Tres Leches Cake

Tres Leches Cake

Tres leches, which means “three milks” in Spanish, refers to the whole milk, condensed milk and evaporated milk that make up a creamy soaking sauce for the baked cake. Over time, it saturates the cake, making it soft and luscious. While a thick garnish of softly whipped cream may seem excessive, it actually tempers the sweetness of the whole confection. Serve with some berries or sliced fruit to complete the presentation.

Yield: 12 servings

Butter for the pan

2¼ cups/285 grams all-purpose flour

2¼ teaspoons baking powder

¾ teaspoon kosher salt

6 large eggs, separated, at room temperature

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons/225 grams granulated sugar

½ cup plus 1 cup whole milk

1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk

1 (12-ounce) can evaporated milk

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1½ cup heavy cream

1 tablespoon confectioners’ sugar

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Butter the bottom of a 13-by-9-inch pan lightly, leaving a ¼-inch border that remains ungreased. Do not butter the sides of the pan; you want the cake to “climb” up the sides of the pan as it bakes.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. In a large bowl, with an electric mixer on medium-high, beat the egg yolks and ½ cup/100 grams of the sugar until pale and thick, about 3 minutes. Beat in ½ cup of the milk, lower the speed and then mix in the flour mixture just until combined.

In another large bowl, with clean beaters, whip the egg whites until foamy and the yellowish color has disappeared, about 1 minute. Slowly add the remaining ½ cup plus 2 tablespoons/125 grams sugar while beating. Continue to beat the mixture until you have shiny, medium-stiff peaks, about 2 minutes. Stir a big scoop of the egg white mixture into the batter to loosen it, then, using a spatula, gently fold the remaining whites into the batter without deflating them.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes. Transfer cake to a rack to cool slightly.

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk together the remaining 1 cup milk, condensed milk, evaporated milk and vanilla. Using a skewer or a toothpick, poke holes about ½ inch apart all over the cake. Cut the edges of the cake from the sides of the pan. Pour the milk mixture evenly over the cake, about a cup at a time, allowing 5 to 10 minutes for it to soak in before adding more. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours (or up to 24 hours).

To serve, whip the cream and confectioners’ sugar to soft peaks. Top the cake with the whipped cream.

TIP: Delicious! For a coconut version, add a drop of coconut extract, substitute 1 c of whole milk with coconut milk. Sprinkle toasted coconut overtop when serving...use frozen fresh coconut.

To all of the people past, present or future who make this cake. Follow the directions. This is a very dense and dry cake that soaks up about 3 cups of liquid. It is not supposed to light and fluffy. Do not change the flour amount. I made this 4/4/2021. It is perfect and delicious as directed. The people who say other wise, do not know what Tres Leches Cake is.

Having grown up on the border, I found this to be one of the best renditions of tres leches I've ever had. The cake soaked up the liquids without becoming a gummy mess. It raised beautifully, thanks for the tip about not buttering the cake all the way to the edges! I liked that this recipe isn't cloyingly sweet and holds up beautifully. I've been searching for the right Tres Leches cake for ten years now and this is it! Some diced mango and a sprig of mint on the top and it was divine.

I used the exact weighted measurements in grams using a small kitchen scale for the flour and sugar and my batter turned out great!

It is VERY IMPORTANT when beating your egg yolks and sugar that you take it to “ribbon stage” before adding in the milk and flour, this will prevent the thick batter from being too paste-like and make it much easier to incorporate your egg whites!

My cake is soaking right now but visually and texturally has turned out exactly as expected!

Is it just me or is 2 1/4 cup of flour is way too much? When I added the flour after the egg yolk and milk part is became a dough. I had to toss it out and start again. What a waste of ingredients. First time I am disappointed in a NYT recipe. I found another tres leches recipe which only called for 1 cup of flour. What gives?

How much flour is always the question. With any recipe that gives volume, you need to know how it was measured. Scoop and strike? Spoon and strike? You will get two vastly different weights.

Look at the nutritional info on your bag of flour. It will give you a weight for the serving size, usually a quarter cup. Do the math: 4 quarters = 1 cup, so multiply the serving's weight by 4.

King Arthur quotes 30 g per serving, or 120 g/cup. 2 1/4 c = 270 g.

Bakeries work by weight for a reason.

I've made this countles times following the weights- ie 285 g flour, and it has turned out perfectly for me. I wonder if some people are forgetting the 1/2 cup milk that goes in the batter in the egg yolk-sugar mix?

The only procedural change I've made is that I don't add the flour to the yolk mix until my egg whites are whipped.

The batter is a lot for a 9x13 pan. Recently I tried scaling it down (5 eggs, 240 g flour, 190g sugar, 1.8 tsp baking powder, 100 ml milk,) and it was great.