Tres Leches Cake
This classic Tres Leches Cake is light, fluffy, and soaked in a rich blend of three milks, then topped with a billowy whipped cream frosting. Sweet, creamy, and irresistibly moist, it’s the perfect dessert for celebrations or whenever you’re craving a taste of Latin American comfort.
Ingredients
Directions
Cake preparation
- Preheat the oven to 350 °F. Grease and flour a 9- by 13-inch cake pan.
- Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt into a large bowl.
- Separate the eggs. Beat the egg yolks with 3/4 cup of the sugar on high speed until the yolks are pale yellow. Stir in the milk and vanilla. Pour the egg yolk mixture over the flour mixture and stir very gently until combined.
- Beat the egg whites on high speed until soft peaks form. With the mixer on, pour in the remaining 1/4 cup sugar and beat until the egg whites are stiff but not dry. Fold the egg white mixture into the batter very gently until just combined. Spoon into the prepared pan and spread to even out the surface.
- Bake until the cake is done, 35 to 40 minutes. Allow to cool in the pan, and then turn out (upside down) onto a rimmed platter.
Tres leches preparation
- Combine the heavy cream, evaporated milk, and condensed milk into a small pitcher. Pierce the surface of the cake with a fork several times. Drizzle the milk mixture over the top and allow the cake to sit and absorb the milk mixture. Don't worry about totally soaking the cake! That's what you want.
Icing preparation
- Whip the cream with the sugar. Spread it evenly over the top and sides of the soaked cake and decorate with maraschino cherries.
- Refrigerate until ready to serve. Several hours is fine. The cooler the cake, the better!
Video
Notes
The most commonly accepted idea is that tres leches cake as we know it (sponge or light cake soaked in three milks) emerged in Latin America in the early-to-mid 20th century, particularly where canned milk (evaporated & condensed) became widely available.
Among Latin American countries, Nicaragua gets the most support for originating it (though Mexico is often a close second in the debate). (Hannah Rice, 2023, The Daily Meal).
English Idioms
- A piece of cake – something very easy to do. ✰ The exam was a piece of cake; I finished it in twenty minutes. (O exame foi uma moleza; terminei em vinte minutos.)
- A slice of the cake – a share of something valuable, such as money or profit. ✰ Investors all want a slice of the cake from the booming tech industry. (Os investidores querem uma fatia do bolo da próspera indústria de tecnologia.)
- Sell like hot cakes – to sell very quickly and in large amounts. ✰ The new video game is selling like hot cakes. (O novo videogame está vendendo como água.)
- That takes the cake – that’s the most extreme example, often in a negative sense. ✰ I’ve heard some strange excuses, but that one really takes the cake. (Já ouvi algumas desculpas estranhas, mas essa realmente leva o prêmio.)
- The icing on the cake – something that makes a good situation even better. ✰ Getting the promotion was great, and the bonus was the icing on the cake. (Conseguir a promoção foi ótimo, e o bônus foi a cereja do bolo.)
- You can’t have your cake and eat it, too – you can’t enjoy two mutually exclusive benefits. ✰ He wants more free time but doesn’t want to earn less money—you can’t have your cake and eat it, too. (Ele quer mais tempo livre, mas não quer ganhar menos dinheiro — não dá para ter tudo ao mesmo tempo.)