Tres Leches [Video+Recipe] Three-Milk Cake

Pastel tres leches (three-milk cake) recipe.

Tres Leches [Video+Recipe] Three-Milk Cake

There's a good reason this tres leches (three-milk cake) is impossible to resist and so very popular. Try this rich cake, with a marvelous frosting on top, served in a pool of sweet creamy sauce and find out.

Course Dessert

Cuisine Dominican, Latino

Keyword dominican tres leches cake, three milk cake recipe easy, three milk dessert, tres leches dominican recipe, tres leches en ingles

Prep Time 1 15

Cook Time 35

Resting time 2

Total Time 3 50

Servings portions

Calories 565kcal

Author Clara Gonzalez

Ingredients

For prepping pan

1 tablespoon salted butter to grease pan
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour to dust pan

To make batter

3 egg (medium) eggs and yolks separated
1 cup sugar (white, granulated) [187 g], divided
1⅓ cup all-purpose flour [140 g]
1 teaspoon baking powder
¾ stick salted butter [173 g] at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For garnishing

1¼ cup evaporated milk [296 ml]
½ cup skim milk [237 ml]
¾ cup condensed milk [177 ml]
¾ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup whipping cream
½ cup powdered white sugar [100 g]
1 tablespoon cream cheese
Strawberries or cherries for decoration (optional)

Instructions

1. Prepping

Grease with butter and dust with flour a baking pan (3" height x 9" diameter [7.5 cm high x 22.5 cm diam]).
Heat oven to 350 °F [175 °C].

2. Whipping egg whites

Using the wire whisk of your mixer beat the whites until they form peaks, starting at low speed, then increasing in a few seconds.
Add half the sugar and beat until it forms firm peaks and it's shiny. Set aside.

3. Sifting flour

Mix flour and baking powder and sift. Set aside.

4. Making batter

Using the paddle attachment of your mixer beat butter and yolks for 3 minutes at medium-high speed.
Add the remaining sugar and beat until it is light and fluffy and has a very light yellow color (about 5 mins).
Add vanilla extract, then slowly add the flour in three parts, beating until the flour is thoroughly combined before adding another third.
⚠️ Once all the flour has been added and mixed in, it will be very thick, with consistency between batter and cookie dough. That's OK.
Add ⅓ of the egg whites. Using a spatula, fold the egg whites into the batter. Add the remaining white in two steps folding in each time with the spatula.
⚠️ At this point, it'll be a smooth batter with a lot of air incorporated.

5. Baking

Pour the batter into the baking pan.
Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and it has a golden color on top (about 30 mins).

6. Removing from mold

Cool to room temperature before removing from the pan. Cut the crust.
Place on a lipped plate that can hold the milk sauce.

7. Mixing sauce

Mix evaporated, skim, and condensed milk. Mix in the vanilla extract.

8. Soaking the cake

Pour the milk mixture on top of the cake and let it soak in. Bathing it regularly until it has absorbed half of the liquid (one to two hours) keeping it in the refrigerator all this time.
You can make the topping while it chills.

9. Making the topping

If you are going to use suspiro as the topping, use this recipe.
If you will use whipped cream as the topping, chill the mixer bowl and wire whisk for at least half an hour beforehand (or 20 minutes in the freezer).
Whisk the whipping cream over medium-high speed until it starts to form peaks (about 3 mins).
Add the powdered sugar and cream cheese (see notes) and whisk until it is mixed in and has formed firm peaks, but careful not to overdo it, or the cream will turn into butter.

10. Decorating

Spread the whipped cream on the chilled cake and decorate with strawberries or cherries.

11. Serving and storing

Keep refrigerated until serving.
⚠️ Best consumed within 24 hours.

Video

Notes

Adding a bit of cream cheese to the whipped cream prevents it from collapsing and maintains its consistency for longer.

Nutrition