Tres Leches Cake

My girls and I were at girls camp last year and the cooks made tres leches cake for dessert.  Heaven.  That is what it was.  When you have been camping for four days, using a latrine, sweating all day, tres leches cake literally tastes like heaven.  Soon after, Emma requested it for her birthday.  I had never made it before so we tried some different variations to be sure we would get it right.  We tried making the cake from scratch verses a box mix.  We tried different amounts of the milk.  We even tried different amounts of sugar in the whip cream.  This recipe is our final product – we took a little bit from each recipe and made our own.  Obviously this cake is moist.  It has three different milks poured on it for goodness sake!  We ended up liking the box mix the best because it allowed the milk to be absorbed more evenly than the cake made from scratch.  We also went on the conservative side with the sugar in the whip cream.  Since the cake is so sweet, you really don’t need as much sugar as some recipes called for.  Also, the cake pan I use is from Magic Line.  They are my most favorite cake pans.  You can find them on Amazon.  If you are looking for excellent pans, give them a try.

As you can see, I decorated this on as a flag for Memorial Day.  It would also be perfect for the Fourth of July!

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Tres Leches Cake

This sweet, moist cake is Heaven on a plate.  Serve with fresh fruit and enjoy.

Course Dessert

Cuisine Mexican

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 28 minutes

Total Time 48 minutes

Servings 20

Ingredients

Cake

• 1 Box yellow butter recipe cake mix
• 1 can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 can evaporated milk
• 2 cups heavy cream

Whip Cream Topping

• 2 cups heavy whipping cream
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. Follow directions on the box for the cake mix.  Bake as directed.

3. While cake is baking, whisk the three milks together in a bowl.

4. While the cake is still warm, poke holes in the cake with the back of a spoon or the tines of a fork.  Poke them about a 1/2 inch apart.  

5. Pour the milk mixture slowly over the cake, allowing milk to be absorbed.

6. Refrigerate until completely chilled.

7. Beat the whip cream, sugar and vanilla together until stiff.

8. Spread whip cream on top of the chilled cake.  Return to the refrigerator until ready to serve.