Tres Leches Cake is also known as “pan tres leches,” which means “three milks bread.” It’s a light, spongy cake soaked in three kinds of milk: evaporated milk, heavy cream and sweetened condensed milk.
Where did the idea of “soaked cake” come from?
Liquid soaked cakes probably began in medieval times. Think of rum cake, tiramisu and trifles, which have been popular across Europe for quite some time. The Tres Leches Cake is most popular in Central and South America, North America and a few other areas of the world.
How to make Tres Leches Cake:
Beat sugar and egg yolks together until fluffy. Then add milk, vanilla, flour and baking powder. Separately, beat egg whites to soft peaks, adding in cream of tartar and then sugar. Egg whites are then folded in to the egg mixture, and this creates the batter for the cake. The batter is scraped into a 9×13-inch pan and baked anywhere from 30 to 45 minutes (depending on your oven). The texture should be firm, and a toothpick inserted into the middle should come out clean. Let the cake cool completely.
Once cool, poke the top of your cake all over with a fork. This is going to allow the milk syrup to sink into the middle of the cake. The milk syrup is a simple mix of evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk, heavy whipping cream, vanilla extract and rum. Pour it over the top of your cake, and let the cake absorb the milk syrup.
Can you leave rum out of the recipe?
Yes! If you do not wish to cook with alcohol, just leave out the rum and maybe add a little extra vanilla extract.
Once absorbed, dust the top of the cake with cocoa powder.
If prepared properly, Tres Leches Cake will have a moist texture to it, but it should not be soggy. The three milks soak into the spongy cake. Technically, my recipe has four milks in the recipe since there is regular milk in the batter too. It’s a lightly sweetened cake that is fabulous topped with whipped cream and a side of berries, and it tastes even better on the second day. Enjoy!
