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Tres Leches Cake

Viral tres leches cake soaks a fluffy sponge in three milks then tops with whipped cream and cinnamon. Trending Latin dessert. Get the recipe!
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Prep Time 25 minutes
Cook Time 32 minutes
Total Time 8 hours 57 minutes
Servings: 12 servings
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: Mexican
Calories: 380
Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
  

  • 1 cup all purpose flour
  • 1.5 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp fine sea salt
  • 5 large eggs separated, room temperature
  • 1 cup granulated sugar divided
  • 1/3 cup whole milk
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 can (12 oz) evaporated milk
  • 1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk
  • 1/4 cup heavy cream for the soak
  • 2 cups cold heavy cream for whipped topping
  • 1/4 cup powdered sugar
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon for dusting

Method
 

  1. **Heat.** Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 9x13 inch pan.
  2. **Whisk.** Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in one bowl.
  3. **Yolks.** Beat egg yolks with 3/4 cup sugar 3 minutes until thick and pale yellow. Stir in milk and vanilla. Fold in flour mixture.
  4. **Whites.** In a clean bowl whip egg whites until soft peaks form. Add remaining 1/4 cup sugar and beat to stiff peaks. Gently fold into the batter.
  5. **Bake.** Pour into prepared pan and bake 28 to 32 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool completely 30 minutes.
  6. **Soak.** Whisk evaporated milk, condensed milk, and 1/4 cup heavy cream. Poke cake all over with a skewer. Pour milk over the cake in 4 stages, waiting 5 minutes between. Chill overnight.
  7. **Top.** Whip cold heavy cream with powdered sugar to stiff peaks. Spread over the chilled cake and dust with cinnamon before slicing.

Notes

Use whole milk in the tres leches mix, not skim. Fat carries flavor and the cake reads thin without it. Poke the cake with a wooden skewer 50 to 60 times so the milk reaches every layer. Pour milk slowly in 4 stages to give the sponge time to absorb instead of overflowing.