This month we celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month, which runs from September 15th to October 15th. During this month, America celebrates the cultural and historical contributions of the people who came to this country from Mexico, Central and South America, and Spain. September 15 is a day of celebration in many Latin-American countries since they declared their independence between the 15th and 18th of September. Some of these countries include Mexico, Chile, Costa Rica, Honduras, Nicaragua, and El Salvador.
Tres Leches Cake
As someone who was born and raised in Mexico, I’ve found that there aren’t many differences in how people from other Latin-American countries were raised; our roots, customs, and traditions are very alike. It’s actually funny when you meet someone from another country and find out that you watched the same TV shows or ate the same snacks as kids.
At the end of the day, it’s the simple things that connect us the most, like enjoying a cup of coffee with our friends and family. When you invite someone over for a cup of coffee in Latin America, you know that hours of good conversation will follow. I remember that my mom would always offer visitors something cold to drink or a hot cup of coffee, depending on the weather.
And when I say “coffee”, I don’t mean the kind that you grind and brew in a coffee machine. No, we were brought up drinking Nescafe. Yes, Nescafe, the granulated coffee that only needs hot water and “La Lechera” to make a good cup of “Café con Leche” almost instantaneously.
Even today, you can go to any Latin store and see people buying the exact same things that you’ve lived with for as long as you can remember, products like Chocolate Abuelita, Nescafe (instant coffee mix), and La Lechera (condensed milk). All these products are now readily available almost everywhere, starting from your local Wal-Mart store.
To celebrate the beginning of Hispanic Heritage Month, let’s make a cake, one that’s associated with birthday parties, graduations, baptisms, and all kind of celebrations (I guess we always have a good excuse to celebrate!). Many people love Tres Leches cake. Some trace its origin to Nicaragua, others to Mexico, but I guess what matters is how good it tastes and how easy it is to make it!
La Lechera”: that is the name of the condensed milk made by Nestle. “Lechera” means “milk lady”, and if you look at the picture on the can, you can see that there’s a lady holding a pot of milk on her head. #NuestroSabor #CollectiveBias
How to make Tres Leches Cake
INSTRUCTIONS:
- Turn oven to 325 degrees F. Make sure to adjust oven rack to middle position. Grease and flour a 13-by-9 inch pan and set aside.
- Place flour, baking powder and salt in a medium-size bowl and whisk together to mix.
- With an electric mixer, beat the eggs one by one on a medium speed, for about 45-60 seconds, and slowly add the sugar as in a light dusting, until all sugar is incorporated.
- Reduce speed of mixer, and slowly add the melted butter, a little bit little, and then the vanilla. Keep the mixer running in low.
- Add the flour in batches and gently fold with a spatula until well combined.
- Transfer batter to your prepared pan using a rubber spatula to help you spread them evenly. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until cake looks light golden.
- Remove the cake and transfer to a wired rack to cool completely. Poke the top of the cake using a toothpick, skewer or fork all over.
MILK MIXTURE:
- Whisk condensed milk, evaporated milk and cream together with the vanilla and rum in a saucepan, warm over low heat until completed mixed. Remove from heat and set aside.
- Once the cake has cool pour the milk mixture over the cake, cover with a plastic wrap and refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight. FROSTING:
- Place heavy cream, sugar, and vanilla into a bowl and mix on medium speed until soft peaks form. This will take about 2 minutes.
Tres Leches Cake Recipe
- To assemble, the cake spread the whipped cream over the cake. Decorate with fruit as desired. Refrigerate to chill until ready to serve. Remember, if decorating with fruit, do not add until ready to serve.
TRES LECHES CAKE
Ingredients
- Butter to grease the pan
- 1 ¼ cup All Purpose Flour sifted (plus extra for dusting pan)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt*
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter melted and cooled (1 stick)
- 1 cup sugar
- 5 whole eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
FOR THE MILK MIXTURE
- 1 can condensed milk NESTLE LA LECHERA 14oz
- 1 can Evaporated milk CARNATION 12oz
- 1 cup of Heavy Heavy whipping or 1 can of “Media Crema Nestle”
- 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
- 4 Tablespoons rum or brandy optional
FROSTING
- 1 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream the one you buy at the dairy fridge section
- 4 Tablespoons of sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
GARNISH:
- Canned fruit like peaches mangos or fresh fruit like strawberries and kiwis. If using fruit to decorate, add just before serving.
Instructions
- Turn oven to 325 degrees F. Make sure to adjust oven rack to middle position. Grease and flour a 13-by-9 inch pan and set aside.
- Place flour, baking powder and salt in a medium-size bowl and whisk together to mix.
- With an electric mixer, beat the eggs one by one on a medium speed, for about 45-60 seconds, and slowly add the sugar as in a light dusting, until all sugar is incorporated. The egg mix will be very fluffy and be turning a light yellow.
- Reduce speed of mixer, and slowly add the melted butter, little bit little, and then the vanilla. Keep the mixer running in low. (The butter HAS to be melted and cool if not, it will flatten your bubbles, meaning flat cake)
- Add the flour in batches (spoon by spoon) and gently fold with a spatula until well combined. DO NOT OVER MIX.
- Transfer batter to your prepared pan using a rubber spatula to help you spread the evenly. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until cake looks light golden or a wooden toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the cake.
- Remove the cake and transfer to a wired rack to cool completely. Poke the top of the cake using a toothpick, skewer or fork all over.
MILK MIXTURE:
- Whisk condensed milk, evaporated milk and cream together with the vanilla and rum in a sauce pan, warm over low heat until completed mixed. Remove from heat and set aside. (Not everyone warms the milk, some people just mix them and pour over the cake, that is a personal choice)
- Once the cake has cool pour the milk mixture over the cake, cover with a plastic wrap and refrigerated for 4 hours or overnight.
FROSTING:
- Place heavy cream, sugar, and vanilla into a bowl and mix on medium speed until soft peaks form. This will take about 2 minutes. I usually place the mixer attachment in the freezer and the bowl in the fridge before making whipping cream. This trick always works to form a smooth and fluffy frosting.
- To assembly, the cake spread the whipped cream over the cake. Decorate with fruit as desired. Refrigerate to chill until ready to serve. Remember, if decorating with fruit, do not add until ready to serve. If you are making this cake ahead of time, add the fruit just right before serving time. To make them look shiny you can glaze them with a mix of apricot preserves and water and use a kitchen brush to cover the fruit.
Notes
Nutrition
Enjoy your cake with a cup of hot Chocolate.
Provecho!
Mely,
I hope you make it and come back to leave a comment.
More recipes:
Peach Cake Roll
Mango Mousse Recipe
En Español Pastel Tres Leches.
Hi! I am making this for Christmas dinner, my husband is from El Salvador.
After you heat the crema and you sit it aside to coo before pouring on the cake, can you refridgerate it so that its nice and cold? Or does it have to be room temperature?
Hello Teresa,
You can refrigerate it.
Made this for my sister’s bridesmaid’s birthday and everyone LOVED it. Thank you!♡
Hi,
Thank you for the recipe. I’m making this cake for Christmas and want to make sure about an ingredient for step 1 and step 5. How much flour for step 1 and how much for step 5? It was a little confusing on that part and I want to make sure my cake doesn’t come out flat.
Thank you ahead of time!
Hello Alicia,
The amount for the cake is in 1-1/4 cup as the ingredients list indicates. Also, the ingredients say that you need to have extra flour just for dusting the baking pan. It could be about 2- 3 tablespoons just for dusting the pan.
My family and I love this recipe!!
What an amazing recipe! I tried tres leche from a local Mexican bakery and my bf and I love it sooo much. He asked me to make one for him. I wanted to find a recipe that was well rated, authentic and easy to follow. This recipe checked all the boxes! Thank you for helping me impress my bf and so many others.
Hello Leanne,
Thank you for trying the recipe. I’m so glad to know your bf and others like it.
What kind of sugar- brown or white?
Hello Brooke,
it is white sugar.
Would this recipe work for cupcakes?
Hello Sara,
Maybe it could work, you will need to watch the baking time.
Any suggestions for why the milks would not have all absorbs into the cake? We poked the cake with a toothpick all over and refrigerated it overnight. There is about half the mixture still sitting on top ) :
Hello Heidi,
Sorry to hear your cake didn’t absorb the milk, that is kind of weird. I know that when you bake at certain levels of altitude the recipes need to be changed. Like if you live at sea level, or in the high mountains.
Hi!! Depending on when you poke the holes and the size of them, they can close up easily. My friend always recommends waiting at least 10 minutes to poke the holes and to make them a decent size.
This recipe was PHENOMENAL. Thank you so much for sharing. One of my coworkers is Dominican and he said this cake was better than his mother’s, haha. This is the first time I’ve ever had this cake and the texture and taste is amazing. It’s like eating rice pudding flavored ice cream with a nice dense cake. SO GOOD!!!
Hello Alissa,
Love your description of the Tres leches cake!
Can this be done in a layered cake?
Hello Michelle,
Yes, but I had never tried it.
This cake was so simple to make and so delicious! Perfect for a crowd. It was all gone within 20 minutes 🙂
I made this as recommended with two little changes. I used coconut extract instead of vanilla. YUM. The cake is delicious although just one thing I didn’t like was how dense the cake is. I like mine a little fluffier and softer. But it was still good. I also added a guava purée frosting on top.
I think I did something wrong! My cake didn’t rise very much…
Hello Cash,
Sometimes, the baking powder is outdated, or the oven temperature is not right.
Thank you for trying the recipe!
Hi i followed recipe but my cake turned out about 1/2 thick. Is that how it’s supposed to be ?
Hello Sophia,
The cake should be about 1-3/4 inch to 2 inch thick.
I made this cake for my coworker’s birthday. This is by far the best tres leches cake I have ever made or tasted. I followed the directions exactly, other than I used 6 tablespoons of vegetable oil because I did not have enough butter on hand. My coworker is from Mexico City and she raved about it and how it tastes truly authentic. Thank you for sharing this great recipe!
Hello Leenana,
Thank you for trying the recipe!
Cake was a big hit! Everyone loved it! And I loved it. My baking powder was not outdated, and my cake did not rise very much either, so I loaded up the whipping cream to make it appear taller.
I see below a picture of Mexican rice, do you have a recipe for rice?
Hello Cheri,
Yes! Here is the link to the rice recipe. MEXICAN RICE
Thank you for commenting about the Tres leches cake!
Tastes authentic, just like the ones I had back in San Antonio, made by some of my colleagues who were from Mexico. It was very easy. I added some Dulce le Leche (caramel) to the heated milk mixture and substituted coconut cream for the sweetened condensed milk, to reduce calories and make it less sweet for my son who does not have a sweet tooth. These added a lovely variety to the flavour.
I made this for a dinner party. It was a complete hit with everyone adults and children. According to one of the children “it’s so good it looks like it’s bought from a shop” and the person who declares not to be a sweet tooth and normally forgoes dessert took home seconds. Thank you for this simple to make, tasty recipe. Loved it!!!
Hello,
Will the frosting hold up if I make this the night before to eat next day around noon?
Thanks!
Hello Chela,
It will, but it tastes better when done the same day.
Hi! I just made this cake yesterday, tried it today, amazing flavor! It just came out really dense and hardly rose any, I’ve had tres leches before and it was nice and soft. Is this recipe meant to be this dense or did I do something wrong?
Hello Chelsea,
This is a dense cake, but it should rise a little.