Tres leches cake sits somewhere at the intersection of custard and cake, its luscious texture able to please lovers of both. In Spanish the dessert’s name means “three milks,” referring to the combination of condensed milk, evaporated milk, and heavy whipping cream poured over the cake after it comes out of the oven. Several Latin American communities, including those from Mexico and Nicaragua, claim the dessert as their own, but its origin story is murky at best. The roots of milk cake can be traced back to medieval England, when cooks would often soak stale cake to make trifle, extending its shelf life.
In this version from Alma, a now-closed Dallas area Mexican restaurant, an otherwise classic tres leches cake recipe includes a fourth leche—whole milk—beaten into the sponge cake batter for good measure. The cake will absorb most of the rum-laced soak if you give it time, but if there’s any remaining sauce, spoon it over the top before you serve it.
This tres leches cake is delicious as is, but if you want to decorate it for a party, you could frost the top of the cake with sweetened whipped cream or gild it with sliced strawberries, mangoes, or kiwis.
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What you’ll need
Stand Mixer
$330 $240 At Amazon
Electric Mixer
$40 At Amazon
3-Qt. Baking Dish
$17 At Amazon
Whisk
$10 At Amazon
Large Bowl
$18 At Amazon
Medium Bowl
$17 At Amazon
Measuring Cups and Spoons Set
$13 $12 At Amazon
Recipe information
Total Time
90 minutes
Yield
16 servings
Ingredients
Cake
1½
1
¼
3
1½
2
½
Soak and Assembly
1
1
1
1
½
Preparation
Cake
Step 1
Preheat oven to 350°. Butter and flour bottom and sides of a glass 13x9" baking dish. Whisk 1½ cups (188 g) all-purpose flour, 1 Tbsp. baking powder, and ¼ tsp. ground cinnamon in a medium bowl to combine.
Step 2
Beat the whites from 3 large eggs (reserve the yolks) plus 3 large egg whites in a large bowl with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form, 7–8 minutes. Gradually beat in 1½ cups (300 g) sugar. Add 3 large egg yolks one at a time, beating to blend between additions. Beat in 2 tsp. vanilla extract. Add one-third of the flour mixture, followed by ¼ cup whole milk. Repeat with ½ the remaining dry ingredients and the remaining ¼ cup whole milk. Add the rest of the flour mixture and beat just to combine. Pour batter into prepared pan and smooth the top with an offset spatula.
Step 3
Bake 25 minutes, then reduce heat to 325° and continue baking until cake is golden brown and middle springs back when pressed, 20–25 minutes more. Let cake cool in pan for 15 minutes.
Soak and Assembly
Step 4
Whisk 1 cup heavy cream, 1 cup evaporated skim milk, 1 cup sweetened condensed milk, 1 Tbsp. dark rum, and ½ tsp. vanilla extract in a medium bowl. Poke holes all over top of cake with a skewer or toothpick. Slowly drizzle half of the milk mixture over cake, letting liquid soak in before adding more. Let cake sit for 10 minutes.
Step 5
Invert a platter on top of cake. Lift rack and gently invert cake onto platter. Drizzle remaining sauce over. Spoon any liquid collected on sheet over cake.
Do ahead: Tres leches cake can be made 2 days ahead; refrigerate, covered, in baking pan.
Editor’s note: This tres leches cake recipe was first printed in our July 2012 issue. Head this way for more of our favorite cake recipes →
Nutrition Per Serving
Leave a Review
Reviews (367)
Back to TopFor me the tres leche cake turned out fabulous but when I cooked it at 350 for 25 minutes my cake was almost done and when I turned it down to 325 I did not cook it for another 25 minutes or it would have been way over cooked. I don't remember how much longer I cooked it and I just kept checking it by sticking cake tester in it and took it out of oven when tester came out clean. This cake if not overcooked is better than any Latino Bakery cake!!
remnant3333
Tennesee
6/8/2018
The cake's flavor was really good, just a tad too sweet. I agree with other reviewer: take the cake out after the first 25 minutes, the bottom of my cake actually burned a little. For some reason the cake did not rise as much as it should have. Not too be focusing on the cons, but the recipe was written in a confusing way and I was unsure what was included in "add milk in two additions" and what was included in "evaporated milk and remaining ingredients". When you make a tres leches cake you gotta be specific regarding the types of milk being used!! Lol
Anonymous
Ann Arbor, MI
1/21/2019
This is a very good tres leches cake with a cake base that is not too eggy. I reduced the sugar to 1/2 cup just so the cake is not overly sweet. I was a bit confused about when to stop beating. After making the cake and reading some other recipes, it indicated I should mix the flour and milk with a spatula. I think my cake turned out a bit flat because I kept mixing with the electric beater -heads up fellow non-experienced bakers!
FrancescaCarella
5/13/2019
BOMB. i use 1 cup of sugar instead of 1 and 1/s cup but still comes out bomb.
coleman909
Pinon Hills CA
1/7/2020
I'm confused. In the second paragraph (why oh why can't y'all separate the instructions into steps) it says alternate adding in 'the milk'. Then in the end of the recipe it says mix together the vanilla, evaporated milk, and 'remaining ingredients'. Is it saying to add the entirety of the whole milk into the batter and then later on in the recipe the other milks are used to soak the cake?
Anonymous
7/7/2020
This recipe was somewhat hard to follow because of unclear instructions. Step 2 says to alternate adding the “milk”. Which one? Since step 4 specified using the evaporated milk, I assumed step 2 was referring to all the other types (cream, condensed, whole). However, this was such an extraneous amount of liquid that my batter had the consistency of soup and I had to eyeball adding extra flour until the consistency seemed thick enough for a cake batter. I probably ended up using twice as much flour as the recipe called for. I was also confused about step 4’s instruction to add the “remaining ingredients”. Which ones? Lastly, I thought it was odd that unlike most tres leches cake recipes this one didn’t have a frosting. The cake seemed unfinished to me without one so I made a cinnamon vanilla buttercream to add on top. With these adjustments the cake turned out great but it was definitely very different than what this recipe would have ended up being. Clearer, more specific instructions would have been helpful.
Anonymous
Cincinnati, OH
1/23/2021
I’m so disappointed. This is not the first time a BA recipe has left me confused. I love your content. Please hire I proof reader. Seriously I look here first for recipes because the content is good but this is the first time that I have been screwed and wasted food because no one took time to read. Seriously. You took the time to make a great recipe take a day and have someone check it.
Emilee Greenhouse
8/7/2021