Tres Leches Cake

Posted: September 22, 2025 | Author: dana lange | Filed under: Uncategorized |Leave a comment

It was a friend’s birthday last week. I am in a small group that gets together a couple of times and we celebrate birthdays when we do. It was my time to bake the celebration cake. The baker and the type of cake are always a surprise, but we try and do something the birthday girl would like. Our group likes lemon and almond and those have been done a bunch. So I decided to make a Tres Leches Cake.

I have never made one before and frankly had only eaten one a couple of times so I didn’t have a lot of prior knowledge. I am not certain how true to Tres Leches this turned out, but the birthday girl gave it five stars out of five.

I am posting it here so I don’t forget how I made it.

I don’t speak Spanish, but I know Tres is three and Leches are milks. So to start you have to make the three milks component, which you are going to pour over the sheet cake to soak in.

1 14 oz. Can of sweetened condensed Milk

1 12 oz can of evaporated milk

1 cup of heavy cream

1 t. Vanilla

Pour the sweetened Condensed milk into a small sauce pan and place over a medium flame. Bring it to a boil, stirring with a rubber spatula. Once it comes to a boil turn into down to a tiny simmer and cook it, stirring, until the mixture darkens to a light caramel color and thickens up a little. It will take a few minutes. Add the vanilla and cook another 15 seconds to cook off the alcohol.

Remove from heat and slowly whisk in the Evaporated milk and then the heavy cream. Set the pan aside and bake the cake.

Grease a 9×13 pan. Preheat oven to 350°

Cake

1 stick of butter

1 c. Whole milk

2 t. vanilla

2 cups flour

2 t. Baking powder

1 t. Salt

1 t. Ground cinnamon

4 large eggs

2 c. Sugar

In a small sauce pan place the butter, milk and vanilla and set on medium heat. Cook until the butter is melted.

While that is heating mix the flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon in a container

In a stand mixer beat the eggs and once beaten start adding the sugar while the beater is on high about a 1/4 cup at a time. Once you have added all the sugar beat for 6 minutes.

After the eggs are beaten add the milk/melted butter and mix for 30 seconds. Then add half the flour and mix 30 second, the second half of flour and mix on medium slow until incorporated.

Pour the batter into the oblong pan and bake in the middle of the oven for 30-35 minutes.

When done let cake rest in the pan for ten Minutes. Remove cake from pan and place on platter because once this cake is soaked it can’t be moved.

Using a skewer, poke holes about 1 inch apart, but only half way through the thickness of the cake, all over he top of the cake. Slowly pour the three milks over the top of the cake so that it soaks into the holes. You may have some milk run down the sides of the cake which is fine.

Cover the cake and chill at least 3 hours, but overnight is better.

Whipped cream topping.

1 c. Heavy cream

1/4 c. Sugar.

In the stand mixer beat the heavy cream, adding a little sugar at a time until the cream forms peaks.

Spread the whipped cream over the top of the cake.

I also added sliced nectarines to make cake, which were a nice foil to the sweetness.

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