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Tres Leches Cake

Tres Leches Cake

Course Dessert
Cuisine Mexican
Keyword Tres Leches Cake
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 35 minutes
Servings 12 People
Author Christie C.

Ingredients

For The Cake

  • 1 Cup (130g) Sifted Cake Flour
  • 2 TSP (8g) Baking Powder
  • 1/4 TSP (2g) Sea Salt
  • 6 Extra Large Eggs separated
  • 1 Cup (200g) Cane Sugar
  • 2 TSP (10g) Vanilla Extract
  • 6 TBSP (90g) Unsalted Butter melted plus extra for greasing
  • 1/2 TSP (4g) Cream of Tartar

For The Leches Filling

  • 1/2 Cup (120ml) Heavy Cream
  • 14 oz (397ml) Sweetened Condensed Milk
  • 12 oz (354ml) Evaporated Milk
  • Optional 1 tsp (5ml) Rum or Brandy to taste

For The Whipped Cream

  • 1 Pint (473ml) Heavy Cream
  • 2 TBSP (30g) Cane Sugar
  • Ground Cinnamon for dusting
  • Ground Nutmeg for dusting

Instructions

Bake The Cake

  1. Preheat your oven to 350°F (177°C). Generously grease the bottoms and sides of a 9x9 ceramic or glass baking dish.
  2. In a large mixing bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
  3. In a separate large mixing bowl, beat the egg yolks on high for 3 minutes. While the mixer is still running, carefully pour in 1/4 cup (60of the sugar and beat the mixture until it becomes pale yellow and ribbons; this will take another 4 to 5 minutes. Then, beat in the extracts for 1 more minute.
  4. Sift the flour mixture over the yolk mixture and stir the battle by hand until all of the flour has disappeared. Next, stir in the melted butter. The batter will deflate a little bit and thicken in consistency.
  5. In another clean, separate mixing bowl and with clean, dry beaters, beat the egg whites and cream of tartar until frothy and bubbly. Add the remaining sugar and beat the mixture until a meringue forms at stiff peaks. The meringue should shine.
  6. A third at a time, fold the meringue into the batter until well incorporated, but be careful not to lose any air bubbles. If some meringue still shows, this is okay; they will go away when the cake is baked.
  7. Carefully pour and spread the batter over the ceramic or glass pan and bake it for 35 to 40 minutes.
  8. The cake is done when golden brown at the top, a toothpick comes out clean when probed at the center of the cake and the sponge bounces back when gently pushed poked at the top.
  9. Allow the cake to cool completely.

  10. While the cake cools, prepare the leches filling. Mix together the evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk, and heavy cream. Mix in the rum or brandy if desired.

Fill The Cake

  1. When the cake has completely cooled down, probe it several times all over with a fork and pour all of the milk mixture on top. It may seem like a lot of liquid, but the cake is supposed to be wet and the spongy consistency will soak most of it up.

Make The Whipped Cream

  1. Whip together the heavy cream and sugar until it reaches stiff peaks. Spread or pipe it all over the cake. Dust the cake with ground cinnamon and grated nutmeg.

  2. Top the cake with cherries if desired.
  3. For the best results, allow the cake to sit in the refrigerator overnight to soak up some of the milk.