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If you don’t like soggy cake, this is the recipe for you! This Milk ‘n Berries (Porto’s Tres Leches Copycat) is lightly soaked in three milks plus a secret ingredient, layered with berries and cream.
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 this 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 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 Milk ‘n Berries dupe, add the Brandy.
Berries & Cream
- Heavy cream
- Powdered sugar
- Mix of berries (strawberry, blueberry, blackberry)
Helpful tips
- Do not grease the cake pans- it’s best to use parchment paper or cake liners for the bottom, and there is no need to grease the sides. If you butter or grease the sides, it will not rise properly.
- 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 Mag’s Rum Cake! This 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.
It’s super easy like this one, and keeps well too!
Milk ‘n Berries Tres Leches
Ingredients
Cake ingredients
- 4 eggs, room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, spooned, leveled, & 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 traditional (very wet) tres leches
- 1 tbsp Brandy, (I used Hennessey)
Berries & Cream ingredients
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 1 tbsp powdered sugar
- 1 lb strawberries, blueberries, & blackberries
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.
- Place round parchment papers into two 9 inch cake pans and divide the mixture evenly into both. Do not grease the sides or your cake will not rise properly. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 18-20 minutes.
- Run a knife around the edges of the cake when you take it out of the oven to loosen from the sides. Then 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 cakes 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. I recommend doing one at a time to make sure you use an even amount, or you an split the milk mixture into two cups.
- 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.
- Flip the cake over onto a plate. Spread half of the whipped cream on top, then place the berries on top. *In this photo I mixed the berries and cream together then spread it onto the cake, but that turned out not so pretty or easy. It's better to spread the whipped cream first, then layer the berries on top.
- Add the other cake on top, then spread the other half of the whipped cream and berries to decorate if you want.
- 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.
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I absolutely love this cake from Porto’s and this recipe tastes exactly like it!
After trying this recipe, my cake turned out so delicious and moist. Thank you for writing a very good recipe for an amateur baker like me 🙂
I hope to see more recipes for cake by you and to try them all.
Soooo so good! And easy. Can’t wait to make it again!!
This is my favorite recipe to make!! Always comes out perfect, my friends and family love it 💙
This recipe was so good!! I can’t wait to make it again
Made this for a family Christmas gathering and everyone loved it! Will be making it on repeat ˙ᵕ˙
@nikkihlee
I’m a sucker for Tres Leche cake and Portos’ version is one of my favorites. This recipe definitely hits the spot!
Thanks!
I loved trying out this recipes for the holidays recently! My family loves tres leches, but there are those few who don’t always love the “soggy” texture and following this recipe was a hit with everyone! I always thought a tres leches cake would be challenging to make, but the steps in this recipe were clear & easy to follow. Definitely recommend & will make these again 🙂
Made this for the family and it was a hit! Will make it again soon and share with friends! Strawberries are starting to get delicious again in California!
made this recently and am in loveeee! so was everyone else who tried it