Easy Tres Leches cake is Mexican Dessert (Pastel de Tres Leches) . It is a very light sponge cake soaked with evaporated milk , condensed milk and whole milk .
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About this recipe
Easy Tres Leches cake is Mexican Dessert (Pastel de Tres Leches) . It is a very light sponge cake soaked with a mixture of three kinds of milk : condensed milk , evaporated milk and whole milk. Hence , the name " Tres Leches " meaning 3 milk . This decadent dessert is a true sweet creamy bliss.
The most important part of the recipe is the structure of the cake . Sponge cake should be as light as air and full of air bubbles.
So that when it's soaked in 3 types of milk , sponge cake should hold up while absorbing the milk without weighed down or soggy.
Hence care should be taken to bake a perfect sponge cake. The cross sectional image below shows the spongy and airy light structure of tres leches cake without weighing down.
Easy Tres Leches Cake recipe is adapted from Bigger Bolder Baking - Gemma Stafford. According to Gemma ,to create a airy light super sponge cake Egg whites and Egg Yolk should be whipped separately.
Yes , indeed it worked so well that my cake was super light .
The actual recipe called for a 9*13 inch baking pan but as I didnt had that size baking pan , I baked in a 8*8 inch glass dish . As a result the width of the cake was less and cake was taller.
So I did reduce the amount of milk syrup for soaking cake with the fear of cake being weigh down /soggy . I guess, reducing milk syrup did work for me and the dessert was decadent.
Evaporated milk , condensed milk and whole milk are the 3 combinations used for milk syrup . In fact few recipes even calls for whipped cream in place of whole milk . But here I have used whole milk to make this recipe .
Also , most importantly always use full fat cream milk to get rich taste in tres leches.
Difference between Evaporated Milk and Condensed Milk :
Both are reduced milk with and without sugar in it, respectively.
If full fat milk is reduced to half of its original quantity then you can call it as Evaporated Milk . If sweetener is added to the evaporated milk then it becomes condensed milk .
To make evaporated milk , I followed this recipe from bigger bolder baker.
A friend of mine shared me the recipe of Easy Tres Leches Cake and insisted me to give a try . Since then , it was in my to do list and finally made it for a special occasion .
For the love of baking and for all the love I have , I put up this dessert , loved every bite of it.
Tips and variations to make Tres Leches
To create a airy light super sponge cake , whip Egg whites and Egg Yolk separately.
Use full fat cream milk to get rich taste .
To add variations , you can soak cake in rose milk , mocha or carmael flavored milk everything tastes good.
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How to make Easy Tres Leches Cake:
Preheat the oven to 180 deg c / 350 F . Grease the baking dish and set aside.
Separate egg white and egg yolk in two seperate bowls and set aside.
In a bowl , add 1 cup all purpose flour , baking powder and salt , mix well together and keep aside.
With help of electric hand blender or a stand blender ,beat Egg Yolk on high speed.
Stream in ¾ cup of powdered sugar to egg yolk and continue to beat on high speed in a one way direction only .
Beat ,till it turns pale yellow colour.
Now slowly add in vanilla .
Add milk and continue to beat on medium speed, in the same direction.
Add in dry ingredients slowly and continue to beat on low speed till dry ingredients just incorporates with egg yolk. DON'T BEAT MORE , AS IT MAY DRY OUT and TOUGHEN THE CAKE.
Mixed batter looks like this.
Transfer the mixture into a bowl and set aside.
Now using electric hand blender , whip egg whites.
Till it turns light and foamy.
Gradually, add ¼ cup sugar and continue to whip till stiff peaks are formed.
Stiff peaks are formed.
Now add in the whipped egg whites to egg yolk mixture.
Using a wide spatula , from bottom mix in a circular motion just to fold in and combine egg yolk mixture with egg whites.
Pour the batter to greased baking dish .
Level it using a spatula.
Bake in a preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes.
Whilst prepare milk syrup by combining evaporated milk , condensed milk and whole milk together , set aside for later use.
Once cake is baked , take it out from oven.
Allow it to cool .
Take a wide plate , place the baked cake tin inverted , gently tap and transfer the cake on a plate . Allow it to cool completely and then remove from bake pan. As I had no patience ,tried to remove it soon and cake did stick to the pan making it look bad 🙁 🙁
With a toothpick , prick cake evenly to form more holes on top of the cake.
Pour in half the quantity of milk syrup and just wait for 1- 2 minutes for cake to absorb the milk on top . Pour remaining milk evenly on top of the cake.
Refrigerate for minimum 1 hour or overnight for milk syrup to absorb completely .
Remove cake from refrigerator , add 1 ½ cup heavy whipped cream on top of the cake level it.
Dust 1 teaspoon of cinnamon powder on top of the cake.
While serving , top it with some fresh berries and serve.
Can make this delicious and easy tres leches cake recipe for any occasion . Fresh fruits toppings are recommended , serve it chilled.
Recipe
Easy Tres Leches Cake Recipe
Ingredients
For Sponge Cake
- 1 cup Refined Flour
- 1 ½ teaspoon Baking Powder
- 5 no Large Eggs , - White and Yolk separated
- 1 cup Sugar
- ⅓ cup Whole Milk
- ¼ teaspoon Salt
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Essence
For Milk Syrup
- 1 Cup Evaporated Milk
- 1 ¼ Cup Condensed Milk
- ¼ Cup Whole Milk
For whipped Toppings
- 1 ½ Cup Heavy whipped Cream
- 1 teaspoon Cinnamon Powder
- Few fresh fruits ,optional
Instructions
For Sponge Cake
- Preheat the oven to 180 deg c / 350 F .
- Grease the baking dish and set aside.
- Separate egg white and egg yolk in two seperate bowls and set aside.
- In a bowl , add 1 cup all purpose flour , baking powder and salt , mix well together and keep aside.
- With help of electric hand blender or a stand blender ,beat Egg Yolk on high speed.
- Stream in ¾ cup of sugar to egg yolk and continue to beat on high speed in a one way direction only till it turns pale yellow colour.
- Now slowly add in milk and vanilla , continue to beat on medium speed, in the same direction.
- Add in dry ingredients slowly and continue to beat on low speed till dry ingredients just incorporates with egg yolk. DON'T BEAT MORE , AS IT MAY DRY OUT THE CAKE.
- Transfer the mixture into a bowl and set aside.
- Now using electric hand blender , whip egg whites till light and foamy.
- Gradually, add ¼ cup sugar and continue to whip till stiff peaks are formed.
- Now add in the whipped egg whites to egg yolk mixture.
- Using a wide spatula , from bottom mix in a circular motion just to fold in and combine egg yolk mixture with egg whites.
- Pour the batter to greased baking dish , level it.
- Bake in a preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes.
- Whilst prepare milk syrup by combining evaporated milk , condensed milk and whole milk together , set aside for later use.
- Once cake is baked , allow it to cool . Take a wide plate , place the baked cake tin upside down , gently tap and transfer the cake on a plate .
- With a toothpick , prick cake evenly to form more holes on top of the cake.
- Pour in half the quantity of milk syrup and just wait for 1- 2 minutes for cake to absorb the milk on top . Pour remaining milk evenly on top of the cake.
- Refrigerate for minimum 1 hour or overnight for milk syrup to absorb completely .
- Remove cake from refrigerator , add 1 ½ cup heavy whipped cream on top of the cake level it.
- Dust 1 teaspoon of cinnamon powder on top of the cake.
- While serving , top it with some fresh berries and serve.
Anonymous says
Yummy.... definitely will give a try
Muktha says
Thank You 🙂
ashok says
Guys, Thanks For sharing this Great Recipe. My Family Loved it. I am definitely sharing this recipe and this website with my friend. Hope they also love it. Thank you again for sharing such a great recipe.