J. Friedman Fast

My first encounter with a tres leches cake was at my baby shower, when I was pregnant with my oldest. A Mexican co-worker brought it, telling me it would be “good for the baby.” (Tres leches means “three milks.”) And despite some skepticism (because I’m not actually a fan of drinking a glass of milk) it was love at first taste!

Fast-forward 12 or so years, and that same baby is now in middle school and needs to research traditional foods of Ecuador for a school project. We searched Google and Pinterest, and “tres leches cake” popped up. The best part is that the recipe we found was so easy, my daughter was able to make it with little help (but a lot of supervision) from me. She aced her assignment 🙂

And then, for my 40th Birthday, a friend brings this enormous, heavy pink box that is practically leaking milk out the corners! She had purchased it from a small family owned Mexican grocery store. It had fresh fruit layered in it, and it was just plain delicious.

The recipe my daughter first made has evolved over the past few years, to something that always gets me tons of compliments at parties and potlucks at the office. This cake is especially great on the hottest summer days, as it is served cold. Perfect for your summer  BBQs. I’ve made my own adjustments, natch. But half the fun is making it your own, and this recipe allows for customization. Even better, it’s something even little kids can help you with.

Some notes about texture: Although everyone loves the flavors of this cake, universally, not everyone can get down with the texture. (Don’t feel insulted, but encourage folks to give it a try anyway.) It’s not mush, as you might fear. The cake itself is firm enough to stand up to soaking in milk. You do need to give this cake time to soak up the milk mixture (overnight is best), and you must serve the cake chilled. The texture and flavor are even better the second day, if it lasts that long.

Ingredients:

• 1 yellow butter-flavored cake mix
• 5 eggs
• ½ cup buttermilk or milk
• 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 4 ounces (1/2 cup) sour cream
• 1/3 cup melted butter, at room temperature
• 2 teaspoons butter rum flavoring (or just rum flavoring)
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 3 tablespoons rum (optional)
• 1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 5-ounce can evaporated milk
• 1 cup heavy cream
• pinch of salt
• 2 tubs of non-dairy whipped topping, or other topping of your choice (see variations, below)

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Add the cake mix to the mixing bowl of a standing mixer. (Or a large bowl, if you are going to mix it by hand with a whisk). Add 2 eggs plus 3 yolks (reserve the egg whites for the meringue topping, if you prefer that, or for some other use) and ½ cup milk or buttermilk.  Mix on low-speed for 30 seconds or until well blended.
3. Add the softened cream cheese, sour cream, melted butter, 1 tsp butter rum flavoring, 1 teaspoon vanilla and 2 tablespoons rum (optional). Mix on medium speed for 1 – 2 minutes, until well-blended.
4. Spread batter into a 9 x 13 inch cake pan (it will be thick). Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, just until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.
5. While the cake is baking, make the milk “syrup” that will soak into the cooled cake:  In a bowl, whisk together the condensed milk, the evaporated milk, and the heavy cream (the three kinds of milk, or tres leches), 1 teaspoon vanilla, a pinch of salt, 1 tsp butter rum flavoring, and 1 tablespoon rum (optional).
6. Once the cake is out of the oven, while it is still warm, use a fork or small skewer to gently poke holes in the cake. Kids love helping with this part!
7. Slowly pour the milk mixture over the entire cake. The milk mixture will not soak in immediately, and may pool in the sides and the bottom at first, but it will eventually soak into the cake completely. Tilt pan around some to help distribute the liquid.
8. Cover the cake with plastic wrap and chill for 3-4 hours or overnight.
9. Top with non-dairy whipped topping (or topping of choice) just before serving. Optional: lightly sprinkle with ground cinnamon.

A note about baking pans: Tres Leches is often served out right of the pan, which comes in handy at large parties, when you can use a disposable foil lasagna pan. But there are certain occasions like birthdays where you might want a more attractive presentation. You can bake the cake in 2 round cake pans, but once they are out of the oven, give them at least 12 hours to soak up the milk while the cakes are still in the pans, in the refrigerator. Once they have soaked up all the milk and are very well chilled, you can unmold them, and ice them with your topping of choice. It helps to line the bottom of the pans with parchment paper. Another possibility is to bake the cake in a 10-inch springform pan, and then remove the band around the cake once it is well chilled and has absorbed the milk.

Other variations:

• I absolutely prefer the non-dairy whipped topping, and I lay it on THICK. However, you can always top with your favorite frosting, whipped cream, or meringue.
• If you are not a fan of rum or butter rum flavoring, leave it out. Or substitute with lemon or other citrus flavoring for a fun twist.
• Add sliced fruit and/or fresh berries either on top or between layers
• Coconut variation: Replace the 1/2 cup buttermilk or milk in the cake mix with ½ cup coconut milk. Replace ½ of the whipping cream with coconut milk. Add 1 teaspoon coconut flavoring to cake. Sprinkle finished cake with toasted coconut.
• Try different cake mix flavors! Plain yellow, white, lemon, etc.
• One super-shortcut I’ve tried is using a store-bought pound cake (or try Tamara’s pound cake recipe) and soaking that in the milk syrup. It’s not quite as good, I’ll admit. But if you need a fast tres leches fix, it’ll get you through.
• At the risk of death-by-dairy (is that a thing???) I bet a scoop of vanilla ice cream would go well…

Please let us know how your cake came out! We’d love to see pictures or hear what variations you tried and loved. What other recipes do you recommend we try? Feel free to leave a comment.