Tres Leches Cake is popular all over South America, and as you might guess, in Texas as well. Houston, with its multitude of Mexican and Latin American restaurants, is particularly known for Tres Leches. I first tried it at Churrascos in River Oaks. From what I remember, Churrascos' cake had a meringue topping and felt particularly light. I just regret that this dessert entered my life so late, because there are so many variations to try. The good news is that it's easy to make at home, which I often do. I just have a bad habit of changing it up every time, but this Tres Leches with sour cream, adapted from an old one in the Houston Chronicle is my usual.
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Houston Chronicle Tres Leches
This Tres Leches is an offshoot of a recipe that appeared in 1998 in The Houston Chronicle called Pastel de Tres Leches. Eggs are separated, it does not call for butter, and it uses sour cream as one of the milks. The full recipe calls for a 9x12 inch or 9x13 inch dish, but I usually cut it in half and make it in an 8-inch casserole dish. Ideally, you should make the cake a day ahead, cover and chill, then prepare whipped cream topping the day you serve. In reality, I usually prepare the cake around 3:00 in the afternoon, cover with whipped cream as soon as it has cooled, then chill the whole thing and serve a few pieces around 8:30 PM. It's perfectly good after just a few hours in the refrigerator, but much better the next day.
Gluten-Free Version
Gluten-free flour does not work well in this cake -- or at least not for me. I tested with Thomas Keller's Cup4Cup and the cake came out mushy and mealy. I'm sure there are ways to make gluten-free Tres Leches, but for this recipe all-purpose flour works best.
Cake Mix Version
This scratch Tres Leches is my weeknight go-to Tres Leches. I almost always have the ingredients, and it doesn't take too long to put together. However, my first Tres Leches was from Food.com (formerly Recipezaar) and was a cake mix Tres Leches. While I usually make this scratch version, the cake mix version is also fantastic.
Recipe
Tres Leches Cake
Ingredients
Cake:
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour (200 grams)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ⅛ teaspoon salt (optional, see note)
- 4 large eggs separated
- 1 ½ cup granulated sugar (300 grams)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)
- ½ cup milk, whole (114 grams)
Three-Milk Topping:
- 1 cup sour cream
- 14 ounce sweetened condensed milk
- 1 ½ cups evaporated milk
- 1 cup milk (230 grams)
Whipped Cream Topping:
- 2 cups heavy whipping cream
- ⅓ cup powdered sugar, plus more if desired
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x13 inch pan. For a thicker cake, you can use a 9x12 inch pan or glass dish. For a half batch, use an 8-inch square dish.
- Sift or whisk flour with baking powder and set aside. If using salt, whisk that it too.
- In a large bowl with clean beaters, beat egg whites until foamy. Gradually add sugar and continue beating until thick and white. Beat in yolks, one at a time.
- If using vanilla, add it to the milk.
- Add flour mixture and milk to te egg mixture, mixing by hand OR beating on low just until blended. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake until edges are golden brown, about 30 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool on a rack.
- Prepare the milk mixture by whisking together the sour cream and condensed milk, then pouring in the evaporated milk and whole milk. Try to use room temperature ingredients to avoid little lumps of sour cream, but don't worry if you have a few because they will be absorbed into the cake.
- Using a skewer, poke holes all over the warm cake. Gradually pour milk mixture over cake and let sit until all mixture is absorbed. Let sit at room temperature for another 30 minutes or so to cool, then cover with plastic wrap and chill for several hours or overnight. Prepare whipped topping shortly before serving.
- Beat cream with electric mixer until it begins to thicken. Gradually add sugar and vanilla and beat until stiff peaks form. Cover cake with whipped cream and continue to chill briefly before serving. You can also garnish it with caramel sauce, cinnamon, whatever you like! And if you have some berries on hand, be sure to put some on each plate as an accompaniment.
- Cut cake and serve.
Andrea S says
Thank you. I have a Hispanic student in a class I teach who was going to bring her mom's authentic recipe (she was going to have to translate it), but couldn't because she didn't get a chance to talk to her mom last night. I thought I'd try this one because, like you said, it doesn't come from a mix, and neither did my student's. I also wanted to offer that she said her mom often cuts the cake in half like in layers after it has soaked and adds fruit to the middle. The cake would have to come out spongy, rather than crumbly, to do that. She also referred to the batter as "bread" which I thought was interesting. Thanks for the help.
Anna says
Hi Andrea, the link is on the word "Recipezaar". Sometimes it's a little hard to tell where the links are, so here it is.
http://www.recipezaar.com/11619
Andrea S says
I'm looking at this 3 years after-the-fact, but would like Chela's recipe. I cannot find the "links" mentioned. Can you send it?
Thanks,
Andrea
olga lopez says
this is my favorite dessert.
Regards
olga.
kyla d says
I loved it when my mom made it for the first time it was very sweet
Anna says
Hi Emilie,
Glad you liked it....even though you didn't use the syringe ;). Dulce de Leche is a good topping, but it's also great with fresh strawberries.
There are a few different ways to make dulce de leche, but I've only used one method and I thought the result was just okay -- not worth the trouble.
Emilie says
Ok, I've tasted the cake now...and it's good! Very moist and delicious.
I didn't use a syringe though, because I'm NOT a nurse.
I attempted to make a homemade dulce de leche sauce, using a recipe from Food Network....a show called, "The Surreal Gourmet." It turned into a disaster though, so I had to go buy some from the store. I guess I'm a little confused on what real dulce de leche is.
Anna says
Don't forget to let it soak. It took mine a while to soak up all the milk and then of course, it was quite moist. Make sure you keep it in the refrigerator for a while and serve it chilled.
Poutine says
I have the cake in the oven now. I'll take a square of it before I send it off with Robin tomorrow. This cake may be too exotic for this area of Ontario. We'll see.
Anna says
Emilie, I guess we have the same sense of humor. Every time I see that recipe, that one line makes me laugh. That's probably one of the reasons I chose it.
Given this recipe (above) and Chela's (linked from above), I'd choose Chelas.
Emilie says
I made cela's tres leches cake for my mom's birthday, which is tomorrow. It looks really good. What caught my eye in the recipe, is, "I use a syringe, because I'm a nurse." Lol
Anna says
Let me know how it works out.
Poutine says
thanks for posting this smaller recipe. I've always wanted to make one, but the thought of making such a big one didnt thrill me. I think I might try this tomorrow. Robin needs a dessert to bring to a dinner thing on Thursday.
Amy says
Yes, yes that's the one. On Congress next to The Great Outdoors!
Amy D.
Anna says
Ah! Habana. Now I have an excuse to go there. Also, don't worry. This cake will defintely absorb your milk because it is so very dry.
samoq says
I think Amy D. is referring to Habana, and I have to agree- their tres leches is YUMMY.
I tried making it myself once, and I ended up with a cake that wouldn't absorb a bit of milk, regardless of how many holes I poked in it. I made the impermeable cake. Maybe I'll try again with your recipe.
Anna says
Hi Chris,
I cut most of the ingredients by about third. Mathematically, that's different than making 1/3 of the recipe. So no, don't triple it! The best bet, should you wish to make a 13x9 inch cake, is to just use the Houson Chronicle recipe (the first recipe in the link) and add a little vanilla to the cake batter.
Chris says
Looks great! So if I wanted to make it in a 9x13, should I just triple everything? Or could you post the original or send it to me? Thanks a bunch!
Anna says
If it makes you feel any better, we weren't home!
Also, the tres leches cake really needs to sit overnight.
Amy says
waa! I rode right by your house. I've never had tres leches cake, I could have tasted it!
Amy says
Anna,
My neighbor loves the Tres Leche cake at a Cuban restaurant here in Austin. I will find out the name and let you know.
Amy D.
Anna says
Tracy, that is too funny! I had no idea the Bake-Off thing was on TV again. I wish I'd known. We were in a hospital room in Houston with my grandmother. If I'd known it was on, I would have turned on the TV for her. She gets a kick out of that stuff. Tell your daughter hi. I'm sure Fuzz would love to meet her.
TracysTribe3 says
Saw you on the Bake-Off again last night! It was fun to watch you win and to see you in your kitchen with your daughter.
When it first came on my 8 yo daughter said "Mom - I saw the Cookie Madness lady" then "LOOK MOM - THERE'S HER DAUGHTER" all excitedly because she's seen the London pictures. At the end of the show she said, and was serious, "If you win the million dollars can I have a bouncy thing too?" LOL
carole says
Thanks, Anna. I will make this next week after Passover.