June 17 2010
Can’t wait to try it. Thank you!!!
I wanted to make something easy and light today for a family get-together–and this came to mind. Will give it a try and let you know how it turns out. It looks delicious–thanks for posting :).
The cake was AMAZING!! Thanks for the recipe!!
Thank you Yana – I’m so glad you enjoyed it. 🙂
Can you please post some chicken quesidilas!:))))))))))))
Excited to make the cake! I havent baked a cake in a while and this one looks so good and at the same time easy to make! Thanks
This cake turned out absolutely delicious!!! Thanks for posting such a wonderful recipe. I love the fact that it’s so moist and it feels so light. That way I don’t feel guilty eating half the cake on my own :))
Thats how I felt too 🙂 I’m happy you enjoyed it!
I made this cake for a party and it was a big hit! Everyone loved it. Thanks for posting this recipe.
That’s awesome!! I’m always happy to hear a good report about a recipe. This recipe was shared with me and I’m happy to pass it on 🙂
To Irina: I found that previously frozen whipping cream will not thicken when whipped and “extra heavy” whipping cream gets very nice and creamy, much thicker than regular whipping cream. Hope that helps too 🙂
tried the cake and it was delicious!!! my new favorite now. I had a hard time with the frosting. It would not thicken. What brand of whipping cream did you use for the frosting?
Did you freeze the bowl and the whisk attachments and keep the whipping cream in the fridge until you used it? The key is to keep things very cold.
Looks so yummy…debating whether to make this one or the napolian cake tonight for the hubby and kids:) Thanks for posting Natasha!
Natasha, I just served a store-bought tres leches cake last weekend at my husband’s b-day party and thought I should find a home-made recipe and ta-da: you read my mind!!! Can’t wait to try this one out. I tell everybody about your website, most of the dishes I served at the party were from here. (Everyone especially liked the chicken mushroom cassarole) 🙂 Love the pictures and clear directions, thanks for taking the time and effort to share such great recipes. 🙂