Mexican Tres Leches Cake (pastel de tres leches) | Authentic Recipe

This Mexican tres leches cake (pastel de tres leches) is soft, moist, and so easy to make at home. The airy sponge cake is soaked in a creamy milk mixture and topped with whipped cream and fresh strawberries.

Mexican tres leches cake is a classic dessert very popular in Mexico and other Latin American countries. It consists of a soft and fluffy vanilla cake soaked with a sweet milk mixture and topped with whipped cream and fresh fruit.

The Spanish term tres leches mean “three milk” and it refers to the three different milk products used to soak the cake: evaporated milk, whole milk (or cream), and condensed milk.

This decadent dessert is known in Spanish as pastel de tres leches a is a favorite for birthdays and special occasions but is also served in many restaurants all over the country.

Origin

Back in the 19th century, there was a popular cake recipe in Mexico that seemed to be a variation of the English trifle or the Italian tiramisù.

Mexico was highly influenced by Europe during the 19th century, so it’s not a surprise why those types of desserts became popular in the country.

The popular recipe in Mexico featured a cake soaked in wine and topped with cream custard, just the same way the two mentioned cakes are made.

When the Nestle Company opened its plants in Mexico back in the 1930s, as a form of marketing, they started to print a recipe for Tres Leches on the outside of the evaporated milk, cream, and condensed milk cans.

And so the popular Mexican tres leches cake recipe was easily available in many households, all over Latin America.

Ingredients

Important: In the recipe card below you can find the ingredients list with US cups and metric measurements. For better results, I recommend to use a kitchen scale.

For the sponge cake:

• FLOUR. All-purpose flour, If you’d like to use cake flour just remember to omit the baking powder listed below.
• SUGAR. As you probably noticed, there’s a lot of sugar involved, because, well…is a cake. Sugar helps to “airy” this cake, so no substitutes here.
• MILK. Whole milk, 80 ml (about ⅓ cup), make sure it’s at room temperature.
• OIL. I like to use oil in this recipe instead of butter (or sometimes nothing) as other recipes suggest. A neutral-flavored oil works well, like corn or sunflower oil.
• EGGS. I used 6 medium eggs, if you want to use large eggs weigh them and make sure to use the total that the recipe calls.
• BAKING POWDER. 2 teaspoons is all you need. If you rather use cake flour, omit the baking powder or use only 1/4 teaspoon.
• LIME. This ingredient is optional and you can substitute it with lemon. You will need the juice and zest.
• VANILLA. I use Mexican vanilla extract, but it can be swapped with vanilla paste or a vanilla pod.

For the milk mixture:

• Whole milk. I like to use whole milk because is easier for the cake to absorb it than cream, but feel free to swap for heavy cream if you want.
• Condensed milk. Use store-bought or make our homemade condensed milk.
• Evaporated milk. Same as above, here’s our recipe for homemade leche evaporada.
• Vanilla. Vanilla extract is easier to mix in.

How To Make Pastel de Tres Leches

Preheat the oven to 350°F/175°C and grease a 9×13″ (22×33 cm) baking pan.

Sift the flour and baking powder in a large mixing bowl. Separate egg yolks and whites in two different mixing bowls. Set aside.

Add the sugar to the bowl with egg yolks and use a hand mixer or a stand mixer to beat them until you achieve a fluffy and yellow pale mixture.

Add lime zest and vanilla extract, and mix for a few seconds. Add flour and beat on low speed for 1 minute.

Pour in milk, oil, and lime juice. Beat at low speed until there are no lumps in the batter. Set aside.

Clean the beaters, then add salt to the whites eggs bowl and beat for 2 minutes at high speed or until stiff peaks form.

Add egg white mixture to the bowl with the batter and gently fold in with a spatula, just until everything is perfectly combined.

Pour the cake mixture into the prepared pan and using a spatula, spread to even out the surface.

Bake for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Place the cake on a cooling rack and let it cool down completely.

Make the tres leches mixture and soak the cake.

In a large measuring cup or bowl pour the 3 types of milk. Mix well to combine.

Pierce the surface of the cake with a fork. Then pour the milk mixture all over, making sure to pour it also near the edges.

Cover with cling film and chill pastel de tres leches for at least 6 hours or preferably overnight.

Make the topping & decorate

• Pour the heavy cream into a mixing bowl and beat on medium-high speed for about 2 minutes or until soft peaks form.
• Spread the whipped cream over the cake.
• Sprinkle the pastel de tres leches with a little bit of powdered cinnamon.
• Place fresh strawberries or any fruit you prefer on top of the cake for decoration.

Notes And Tips

• When you’re incorporating the egg whites mixture into the batter, make sure to not overmix or the cake won’t be as fluffy as it’s supposed to be.
• Lime helps a lot to hide the egg flavor (which I personally dislike in all sponge cakes). Try it, it also adds a fresh touch.
• If you’re in a hurry and need to decorate the cake as soon as possible, place it in the freezer for 15 minutes to cool it down. If you don’t cool the cake, the cream will melt.

How To Store

Mexican tres leches cake stores nicely for up to 4 days in the refrigerator.

Transfer the leftovers into a glass container with a tight lid before storing them to prevent them from absorbing other food smells.

You can also freeze the sponge cake alone. Once cooled, wrap it tightly with 2-3 layers of cling film, then froze for up to 3 months.

When ready to make, thaw the cake overnight, make the milk mixture and proceed as instructed in the recipe.

FAQ

Similar Mexican Dessert Recipes

If you enjoyed this Mexican tres leches cake, then make sure to take a look at our…

• Mexican pink cake.
• Coyotas cookies.
• Clotted cream gorditas.
• Arroz con leche.
• Pastel de elote.

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