Classic Tres Leches Cake Recipe | Cupcake Jemma

I’VE FOUND MY PERFECT CAKE! I can’t believed I dismissed this recipe for Tres Leches for so many years because, after finally giving in and getting on board I have discovered that Tres Leches is my new favourite cake. Its perfect for serving up as a desert or taking to a picnic. It’s incredibly easy and can be made the day before you serve it. I’d recommend topping it with cream as close to serving as possible. Store your Tres Leches in the fridge if you have any left….which you won’t.

Tres Leches is a Mexican Cake that has a light bouncy sponge which is then soaked overnight in a delicious 3 milk mixture and then topped with Chantilly cream and, traditionally strawberries, but I like it best with a dusting of cinnamon.

Please enjoy this recipe and I swear you are going to LOVE IT!!! Share your creations with me over on Instagram, my tag is @sallydells and use #cupcakejemma so Jemma can see your photos too whilst she is on maternity leave.

Happy Baking! Love Sally x

———

Set your oven to 170C

 For a small cake suitable for a dish around 7x9"
SPONGE:
3 Eggs, split
85g Plain Flour
1 tsp Baking Powder
¼ tsp Salt
120g Caster Sugar (Split 90g for yolks and 30g for whites)
2 tbsp Whole Milk
½ tsp Vanilla
MILK:
150g Condensed Milk
100g Evaporated Milk
2 tbsp Whole Milk (or cream)
TOPPING:
200g Double Cream
1 tbsp Icing Sugar (but caster will be fine too)

For the cake I made in an 8x10” dish
SPONGE:
4 Eggs, split
115g Plain Flour
1 tsp (heaped) Baking Powder
¼ tsp Salt
160g Caster Sugar (Split 120g for the yolks and 40g for the whites)
2.5 tbsp Whole Milk
½ tsp Vanilla
MILK:
200g Condensed Milk
130g Evaporated Milk
2.5 tbsp Whole Milk (or cream)
TOPPING:
250g Double Cream
1.5 tbsp Icing Sugar (but caster will be fine too)

For a larger cake suitable for a big dish around 9x12"
SPONGE:
6 Eggs, split
170g Plain Flour
2 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Salt
240g Caster Sugar (Split 180g and 60g)
6 tbsp Whole Milk
1 tsp Vanilla
MILK:
300g Condensed Milk
200g Evaporated Milk
4 tbsp Whole Milk (or cream)
TOPPING:
400g Double Cream
2 tbsp Icing Sugar (but caster will be fine too)

------------------

MY INSTAGRAM: @cupcakejemma
CAKESTAGRAM: @crumbsanddoilies
SALLY: @sallydells

[pranavc]

Tip for any new bakers looking to make this- it is imperative that you clean out your beaters before whipping the egg whites. Even a small trace of egg yolks will stop the whites from whipping up.

[carolinace]

In Venezuela we add cinnamon and rum to the 3 milks mixture and use meringue for the topping. It is my favourite cake ever

[milaac]

If you cut a very thin layer at the top of then pour the milk there’s no need to poke holes and the cake absorbs the milk beautifully. Tres leches is my favorite cake!

[sadiasheikh]

Omg i made this for family iftar and it was amazing. You're a star. Its definitely heavenly.

[lulzgibberish]

I made the 8x10 recipe as a dessert for a bbq party (12 guests, average age ~40). I'm from Germany and no one had every tried something like this. Everyone loved it dearly!
It really stays fluffy and will not collapse into a dense, mushy pile of cake. It's just airy and moist perfection.
I served it with a bit less and unsweetened cream, whipped stiffer than in the video and topped it with a lot of strawberries, blueberries and halfed grapes. I wanted to have a bit more freshness to cut through the sweetness.

As I said, really everyone loved it and the amount was perfect for my purpose.
I can only recommend this to all of you and a big "Thank You" to the Cupcake Jemma team for this divine addition to my go-to recipe folder ♡

[Sofoca]

In Mexico a lot of cake shops sell it with peaches instead of strawberries. A restaurant near my house makes its Tres Leches cake with pink pine nuts and it is the most delicious cake. So happy you love it, Sally!

[tetepeb]

I want someone to be as excited when they look at me as Sally is when she looks at this cake <3

[reexe]

I love how you smile throughout the whole video it shows that you really love your job and that baking is your passion
I love itt💛💛

[robeyhines]

I made _tres leches_ a while back just because I was craving it and I had the ingredients. It’s just as good as I remember when I first made it in my high school baking class! I didn’t have the ingredients for the traditional topping, so I made a glaze out of dulce de leche (basically a thinned our version so it’s less intense) and that was good too! I highly recommend tres leches, but be warned it is *VERY* filling! And that’s coming from a 22 year old with the metabolism of a hummingbird.

Edit: _Hummingbirds have the highest metabolism out of any animal!_

[SuramaJusino]

Made this cake yesterday and it was absolutely delicious! I added some mango puree on top of the cake and then added fresh whipped cream. I would definitely recommend anyone to try this recipe! Thank you for sharing!

[nelvagarduzaleyva]

Hi!! I’m Mexican and thanks for making Mexican desserts, it looks delicious and very close to the original, the only difference is that we top it with Italian meringue.
I love your recipes!! ❤️

[suzettenel]

In the large cake I believe the 240g caster sugar split must be 180g for yolks and 60g for whites. Thanks for all the delicious recipes.

[marissa]

I always do coconut milk instead of evaporated milk and coconut whipped cream and it's absolutely divine.

[raads]

Jemma thank you so much for your perfect description of different sizes. Never seen anyone else on YouTube do that👌

[zafran]

I made this on the weekend for my sister and it turned out thank you so much for sharing this recipe, the cake turned out so moist yet light and fluffy and delicious in flavour - a new favourite!

[zulakharaja]

love all your recipes.. they never let me down. Thank you! I made this in a Cardamon & Saffron flavour, with more whole milk to thin out the drizzle a bit. Was a massive hit with the family this Eid!

[toffeepopzzz]

Looks fab! I made a tres leches cake a few years back for a work charity bake and my cake won a prize for best cake! I've never made it since, but am tempted to using this recipe!

[cybilluy]

I made this cake today and it turned out really good! However, I modified the tres leches mix that I soaked the cake with. I added double the amount of evaporated milk, plus 10 tbsp of full cream milk. Amount of condensed milk stayed the same. The amount written here for the milk mixture for a 7 x 9 cake is a bit small and wouldn't result to a very moist cake. Thank you for this recipe, Sally!

[mbwmbw]

Tres Leches, our favorite cake, hands down!! I'm of Mexican descent and have been baking this for several years. Topping of choice for us is grated Mexican chocolate which has cinnamon in it. Really takes it over the top. Thank you for making the video, I really enjoy all of your recipes!!

[simranathwal]

Love watching you and Jemma Sally.I am definitely going to make this.And BTW very thoughtful of you to give different measurements for smaller and bigger cakes❤️