What better way to finish off your romantic evening than with a delicious dessert. Whether you are looking for the perfect last course to share with those you love or to send the ultimate message of love this Valentine’s Day, this is the recipe for you. This cake is super moist and beautifully sweet. It is the perfect dessert to impress and to show how much you care!
Make the holiday extra special with this Tres leches Cake. Valentine’s day is the perfect excuse to indulge in this delicious dessert. The best part about it is that it tastes even better the next day, making it the ideal recipe. 
What’s a Tres Leches Cake?
Tres leches translate to Three milk. A Tres Leches Cake is a light, airy cake soaked with a mixture of three kinds of milk. This is very popular in Latin America, especially in Mexico. This is one of my favorite cakes. It is a rich, moist and delicious dessert for any occasion.
Making a Tres Leches Cake is very simple. It has three components to it: Cake, the three milk mixture and the toppings.
Cake: The most important part is the actual cake. This cake is so soft and fluffy, making it easier to soak the three kinds of milk. The trick on making this cake so spongy relies on the eggs. It’s essential to separate the egg yolks from the whites. Another important ingredient is flour. In this recipe, I used this cake flour because I believe it makes the cake very fluffy. However, regular flour works as well.
Milk Mixture: The cake is soaked into a perfect combination of three kinds of milk. In this recipe, I used evaporated milk, condensed milk, and media crema.
Topping: the final touch to this delicious cake is the toppings. In this recipe, I covered the cake with homemade whipped cream and some cherries.
Ingredients to make the cake:
- Flour All-purpose flour or cake flour
- Baking powder
- Salt
- Eggs (room temperature)
- Granulated sugar
- Vanilla extract
- Whole milk
The tres leches combination:
- 1 (12oz) evaporated milk)
- 9 oz sweetened condensed milk (of a 14oz can)
- 1 (7.6oz) media crema (table cream)
Homemade whipped cream:
- Heavy cream
- Granulated sugar
To garnish:
- Cherries (make sure to drain well the sirup)
How to make Tres Leches Cake:
Preheat oven to 350-degree Fahrenheit. Next, lightly spray or spread some butter and flour in a 9×13” baking pan. Then, in two separate mixing bowls, separate egg whites from yolks.
Add sugar to the egg yolks, and with an electric hand mixer or stand mixer, mix on high until egg yolks go from a bright yellow to a pale yellow color.
*Rinse the hand mixer because you are going to need it later on.
Then, add whole milk and vanilla extract to the egg yolk mixture and combine using a spatula. Set aside.
The next step is using the hand mixer again. Mix the egg whites until stiff peaks are formed and set aside.
Next, proceed to sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt
Pour the egg yolk mixture into the flour and gently mix using a spatula until well combined.
Then, gently pour the egg white mixture into the batter. It’s essential to handle this with care by using the spatula with soft and gentle strokes until combined.
Now pour the batter into the baking pan and place it in the oven. Bake for about 30 to 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Remove from the oven and allow the cake to cool down completely.
Now that the cake has cooled down, let’s prepare the three kinds of milk:
Add evaporated milk, condensed milk, and cream and whisk until well combined in a mixing bowl. Proceed to pour it over the cake. Make sure to pour around the edges of the cake and all around it. Place the cake in the refrigerator allowing the cake to soak all the milk. About 30 minutes or better yet, overnight!
Next, let’s prepare the toppings
Combine heavy cream and sugar and mix for about 2 minutes or until stiff peaks are formed. Then using a spatula, spread the whipped cream over the top of the cake.
Garnish with some cherries and enjoy!
Below you will find an easily printable recipe card. Please, feel free to leave any comments and/or suggestions. I would be delighted to hear from you all.
Until the next one…
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Tres Leches Cake
Ingredients
Ingredients to make the cake:
- 1 cup flour all- purpose or (cake flour)
- 1½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 5 large eggs (room temperature)
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ⅓ cup whole milk
The tres leches combination:
- 1 (12oz) evaporated milk
- 1 (9oz) sweetened condensed milk (of a 14oz can)
- 1 (7.6oz) media crema (table cream) ( or 1/2 cup heavy cream)
Homemade whipped cream:
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 2 ½ tablespoon granulated sugar (or powdered sugar)
To garnish:
- 1 cup cherries (make sure to drain well the sirup)
Instructions
How to make Tres Leches Cake:
- Preheat oven to 350-degree Fahrenheit. Next, lightly spray or spread some butter and flour in a 9×13” baking pan. Then, in two separate mixing bowls separate egg whites from yolks.
- Add sugar to egg yolks and with a hand mixer or stand mixer mix on high until egg yolks go from a bright yellow to a pale yellow color.
- *Rinse the hand mixer because you are going to need it later on.
- Then, add whole milk and vanilla to the egg yolk mixture and combine using a spatula. Set aside.
- The next step is using the hand mixer again. Mix the egg whites until stiff peaks are formed and set aside.
- Pour the egg yolk mixture into the flour and gently mix using a spatula until well combined.
- Then, gently pour the egg white mixture into the flour mixture. It’s very important to handle this with care by using the spatula with soft and gentle strokes until combined.
- Now pour the batter into the baking pan and place in the oven. Bake for about 30 to 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Remove from the oven and allow the cake to completely cool down.
- Now that the cake has cooled down, let’s prepare the three kinds of milk:
- In a mixing bowl, add evaporated milk, condensed milk, and cream and whisk until well combined. Proceed to pour it over the cake. Make sure to pour around the edges of the cake and all around it. Place the cake in the refrigerator allowing the cake to soak all the milk. About 30 minutes or better yet overnight!
- Next, let’s prepare the toppings
- Combine heavy cream and sugar and mix for about 2 minutes or until stiff peaks are formed. Then using a spatula spread the whipped cream over the top of the cake.
Nutrition
*Nutritional Disclaimer: Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.
If you give this recipe a try, let me know! Leave a comment, rate it, and do not forget to tag your pictures to #asimpletweakrecipes on Instagram. Make sure to pin it on your favorite Pinterest board:)
Enjoy!!!!!
