If you don’t like soggy cake, this is the recipe for you! This tres leches cake is lightly soaked in three milks and topped with fresh whipped cream and your choice of spices!
Honestly, I am not a big fan of tres leches and most of my Mexican family doesn’t care for it much either. It’s definitely a texture thing. But some people love soggy cake! Haha.
I wanted to recreate a tres leches cake I tried from Porto’s bakery a while ago. My in-laws brought it over and I almost didn’t try it because I knew I didn’t like tres leches. But they said it was their favorite cake ever so I tried it and they were right- it was amazing!
Why you’ll love this recipe
I love this cake because it is not too wet or soggy. I really dislike that texture. This cake is incredibly moist but not mushy, it’s incredibly light, and most importantly- not too sweet!
Another reason you’ll love this recipe is because it’s SUPER EASY. You don’t have to separate egg whites from yolks. No folding ingredients together with the fear of deflating or over-mixing.
Cake ingredients
Whole eggs
Sugar
Vanilla extract
Flour, baking powder, & salt
Milk
Three Milks ingredients
Heavy cream
Evaporated milk
Sweetened condensed milk
- Brandy- this is totally optional, but if you really want to make a Porto’s Tres Leches dupe, add the Brandy.
Helpful tips
Slowly add the three milks- after poking holes into the cakes, slowly drizzle the milk mixture over it as evenly as possible. Wait for it to soak everything up before adding more milk. This will make a huge difference in the distribution of the milks in the cake!
- Let the cake set in the fridge for a day- a minimum of 8 hours is required, but a whole day is recommended. The more time the cake has to soak the three milks, the better.
Equipment needed
Stand mixer- I use the Kitchenaid mixer but any stand mixture will work.
Can it be made without an electric stand mixer?
If you don’t have an electric stand mixer, you can still make this recipe with an electric hand mixer! It will just take a little bit longer.
More Cake Recipes
If you loved this cake, you should also try my Porto’s Milk ‘n Berries dupe or Mag’s Rum Cake!
The Milk ‘n Berries dupe is also a tres leches cake but it is a layered cake with fresh cream and berries inbetween.
The rum cake is TO DIE FOR- my sister’s friend Maggie made it for Christmas a couple years ago and she was kind enough to share her recipe.
They’re both SUPER easy like this one, and keeps well too!
Easy Tres Leches
Ingredients
Cake Ingredients
- 4 eggs room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour spooned, leveled, and sifted
- 1 1/4 cups sugar
- 1/2 cup milk
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
Three Milks Ingredients
- 12 oz evaporated milk
- 14 oz sweetened condensed milk
- 1/3 cup heavy cream 1 cup if you prefer a more traditional (wet) tres leches
- 1 tbsp Brandy optional
Whipped Cream Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
- 1 tbsp powdered sugar
- 1 tbsp your choice of flavored powders (cinnamon, pumpkin spice, espresso, matcha, etc)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Combine the eggs, sugar, and vanilla extract in an electric mixer with the whisk attachment. Mix on high for 10 minutes until it is pale yellow and & fluffy.*You can use an electric hand mixer as well, but it may take a little longer.
- Meanwhile, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Sift a few times to incorporate evenly throughout.
- After 10 minutes of mixing, reduce the speed to low and slowly add in the sifted flour mixture and milk, alternating a couple of times. Once you no longer see any flour, stop mixing. It should be thick enough to make distinct ribbons and you should see air bubbles in the mixture.
- Pour into a 9x13 baking or casserole dish.
- Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 25 minutes. You'll know the cake is done when you stick a toothpick through the center and it comes out clean. Let it cool completely.
- Meanwhile, mix together the three milks mixture- sweetened condensed milk, heavy cream, evaporated milk, and a splash of brandy (I used Hennessey).
- Poke a bunch of holes into the cake with a toothpick or fork. The more the better! Then slowly pour the milk mixture over the cakes, letting it fully absorb the milk before adding more.
- Cover with plastic wrap and let it set in the fridge for at least 8 hours. One or two days ahead is even better so the cake has time to soak up as much of the milk as possible.
- The next day, combine heavy whipping cream and powdered sugar until soft peaks form. Careful not to overwhip- it will become grainy. If that happens, you can just add a couple more tablespoons of heavy cream and whip again.
- Evenly spread the whipped cream on top of the cake, then sprinkle over any flavored powders (if using). You don't have to use any, but cinnamon is pretty common and I think pumpkin spice is great for the holidays.
- I recommend refrigerating again before serving. At least another couple of hours- trust me it really makes a difference! You can keep this cake in the fridge for 3-5 days.
This Post Has 48 Comments
This was the best tres Leches recipe I’ve tried!! Thank you it was delicious!
My wife and I made this and it was phenomenal!!!
This was such a fun and delicious recipe made it with my teen daughter and we served it to our family at a family dinner it was a hit! Thank you!
I love tres leches, but this one was by far the best taste, I never knew that a little brandy would make a world of a difference! It really threw me back on how amazing it tasted and I’ve had a lot of tres leches, Gracias por todo!
LOVE this. One of the easiest & tastiest tres leches I’ve ever made! Thank you 😊
Yum! I usually don’t like tres leches because it’s too soggy too! So when you said that, I knew the recipe would be different. Did not disappoint! I’m making it for the second time for my daughter’s birthday. 🥰🙌
This recipe uses all ingredients that my Tia would use on her cake. I’m excited to try this out and make it for a family gathering! I absolutely love a good tres leches and I might even switch out one of the leches for coconut milk! 😉 thank you Stella for providing your recipe <3.
I love the flavors of tres leches cake but the overly wet texture is the one thing that keeps me away. This recipe solves that issue and is a perfect one for me!
Simple to make and delicious
This is my favorite Trees Leches recipe so easy and delicious!!
This was the best! My whole family loved it! I just started venturing in making pastries and this recipe was so easy to follow and the end result was soo delicious!
Amazing and easy recipe! Always a hit at family gatherings!
Delicious cake!!! My family loved it !!! Thank you for sharing !
I absolutely fell in love with this recipe! It was my first time making tres leches cake and it was so easy, yet flavorful :))
I love your tres leches cake 🎂 it’s so yummy and delicious thank you! The best so far
Love love love this recipe. Made it twice already and always comes out perfect. Thank you!
such a simple and easy recipe! The perfect dessert to bring to any party, always a crowd pleaser! thanks for the recipe ,❤️
One of my favorite cakes, great with strawberries and mangoes too c:
I love tres leches cake and this recipe is so easy to follow!!! Thank you!!!
My toddler loves this! Thank you for the recipe!
Love tres leches and this recipe is so easy to follow–Thanks for posting!
Love this recipe, used it several times already. wanted my GF to try it since they don’t have it here in Japan. Thank you!!
I used this recipe for my Friendgiving and everyone loved it! They loved it so much, they’re asked for the recipe and of course, I had to share this with them! Please continue making this type of content and share more recipes!
my family loved it, but I’m lactose so I could only take a little nibble.
So delicious and easy to make! 😍😍
I love this recipe, very easy to make and so yummy. My daughters and I love to bake and are always looking to try different recipes.
This is my favorite since my husband love sweets and I absolutely love cooking for him since is my love language! Thanks for this!
This is the business! I made it for Christmas and meant to say how easy to follow it was. Thank you!!
Seriously so good! It’s a family favorite now! My son has asked for it twice now.
I am a sucker for a good tres leches cake and yours is one of my favorite recipes! I have made it a few times and will make it again soon! Thank you for a simple & delicious recipe!
Incredibly delicious, moist, and not too sweet which my Asian parents loved. I’ll be making this for my next potluck! Thanks Stella for curating such yummy recipes.
This is my favorite cake and a good recipe to follow!
Simply delish! Easy and simple to make! Regards, Gesinda
My kids love Tres Leche and we make this one for special occasions especially birthdays!
delicious 😋 the easier the recipe the better
So easy and delicious 😋
You can never go wrong with a tres leche and this one is so easy and delicious!! I didn’t go for the Hennessy but went for some baileys
Tried to make it and it came out nowhere near as perfect as this but still quite tasty.
This was amazing so was your paletas recipe! Thank you so much for sharing
This recipe takes the “cake”! Lol. I’ve been craving Tres Leches ever since I moved away from my favorite bakery 6 months ago and yours is perfect for my palate! Next time I make this, I might even add some berries on top since my family loves fruit. Thanks, Stella!
I’ve been looking for a tasty and easy tres leches cake! This one is the easiest one I’ve found and tastes 10x better than what I’ve tried in the past. I didn’t know I could love a recipe more!
Delicious recipe! When I make this cake it’s either too much liquid or not enough. The portions are perfect.
I made this for Valentine’s Day! It was so delicious. Family asked me to make it for the next holiday too!
The best tres leches recipe I have ever tried!! It’s a 10/10!! Thanks!!
loved this recipe!! it was my first time making a tres leches cake and i really appreciated how detailed yet simple the instructions were! i also loved how this wasn’t too moist and still kind of held its structure. definitely making this again soon