Tres Leches Cake
Our wedding reception was in Puerto Vallarta. We rented a gorgeous private villa by the bay with a private beach, where the ceremony took place. The tables were placed outside around the palm trees, and the dance floor by the pool. That night, we had fireworks 🎇 by the beach.
When it came to hors d’oeuvres 🍣, appetizers, main course, desserts, and later on, more food, everything was analyzed to a T – of course, what do you expect from a foody! All our guests couldn’t believe how delightful the food was. One thing that surprised everyone was the wedding cake…
As most of us unfortunately experienced more than once in our lives, wedding cakes are generally awful! While they mostly prioritize visual design, they certainly lack in taste, especially with that overly sugary fondant that no one can stand 😣!
Well, well, well, our cake was the opposite! In the corner of my eye 👀, I watched our guests taking their first bite. It didn’t take too long before the plates were cleaned off. The comments I received that night about this dessert were beyond positive. According to them, it was the BEST EVER wedding cake!
I agree! It was the ultimate wedding cake! What we served to our guests was a two-tier Tres Leches Cake with different flavors for each one: vanilla, and mocha. This dessert was so moist and incredibly scrumptious! Although there wasn’t any fondant on it, the cake was elegantly 🥰 decorated with buttercream frosting.
After making each flavor a few times since then, I decided to make one with a hint of cocoa powder 🍫 and cinnamon. The results were delicious! These two added ingredients help cut through the richness and sweetness from the three milks. If I want to stick to the classic vanilla flavor, I just omit them.
Besides this little twist, the rest is the traditional Tres Leches Cake…
This is a dessert that has a few steps. It’s not complicated but slightly involved. There are also some passive times. The cake has to cool off after being baked; then there’s some downtime to absorb the milks. Plus, it has to be chilled overnight 🌛.
One of the steps is to make a meringue with the egg whites 🥚. When adding to the rest of the batter, it’s important to gently fold it until just combined. The reason is to preserve the trapped air bubbles, not to deflate them, so the cake stays light and fluffy.
After being baked, the cake has to cool until barely warm to the touch. This helps the crumbs to fully set, preventing the cake from becoming mushy or dense when pouring on the milk mixture 🥛. By being just warm, it will absorb the liquid smoothly without breaking apart.
The top of the cake has to be poked all over the surface with a fork in order to absorb the liquid. It should take about 30 minutes ⏰, give or take. From here, it’s covered and chilled overnight, which gives the cake time to firm up with the dairy so it can hold its shape when we slice it.
The next day, just before serving, the whipped cream is made 👩🍳👨🍳, evenly spread over the chilled cake, and served immediately. The leftovers must be stored right away in the fridge due to the high dairy content and whipped cream. If they’re left on the counter too long, harmful bacteria will start growing rapidly.
I had the perfect wedding with the most amazing man I’ve ever met! Our day was perfect too! The menu 📜 was impeccable, and so was our Tres Leches Cake! If we had to redo everything again, as we both agreed, we wouldn’t change a thing…
Bon Appétit! 🍽
Here are more scrumptious cake recipes for you to try… 😀
– Strawberry Shortcake
– Pecan Caramel Cheesecake
– German Plum Cake • Pflaumenkuchen
– Black Forest Cake
– Tropical Pineapple Upside Down Cake
– Pumpkin Cheesecake with Biscoff Crust
– Cranberry Orange Bundt Cake
– Red Velvet Cake
– Mango Cake
and for even more dessert recipes 🍨🥧, click on this link… Recipe Category • Dessert
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Tres Leches Cake
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Ingredients
BATTER
- 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp. baking powder
- ½ tsp. ground Himalayan pink salt
- 1 tbsp. dark cocoa powder optional
- ½ tsp. ground cinnamon optional
- 5 large free-range eggs, whites and yolks separated
- 1 ¼ cups granulated sugar, divided
- ½ cup whole milk
- ½ tbsp. pure vanilla extract
- soft butter, as needed to grease baking dish
TOPPING
- 1 can (12 oz/340 g) evaporated milk tips & tricks
- 1 can (14 oz/397 g) sweetened condensed milk
- ⅔ cup heavy cream
- ½ tsp. pure vanilla extract
WHIPPED CREAM
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 2 tbsp. powdered sugar tips & tricks
- 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
Directions
BATTER
- Preheat oven to 350ºF and grease a 9x13 baking dish with butter; set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, cocoa powder, and ground cinnamon; set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, add egg whites, and with the whisk attachment, process on medium-high speed until soft peaks form.
- Slowly add ¼ cup granulated sugar, and continue beating for 5 to 6 minutes or until the meringue form stiff peaks; set aside.
- In a medium bowl, add yolks and the remaining 1 cup granulated sugar. Beat on medium-high speed until the mixture turns light yellow and gets fluffy, about 1 to 1:30 minutes.
- Stir in whole milk and vanilla extract; beat until just combined.
- Pour egg yolk mixture into the dry ingredients, and fold until just combined using a spatula.
- Add meringue to the mixture and gently fold until just combined – don’t overdo it.
- Pour batter into prepared pan and even it out.
- Transfer to the preheated oven and bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean with just a few crumbs. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
TOPPING
- In a large measuring cup or bowl, add evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk, heavy cream, and vanilla; whisk until blended.
- When cake is barely warm to the touch, poke the top evenly using a fork.
- Slowly pour on the milk mixture and let the cake rest until the liquid is mostly absorbed.
- Cover and transfer to the fridge overnight.
WHIPPED CREAM
- The next day, in the bowl of a stand mixer, add all the ingredients, and with the whisk attachment, process until stiff peaks form.
- Remove the cake from the fridge and evenly spread whipped cream over the cake. Garnish with berries and serve immediately. Store leftovers in the fridge.
Don't forget to rate and comment on this recipe!
Oh my, this looks very scrumptious!!
I’ve never had it before. Here the chance to try it. By the way, your cake looked amazing. Thanks chef
YUM!
I always wanted to try it and this recipe looks easy. Thank you.
¡Excelente receta, Frankie!
Love!!!
This is one of my favorites!