Tres Leches Cake with Strawberries is wonderfully soaked with a mixture of sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk, and heavy cream. On top a layer of freshhly whipped cream and sliced strawberries. Such a great Spring dessert!
Get out your lactaid pills, cuz you’re going to need them with this dairy-laden cake. My first attempt at Tres Leches Cake was wildly successful. Thanks to a wonderful Tres Leches Cake with Strawberries recipe from one of my favorite cooking magazines, Fine Cooking
, I nailed it.
Topped with bright red, fresh strawberries, this Tres Leches Cake is dressed for spring as well as the upcoming Cinco de Mayo.
Tres Leches Cake is a little more involved than some cake recipes, but it should be made in advance, giving the soaking liquid time to marry with the cake. This makes it a wonderful choice for a party, pot luck, or cook out. Just pull it out of the fridge and it’s ready to go.
Whipped egg whites create a very light-textured cake with tons of air bubbles that are really able to soak up a huge quantity of delicious liquid. The cake part is exceptionally sweet, as a tres leches cake should be, and it is balanced by a fresh whipped cream topping with just a hint of sweetness.
Everyone will love this fresh and bright Tres Leches Cake with Strawberries.
More Tres Leches Cakes:
Tres Leches Cake with Strawberries
Ingredients
- butter for greasing pan
- 1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 5 large eggs,, at room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar,, divided
- 1/3 cup whole milk
- 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
- 1 (12-ounce) can evaporated milk
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- pinch kosher salt
- 2 1/2 cups heavy cream
- 2 1/2 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 cups sliced strawberries
- 1 teaspoon sugar
Instructions
- Place oven rack in center of oven and preheat to 350 degrees.
- Butter bottom and sides of a 9×13-inch Pyrex dish , line bottom with parchment paper, and lightly butter parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.
- Separate the eggs. Place the egg whites in a medium bowl and the yolks in a large bowl.
- Using an electric mixer, beat the egg yolks and 3/4 cup sugar at medium speed until pale and creamy, about 2 minutes. Add milk and 3/4 teaspoon vanilla and beat until combined.
- Clean and dry the beaters and beat the egg whites on high until they form soft peaks, 2 to 3 minutes. Add remaining 1/4 cup sugar in a slow stream and continue to beat on high until they reach firm peaks.
- Whisk 1/3 of dry ingredients into yolk mixture until well combined. Gently fold in 1/3 of egg whites using a rubber spatula. Alternating, fold in remaining dry ingredients and egg whites in two more batches.
- Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Let pan cool on a rack or 10 minutes and then invert cake onto rack and remove parchment paper. Let cool completely and then return cake to baking dish.
- In a medium saucepan, combine condensed milk, evaporated milk, heavy cream, and pinch of salt. Stir to mix and cook over medium-low heat, while stirring, until it begins to bubble around edges, about 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat.
- Using a toothpick, poke holes in cake at 1/2-inch intervals. Slowly pour milk mixture over cake, starting at edges. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 to 24 hours.
- In a large bowl, beat heavy cream on medium speed. Add sugar and vanilla when it begins to thicken. Continue to beat until cream forms firm peaks, about 3 to 4 minutes. Be careful not to overbeat.
- Spread cream over top of cake. Combine strawberries and 1 teaspoon sugar and spread evenly on top of cake.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Recipe Source: adapted slightly from Fine Cooking
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links.
I wanted to make this for Mother’s Day but if I’m reading the recipe correctly there’s no butter, oil or shortening? Is that because it gets its fat from all the milk and cream poured on it later?
Am going to try this for my mother’s 100th Birthday in May. Sure hope it comes out ok . Making two for the amount of people expected to show up. Wish be luck. Haven’t baked since I was in the military.
I’ve made this cake several times and it is always a show stopper. Great for parties and special occasions.
This recipe is a little hard to follow. I’m a baker but some of these things in here I can’t even understand. What does form peaks mean? I think it’s a little more simple then the others but you really should separate the ingredients and give more details this is to confusing.
made this for a fourth of july bbq and everyone loved it! any tips on how to make this into a multi-layered cake? would love to make it for a bday coming up
This recipe was SO good. I ended up making the cake/milks a couple days before the day I needed it and made the whipped topping/strawberries the day of and it was absolutely amazing. Thanks for sharing!
I made this for Friendsgiving this past Saturday! And it was a BIG hit!
I followed the recipe to a T. Left it in the refrigerator over night and frosted it in the morning.
People even asked me to make it to sell. LoL.
LOVED IT!
Yay! So glad everyone enjoyed it.
Why boil the Tres leches..thank you
Can Cool Whip be used instead of using the whipped heavy cream?
I followed the instructions as written, so I didn’t realize I was only supposed to use 1/2 cup heavy cream in the milk mixture and save 2 cups for the topping. It just says to add the heavy cream without indicating how much. I just breezed through and added all 2 1/2 cups, wondered why it was taking much longer than 3-5 minutes to bubble before pouring it over my beautiful cake. What a bummer.
Edit this for clarity!
It clearly separates the heavy cream out on the list of ingredients calling for the half a cup of cream and then the two and a half cups not the author’s fault you rushed through that. That’s on you
I love the sound of this dessert. I want this for my birthday! 😀