Amazing Tres Leches Cake *with homemade milk syrup* (+VIDEO)

Today, I'm sharing how to make the amazing tres leches cake entirely from scratch (with homemade milk syrup) with simple steps and ingredients. I’m sharing my detailed tips to make soft, moist yet not soggy tres leches cake!

💛 I love this tres leches cake because:

• It's super moist yet not soggy.
• It contains the perfect amount of sweetness and is not overly sweet.
• There is no need to use evaporated milk or condensed milk, which I rarely have at home.
• And lastly... so easy to make & looks so pretty!

This cake may look very similar to my fluffy genoise sponge cake but it's actually quite different. This sponge has a stronger gluten structure. It's created specifically to soak up a crazy amount of syrup without giving an unpleasant mushy texture.

In this post, you'll learn essential baking tips such as:

• Tips to make light & soft sponge cake that soaks up a lot of the milk syrup
• How to make homemade milk syrup successfully
• Tips to soak the sponge with the syrup to get the best texture
• How to cut the cake neatly with a knife
• How to store it properly & the shelf life ... and so on!

Jump to:

• 📌 What's In Tres Leches Cake?
• 📌 the 15 steps to make Tres Leches Cake
• 📌 How to make Tres Leches Cake (with More Tips & Images)
• 📌 Uses for Tres Leches Cake
• 📌 Frequently Asked Questions
• 📌 VIDEO: Watch How To Make It!
• 📌 Printable Recipe
• Tres Leches Cake

📌 What's In Tres Leches Cake?

The Sponge

• Egg yolk
  • Separate yolk and egg white.
• Salt
  • It helps to strengthen the gluten in the flour.
• Egg white
  • Make sure there are no oil and liquids mixed in it.
• Granulated sugar
  • We add all of it to egg white to make meringue.
• All-purpose flour
  • I also tried with cake flour, but all-purpose flour gives a more pleasant texture after soaking it with lots of syrup.
• Whole milk
  • Use whole-fat milk.

Homemade Milk Syrup

• Whole milk
  • Use whole-fat milk for the best result.
• Heavy cream
  • It adds richness and creaminess to the syrup.
• Granulated sugar
  • I did not add it too much so that it doesn't get overly sweet.
• Vanilla extract
  • The flavor matches well for this cake.
• Vanilla beans
  • It gives up-leveled, fantastic flavor to the cake. I used Madagascar vanilla beans. You can use vanilla extract only if you can not get vanilla beans.

Whipped Cream Topping

• Heavy cream
• Granulated sugar
  • Since the sponge is sweet, I cut off sugar here to balance the sweetness.

Decoration

• Fruits or any ingredients you like

📌 the 15 steps to make Tres Leches Cake

The Sponge

1. Whip egg yolk and salt until it looks very pale and creamy.
2. Whip egg white.
   • Add about ⅓ of the sugar when the meringue looks very bubbly like shampoo.
   • Add about half of the rest when the meringue looks fluffy.
   • Add the rest when the meringue looks very fluffy.
3. Mix egg yolk and egg white until about 50% is blended.
4. Fold in sifted all-purpose flour until you don't see any flour.
5. Add milk and fold until the batter looks smooth and even.
   • You can add milk directly
   • or add a few scoops of the batter in milk, mix until it looks smooth, and pour it back into a bowl to fold more (I picked this way today).
6. Pour the batter into the pan with a cake liner.
   • Toss sometimes to remove some big air bubbles.
   • And swirl the batter with a toothpick for the same purpose.
7. 🔥 Bake at 350F | 176C for about 25 minutes until the center bounces back gently
   • Start checking from a bit earlier, just in case.
   • Adjust the time and temperature depending on the oven, the thickness of the batter, etc.
   • Let it cool completely.
8. Prepare the sponge:
   • Take out the cake from a pan, remove parchment paper,
   • Cut off the baked skin on top.
   • (Lay new parchment paper over a pan),
   • And put the sponge back in a pan.
   • And poke the sponge all over with a fork.

Milk Syrup

9. Heat whole milk, heavy cream, sugar, vanilla beans, and vanilla extract in a pot at medium-low heat while mixing constantly.
10. Reduce it to a little less than a half; 400g | 14.1 oz to be exact.
    • It is the amount after straining the liquids.
11. Once it feels warm, pour it all over the sponge evenly.
12. Wrap it tightly and let it rest in a fridge for at least a few hours up to overnight.

Whipped Cream + Finish it up!

13. Whip heavy cream and sugar to make a stiff & fluffy whipped cream.
14. (Take out the cake from a pan and) spread the cream on top of the sponge evenly.
15. Trim the edge if you like, cut it into a desirable portion, and decorate it with fruits on top. Now... enjoy!

📌 How to make Tres Leches Cake (with More Tips & Images)

Now, let me share detailed tips on each step that is crucial for making homemade tres leches cake successfully.

Preparation

• Preheat the oven to 350 F | 176 C.
• Set up a cake liner in a pan.
• Sift all-purpose flour ahead. (You can also sift it right before you use it.)

Check out the video tutorial to see how you can easily make the cake liner with parchment paper!

Step 1: Whip egg yolk and salt until it looks pale and creamy.

👩🏻‍🍳 Whip well to let it contain lots of air so that the sponge rises a little bit better in the oven.

Step 2: Whip egg white.

⚠️ Make sure that there are no oils and liquids mixed in the egg white so that it whips up better.

Add about ⅓ of the sugar when the meringue looks very bubbly like shampoo.

💡  Sugar has a powder to prevent the egg white from whipping up a lot when you add a lot of it at once at the very beginning. That is why we add sugar gradually for french meringue!

And add about half of the rest when the meringue looks fluffy.

Add the rest when the meringue looks very fluffy.

I usually whip at medium to medium-high speed first and lower the speed at the end to make a meringue with smaller bubbles.

It's stiff and fluffy but the tip should curl up like in the image below:

💡 If you can, whip egg yolks and egg white at the same time so that you can use them right away while both of the conditions are the best. But if that's difficult, always start by whipping egg yolks and moving it to the egg white next.

❌ Never start with egg white first and leave it for a while because French meringue separates quickly in a short time. And if it's separated too much already, it'll not be quite the same even if you try to re-whip it.

Step 3: Mix egg yolk and egg white until about 50% is blended.

Combine them right away while their conditions are the best.

Step 4: Fold in sifted all-purpose flour until you don't see any flour.

👩🏻‍🍳 If you're not confident about how to fold, watch this video. I shared my 4 important tips for folding a batter or any ingredients.

Step 5: Add milk and fold until the batter looks smooth and even.

• You can add milk directly or
• Add a few scoops of the batter in milk, mix until it looks smooth, and pour it back into a bowl to fold more (I picked this way today).

💬 Stop folding when it looks smooth and even. Watch the video tutorial to see how much I folded; I'm showing it without cutting the footage!

💬 Once you get used to the move, folding it with speed is very important so that you can bake it as soon as possible while the condition of the meringue is still the best.

Step 6: Pour the batter into the pan.

Toss sometimes on a cloth to remove some big air bubbles.

And swirl it with a toothpick or chopstick for the same purpose.

Step 7: 🔥 Bake at 350F | 176C for about 25 minutes.

• Start checking from a bit earlier just in case.
• Adjust the time and temperature depending on the oven, the thickness of the batter, etc.

It is done when:

• the center bounces back gently when you touch or
• Insert a toothpick and see if it comes off clean.

Let it cool completely.

💬 It is normal that it deflates a little bit like this as it cools down.

Step 8: Prepare the sponge:

• Take out the cake from a pan, remove parchment paper,
• Cut off the baked skin on top,
• (lay new parchment paper over a pan),
• Place the sponge back in a pan.
• And poke the sponge all over with a fork.

⚠️ I like to cut off the baked skin because it creates a mushy, not-so-pleasant texture when it gets very wet.

💬 By laying the parchment paper, you can take out the sponge easier to cut off nicely later. You can skip it if you are not taking it out.

💬 Since we already cut off the baked skin, the sponge soaks up the milk syrup a lot better already. You don't have to poke it too much.

Step 9: Heat whole milk, heavy cream, sugar, vanilla beans, and vanilla extract in a pot at medium-low heat mixing constantly.

💬  It is so important to mix constantly so that they're not going to get burned, and also to make smooth syrup. 

Step 10: Reduce it to a little less than a half; 400g | 14.1 oz to be exact.

💬 It takes about 30 minutes to reduce liquids (with one batch). You can also make this ahead like a day before if it's easier!

Quick Milk Syrup

Usually, the milk syrup for tres leches cake is made with evaporated milk, condensed milk, and milk or heavy cream. (There's a reason why this cake is called tres leches cake, in other words, 3 milk cake!)

Today I'm making it from scratch but if you don't have time, simply mix the ingredients below:

• Evaporated milk  250 g | 8.8 oz
• Condensed milk 100 g | 3.5 oz
• Heavy cream 50 g | 1.8 oz
• Vanilla extract 1 teaspoon (or more as you like)
• Vanilla beans ½ pod (optional)

Step 11: Once it feels warm, pour it all over the sponge evenly.

💬 Use warm syrup ideally. The sponge soaks it up better. (just like when you make Tiramisu!)

Step 12: Wrap it tightly and let it rest in a fridge for at least a few hours up to overnight.

👩🏻‍🍳 I like to leave it overnight when I have time. The liquids go all the way into the flour and the texture gets completely even.

Step 13: Whip heavy cream and sugar to make a stiff & fluffy whipped cream.

Step 14: (Take out the cake from a pan and) spread the cream on top of the sponge evenly.

Enjoy frosting any way you like!

Step 15: Trim the edge if you like, cut it into a desirable portion, and decorate it with fruits on top.

💬 Warm your knife with hot water or a torch and cut with a fast zig-zag motion to get a very clean sharp cut.

👩🏻‍🍳 Today I trimmed all the edges and cut into a fairly big portion. Cut to any sizes and shapes you like. One batch of the recipe is enough for about 6-8 people!

📌 Uses for Tres Leches Cake

It is a very simple, stress-free cake that we can enjoy in many shapes and sizes.

• As a sheet cake
  • This is the most common shape for the cake. I love it because it makes all the processes so easy. "a piece of cake"!
• As a whole cake
  • Use a cake pan or even a pie plate! Frost only the top like today or all around the cake to turn it into a more festive celebration cake.
• As cupcakes
  • Tres leches cupcakes! There's no need to cut the cake later this way. A perfect option for any casual home gathering, such as a party for kids, baby shower, etc.
• Filling
  • Spread your favorite filling (lemon curd, jam, etc!) between the whipped cream and sponge and turn it into something more custom!
• Decoration
  • Use any fruits or ingredients you like if you do not have berries. Even powders such as matcha, cocoa, pumpkin spice powder, etc do the job!

You can double/triple the recipe for a bigger pan to share with more folks. (Or you can make a half batch as well, of course.) Just adjust the baking time & temperature accordingly.

📌 Frequently Asked Questions

📌 VIDEO: Watch How To Make It!

To learn how to make the tres leches cake visually and have a deeper understanding of all, watch this video.

Don't forget to subscribe if you liked it😉

📌 Printable Recipe

💬 If you loved this recipe, please share your feedback on this post! I always love to hear how you enjoyed it with your friends and family.

If you like moist cakes like this tres leches cake, also check out my moist chocolate banana cake with silky ganache. It is my go-to recipe!

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