Tres Leches Cake Recipe
Jan 27, 2026
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This authentic tres leches cake recipe is a light, spongy cake soaked in a sweet milk mixture and topped with fluffy homemade whipped cream. It’s a favorite Mexican dessert, and so easy to make!
When it comes to desserts, this homemade tres leches cake is always my first pick, and a slice of churro cheesecake is a close second. My family, especially my daughter Ana, is obsessed with tres leches, and it’s what I make anytime tacos or other Mexican foods are on the menu. It’s classic, so delicious, and easy to make ahead, which is exactly why it stays on repeat.
I love serving it with a scoop of homemade ice cream or mango sorbet, or alongside a cozy Mexican coffee, another favorite that always gets my people excited.
Tell Me About This Tres Leches Cake Recipe
- Authentic recipe. I did my best to keep this tres leches recipe as true to the Latin original as possible. It’s not too sweet and very simple to make.
- Positively delicious. The soft, spongy cake soaks up the sweet milk mixture as it chills in the fridge. Topped with whipped cream, it’s one of my favorite desserts!
- Make it in advance. The tres leches cake needs to sit in the fridge for a while, so it’s a great dessert to make ahead for occasions like Easter.
What Is Tres Leches?
Tres leches is Spanish for “three milks.” It’s a nod to the condensed milk, evaporated milk, and plain milk in the recipe. Tres leches cake is a classic Latin dessert, also popular in Mexican restaurants in the U.S.
The method for tres leches cake is similar to a semolina cake or baklava, in which the desserts are soaked in simple syrup after baking. Here, we poke holes in the light, airy sponge cake and soak it with a mixture of three kinds of milk instead.
Ingredients Needed to Make This Cake
Here are the notes on the ingredients in my tres leches cake recipe. Scroll to the recipe card for the printable amounts and step-by-step instructions.
- Dry Ingredients – You’ll need baking staples like all-purpose flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Make sure that your baking powder is fresh.
- Wet Ingredients – Eggs, milk, and vanilla. You can use any milk (whole milk, 2%, etc.)
- Condensed Milk – Milk #1 is condensed milk. Condensed milk is sweetened with sugar and comes in cans.
- Evaporated Milk – Milk #2 is evaporated milk, the unsweetened version of condensed milk.
- Milk – The third of our tres leches! Again, this can be any type of milk, just to thin out the sauce a little.
- Whipped Cream – I make the whipped topping from scratch with heavy whipping cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla. You can use Cool Whip or store-bought whipped cream if you’d like.
Where Is the Oil and Butter?
You may notice that the tres leches cake ingredients above do not include oil or butter. This is correct! The eggs do the heavy lifting in this recipe to give the cake rise and structure, while the three milks lend moisture to the crumb without the need for oil or butter.
Baking Tips
- Avoid overbrowning. The cake will be golden brown when it’s done. If you notice that it’s browning too quickly, cover the cake with foil while it finishes baking.
- Don’t over-poke the cake. Use a fork and poke the cake carefully. Too many holes can affect the texture of the cake.
- Thoroughly beat the eggs and sugar. Cream the sugar with the eggs until the mixture is fluffy and light in color. This step is crucial!
- For a caramel flavor, swap the condensed milk with dulce de leche, and increase the plain milk in the milk mixture to ¼ cup.
- Let it soak. Once the milk mixture is poured over the cake, let it soak for several hours, or even better, overnight. The longer it sits, the better the texture and flavor.
What to Serve With Tres Leches Cake
Serve this cake for dessert with Mexican meals like enchiladas, elote, tostadas de tinga, and chilorio tacos, with homemade horchata.
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Tres Leches Cake Recipe
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1½ teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 4 eggs
- ⅓ cup milk
- 1½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- butter, for greasing the baking dish
For the milk sauce:
- 14 ounce can condensed milk
- 12 ounce can evaporated milk
- 3 tablespoons milk
For the topping:
- 1½ cups heavy cream
- 3 tablespoons powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Instructions
Make the sponge cake:
- Prepare to bake. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Mix the dry ingredients. In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- Beat the eggs. In a separate bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the sugar with the eggs until fluffy and pale, about 2 to 3 minutes.
- Combine. Whisk the milk and vanilla into the egg mixture until smooth. Using a spatula, gently fold in the flour mixture just until the batter is smooth and lump-free.
- Bake the cake. Grease your 9×13-inch baking dish with some butter. Pour in the prepared cake batter and tap gently onto the kitchen counter to remove air bubbles. Bake the cake for 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Prepare the milk mixture:
- Combine the milks. Meanwhile, whisk together the condensed milk, evaporated milk, and plain milk in a bowl until combined.
- Drizzle the cake. Remove the cake from the oven and allow it to cool down completely. Then, use a fork to poke holes in the cake. Pour the milk mixture all over the cake, especially saturating the edges, as they are the firmest. Refrigerate the cake for at least 2 to 3 hours, but overnight is best.
Add the topping:
- Whip the cream. Add heavy cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract to a large bowl. Whip with a handheld mixer until stiff peaks form.
- Finish and serve. Top the tres leches cake with the whipped cream. Cut the cake into squares and serve.
Equipment
Notes
- Don’t burn the cake. The cake top turns golden brown once baked. If you feel the cake is browning too quickly or too much during baking, you can cover it with aluminum foil and continue baking until done.
- Carefully poke the cake. Use a fork to poke holes evenly across the cake. Avoid poking too many holes as it can ruin the cake’s texture.
- Beat your eggs with sugar until fluffy and pale. This is a very important step.
- Instead of condensed milk, you can use dulce de leche and increase plain milk (in the milk mixture) from 3 tablespoons to a full ¼ cup. This will give the cake a caramel flavor.
Nutrition
Nutritional info is an estimate and provided as courtesy. Values may vary according to the ingredients and tools used. Please use your preferred nutritional calculator for more detailed info.
How to Make a Tres Leches Cake
- Mix the cake batter. Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl. In a separate bowl, beat the sugar and eggs until they’re fluffy and pale. Gradually fold the dry ingredients, milk, and vanilla into the sugar-egg mixture.
- Bake the cake. Pour the cake batter into a well-greased 9×13-inch baking dish. Tap the pan against the counter a few times to release any air bubbles in the batter. Then, bake the cake at 350ºF for 30-35 minutes. A toothpick stuck into the middle of the cake should come out clean.
- Prepare the milk mixture. Next, stir together the condensed milk, evaporated milk, and plain milk.
- Soak the cake. Once the baked cake cools completely, poke holes all over the top with a fork or a toothpick. Pour the prepared milk sauce over the whole cake, making sure to saturate the edges. Pop the cake into the fridge for 2 to 3 hours, but I’ll often leave it in there overnight.
- Add the topping. Before serving, whip heavy cream with powdered sugar and vanilla until the mixture forms stiff peaks. Spread the whipped cream over the chilled cake, then cut and serve. If you’d like, give the cake a dusting with cinnamon!
How to Store
- Keep the cake refrigerated. It’s best to store this milk cake without the whipped topping whenever possible. You can keep the soaked cake refrigerated for up to 3 days.
- Freeze. To freeze your tres leches cake, leave off the whipped cream. Tightly wrap the cake in plastic wrap, then in foil, and freeze it for up to 2 months. Thaw the cake in the fridge before adding the topping and serving.
