This classic Mexican dessert is nothing short of amazing - and it's perfect for your Cinco de Mayo celebration!
Try this tropical tiramisu or this fabulous white Texas sheet cake next!
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❤️ Why you'll love this recipe
- White chocolate and lime is an unusual flavor combination.
- This classic Mexican dessert is super easy to make.
Tres Leches cake (Pastel de Tres Leches) is a tender cake soaked in a sweet sauce made with three different kinds of milk. Think of it as the original poke cake!
The most difficult part is waiting while it sits overnight soaking up the milk sauce.
🧾 Ingredients
- All-purpose flour
- Baking powder
- Salt
- Sugar
- Eggs
- Butter
- Limes
- Key lime juice
- Vanilla
- Heavy whipping cream
- Eagle Brand sweetened condensed milk ( I recommend it - it's what I use)
- Evaporated milk
- White chocolate chips
- Rum
- White chocolate
- Powdered instant pudding mix
🔪 Instructions
Note: This is an overview of the instructions. The full instructions are in the green recipe card below.
It will take about 40 minutes to make the cake then you'll need to refrigerate it for at least 8 hours.
Blend the flour, baking powder, and salt in a small mixing bowl.
Cream the butter and cup of sugar together with the whisk attachment on high speed of an electric mixer until light and fluffy.
This takes between 2 and 5 minutes.
Switch to medium speed. Add the eggs one at a time beating well after each.
Beat in the vanilla and the zest from one lime.
Add the flour mixture, then the lime juice with the mixer running on slow.
Mix just until well blended.
Pour the cake batter into a prepared pan and bake.
Remove from the oven when a toothpick comes out clean.
Poke holes in the cake with a skewer. No need to let it cool.
Pour the cream mixture over the top, a little at a time, pulling the edges away from the pan and letting the cream flow underneath.
Cover and refrigerate overnight.
Next Day
Just before serving drizzle some lime juice over the cake and then top with the whipped cream topping.
Top with a sprinkle of cinnamon if desired.
Keep leftovers in the fridge.
🥄 Equipment
You'll need the following items to make this recipe successfully.
- Hand mixer or stand mixer with a whisk attachment
- Measuring cup and spoons
- Mixing bowls
- Cake pan (see recipe for possible sizes)
- Baking release spray
- Plastic wrap
👩🏻🍳 Frequently asked questions
Here are the questions I am most frequently asked about this recipe.
Yes. It needs to be refrigerated overnight to let the cream mixture soak into it - and any leftovers should be stored in the refrigerator as well.
It's a dense butter cake, sometimes called milk cake, that's been soaked in a mixture of evaporated milk (or whole milk), sweetened condensed milk, and cream plus whatever flavor variation you've chosen.
🥫 Storage
Your yummy tres leches cake should be kept in the refrigerator until serving time. Any leftovers should be covered tightly and refrigerated promptly.
It will be fine for about 3 to 4 days but the quality starts to deteriorate after two days.
You can make this and freeze it without putting the milk mixture or topping on. Once you're ready to finish just thaw and poke the holes in it and proceed with the recipe.
Once you've put the soaking mixture on the cake you can't freeze it, you'll need to go ahead and serve it. This isn't a dessert that can be made more than a day in advance.
💭 Tips for success
Expert Tip: This is a very moist cake but not soggy. That's why you need a dense cake. Don't let anyone tell you a yellow cake mix will work. It will be mush.
- Some people make a lighter, fluffy cake for Tres Leches but I think that it needs to be dense - with almost a pound cake texture. If it's too fluffy it just turns into a wet, soggy mess.
- Make sure all your ingredients are at room temperature.
- I like homemade whipped cream but you can use Cool Whip if you prefer.
- You can make this up to two days ahead of time but no more than that.
- I love fresh strawberries with the lime and white chocolate flavors. They make a great garnish!
- Maraschino cherries are a more traditional garnish.
- Since you bake and serve this easy dessert right in the same cake pan it's perfect for potlucks.
- Serve it cold!
This iconic Mexican dessert reminds me of pig pickin' or holy cow cake, honestly - it's got that same richness and decadence!
I think that the recipe surfaced sometime in the mid-1950s or 60s, right along with Frito Pie and other brand created foods - at least in the United States.
I know that it was on the back label of evaporated milk cans for years.
📚 Related recipes
Mexican food is absolutely one of my favorite cuisines! I love the smoky, spicy flavors and rich textures that make up those great South of the Border dishes!
Here are some of my favorite recipes for when I'm celebrating Cinco de Mayo or just enjoying dinner with the family. I hope you love them, too.
- Mexican Street Corn Soup has to be one of my favorite comfort food recipes. It has all the flavor of elote.
- Tequila Lime Chicken Tacos are SO easy to make in the slow cooker.
- The BEST Chicken Enchiladas with homemade cream sauce are one of our favorites.
- Homemade Sopapillas are cinnamony sweet and totally addictive.
- This pitcher of margaritas is a necessity on any fiesta table!
📞 The last word
Here's my experience...
- Some people use regular milk instead of the evaporated milk. I find that the evaporated milk makes the milk mixture richer and creamier.
- I've used coconut milk in place of the evaporated milk with good results - if you like coconut try it sometime.
This is my very favorite tres leches recipe. It's just the right combination of tangy and sweet to go with beef fajitas, smoky and spicy on the grill.
It's one of those things that you can take to a church picnic and walk away with a cake pan that's been licked clean.
📖 Recipe
Lime and White Chocolate Tres Leches Cake
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Equipment Needed
Ingredients
Cake
- 1-¾ Cups all-purpose flour
- 2 Teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ Cup butter
- 1 Cup granulated sugar
- 4 eggs
- ½ Teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup key lime juice
- Zest from one lime
Tres Leches
- 12 oz. evaporated milk
- 14 oz. sweetened condensed milk, , I use Eagle Brand and recommend it
- ½ cup heavy cream
- ½ cup white chocolate
- 1 tablespoon rum, optional
- Lime juice for sprinkling cake
Topping
- 2 cups heavy cream, very cold
- ¼ cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon rum, optional
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ⅓ teaspoon powdered instant pudding mix, white chocolate
Instructions
Step one: cake
- Blend the flour, salt and baking powder and set aside.
- Cream the butter and sugar together with the whisk attachment on high speed until light and fluffy.
- Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each.
- Add the vanilla and the zest.
- Switch to medium speed. Add the flour mixture, quickly mixing in.
- Now add the lime juice.
- Mix carefully.
- Pour batter into a 9×9 inch, a 7x11, or a 9-inch round cake pan and bake in a 350° oven until done, about 30 minutes.
- Remove from the oven.
Step two: Tres Leches milk sauce
- Heat the heavy cream to a simmer.
- Add the white chocolate to the heavy whipping cream and stir until smooth.
- Mix the cream mixture, Eagle Brand condensed milk, rum, and evaporated milk.
- Poke holes in the the cake with a fork in several places.
- Pour the cream mixture slowly over the warm cake, stopping now and then to let the cream be absorbed, and gently pulling the cake away from the sides of the cake pan to let the liquid flow down the sides.
- Repeat until all of the cream mixture is gone. The cake will be covered in liquid.
Step three: chill
- Cover tightly with plastic wrap.
- Place in the refrigerator overnight.
- Next day turn out onto a cake plate if you wish. (I leave mine right in the pan)
Step three: topping
- Whip the cream with the vanilla and rum until it just begins to thicken.
- Add in the ⅓ teaspoon of instant pudding powder and begin slowly adding the sugar while whipping.
- Whip the topping until it holds soft peaks - don't overwhip or you'll have butter.
Step four: Just before serving
- Sprinkle the cake with about ¼ cup more lime juice.
- Top the cake with the whipped cream and serve.
Notes
- I added shards of white chocolate to the top of my cake for a garnish. The nutrition info is not included in this recipe.
- It needs to be refrigerated overnight to let the cream mixture soak into it - and any leftovers should be stored in the refrigerator as well.
- It's fine to eat for up to 4 days but the quality starts to deteriorate after 2.
- You can freeze the cake itself before adding the cream mixture - then remove from the freezer, thaw, and finish the recipe. You can't freeze the cake once the cream mixture is on it.
- Some people make a lighter, fluffy cake for Tres Leches but I think that it needs to be dense - with almost a pound cake texture. If it's too fluffy it just turns into a wet, soggy mess.
- Make sure all your ingredients are at room temperature.
- I like homemade whipped cream but you can use Cool Whip if you prefer.
- You can make this up to two days ahead of time but no more than that.
- I love fresh strawberries with the lime and white chocolate flavors. They make a great garnish!
- Maraschino cherries are a more traditional garnish.
- Since you bake and serve this easy dessert right in the same cake pan it's perfect for potlucks.
- Serve it cold!
Nutrition Facts
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We'll never share your email or send you spam. Pinkie swear.First published: August 21, 2010 Last updated: April 14, 2021 for more detailed instructions.
Katy Boling
I'm confused about which pan size to use! The "equipment" and the pictures suggest that it should be 9x13", but the recipe says 9x9". I'm going to start the recipe now and see how it looks before I decide which to use, but I thought I might let you know that was confusing.
Marye
I don't know wher eyou are seeing 9x13? The instructions say - 9×9 inch, a 7x11, or a 9-inch round cake pan and I can't find a size mentioned in the instructions or equipment. Never mind. I found it. I'll fix it.
Melissa Moran
Your earlier recipe calls for 1 can Evap, 1can sweetened condensed, and 2 Cups Whole milk...so, yeah I can see the need for a little more liquid.
I just remembered today that I have a ladies thing Thursday evening....I think I need to take this cake and pour half of the batter in a pan to leave here and half in one to take with me. I have a really pretty pie plate that is clear and delicate. I'll pour the other half in a loaf pan 'er something.
1 lb key limes?
maryeaudet
yep...and the white chocolate thickened things up too.
melissa moran
Nice! I was wondering how you were going to keep the lime juice from curdling the cream! You put it in the cake! I love it. Will try it this week, much to my lower half's detriment.
maryeaudet
Melissa, I really suggest increasing the tres leches ingredients by half. 🙂