Hola, cariño. ¿Quieres un poco de torta Tres leche?

I really am lucky to have such amazing friends who will invite me over for a taco night dinner. And I gladly pay that favour back by providing an apt dessert. While there are more appropriate Mexican-themed desserts to make such as flan, empanadas, or churros, the light tres leches cake (or milk cake) was the perfect end to a favourful fiesta.

And super easy to make as you’ll soon find out!

Not knowing what to expect, the cake batter was alarmingly dense but it all made sense once it was cooled and the giant batch of milk mixture was poured over it as the cake soaked it up and expanded like a sponge pushing its limits before being wrung out.

Tres Leches Cake

Ingredients
1 ½ cup flour
1 tsp. baking powder
½ cup butter; softened
1 cup sugar
5 eggs
½ tsp. vanilla
2 cups whole milk (do not substitute or 1% or 2%)
1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk
1 can (12 oz.) evaporated milk
1 ½ cup whipping cream
1 tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla

Preheat oven to 350°F and grease and flour a 9×13″ baking pan.

Sift flour and baking powder together and set aside.

Cream butter and 1 cup sugar together until fluffy. Add eggs and 1 tsp. vanilla; beat well.

Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture, two tbsps. at a time; mix until well blended. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 30 minutes. When cake is done, pierce cake with a fork several times and allow cake to cool completely.

In a large bowl, combine whole milk, sweetened condensed milk, and evaporated milk together. Slowly pour over the cooled cake. Allow the cake to absorb as much milk mixture as possible.

Whip whipping cream, 1 tbsp. sugar, and 1 tsp. vanilla together until thick. Spread over the top of the cake. Keep refrigerated until ready to serve.