Perfect Tres Leches Cake – Light, Moist, Not Too Sweet!

Zoha Malik

by Zoha Malik

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Rated 5.00 out of 5

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This is the perfect classic Tres Leches Cake (milk cake): light, soft, moist and thoroughly soaked in a delicious three milk mixture that has the perfect amount of sweetness and a hint of cinnamon. The base is a sponge (“biscuit”) cake made by folding whipped egg whites into the batter for its light and spongy texture, and no oil or butter to weigh it down. The cake is baked, poked with holes and soaked in a mixture of three milks: sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk and whole milk. Finally, a layer of plain whipped cream (no sugar) is piped on top to finish the cake and balance it out, along with some fresh berries for decoration. This Tres Leches is truly as good as it gets with no dry bits to be found, while also being incredibly simple!

A rectangular tres leches cake topped with swirls of whipped cream and rows of fresh strawberries and blueberries sits in a baking pan with a few pieces missing.

I first developed this recipe in 2023 after falling in love with the viral Milk Cake from L’ETO Caffe in London. Since then, I’ve tested, tweaked and improved it further to create a version that is light and moist like the original, but even better in flavor.

This is one of the first and only Tres Leches cake recipes that has worked really well for me! The sponge was super soft and the overall flavor was perfect. Another one of Zoha’s recipes added to my dinner party menu! Give it a go, you won’t be disappointed.

– Deeba, ★★★★★

If you’re too short on time to attempt a sponge cake from scratch, you may wanna try my Easy No Bake Tres Leches which uses ladyfingers instead and works perfectly! And if you’re not scared to venture out in flavor, my Mango Lassi Tres Leches and Masala Chai Tres Leches are both delicious.

A square slice of creamy tres leches cake topped with whipped cream, a halved strawberry, a blueberry, and a raspberry sits on a decorative plate. A fork with cake remnants is nearby, and more fruit is scattered around.

Step-by-Step Photos

The detailed recipe is below, but let’s quickly go over the steps with photos to help you visualize everything.

whisking eggs and sugar in a glass bowl

Add half of the sugar, milk, vanilla and salt to the egg yolks.

whisking eggs and sugar in a glass bowl and they are looking lighter

Whisk thoroughly until the mixture becomes light in color.

dry ingredients added to egg and sugar mixture

Sift in the flour, cornstarch and baking powder.

dry ingredients folded into egg and sugar mixture

Whisk or fold in gently until no lumps remain.

hand mixer whisking egg whites with sugar in a glass bowl

To the egg whites, add the other half of the sugar and cream of tartar (optional).

egg whites whisked to stiff peaks

Using clean whisks, whip the egg whites until they form a stiff, glossy and stable meringue that holds a peak.

folding meringue into cake batter

Add a third of the meringue to the egg yolk mixture and gently fold it in.

light and fluffy cake batter

Add the rest of the meringue and continue gently folding until just combined.

A rectangular metal baking pan filled with pale, smooth tres leches cake batter sits on a wooden cutting board atop a speckled countertop. Swirl marks are visible on the batter’s surface.

Gently transfer the batter to a 9×13″ baking pan.

A rectangular golden-brown tres leches cake rests in a metal baking pan on a wooden cutting board and a white countertop. The cake’s surface is smooth with a few small bumps.

Bake until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean – then let it cool down.

It is totally normal for the sponge cake to deflate a bit after you take it out of the oven as it loses steam. As long as it still has a light texture, you’re fine!

three milk mixture in a glass bowl

Add the ingredients for the milk mixture to a bowl.

three milk mixture with cinnamon mixed in

Whisk to combine, and taste to adjust! I like to start with a smaller amount of sweetened condensed milk, and add more if I feel it’s needed.

A rectangular yellow tres leches cake in a baking pan with holes poked across the top and glaze drizzled over it, set on a wooden cutting board and white countertop.

Use the back of a skewer to poke holes all over the cake. Pour over half of the three milk mixture and let it aborb.

A rectangular baking dish filled with a pale yellow, creamy liquid over a tres leches cake base. The surface is sprinkled with cinnamon and has small bubbles, with some mixture spilled on the edges and countertop below.

Pour over the rest of the milk mixture and refrigerate until it is all soaked in.

Once chilled, decorate the cake with whipped cream and fresh berries! I use a 1M star tip to pipe swirls and they look beautiful.

A rectangular tres leches cake topped with swirls of white whipped cream, decorated with rows of fresh strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries. The cake sits in a metal pan on a light surface with a few berries nearby.

Two Common Mistakes To Avoid

The most important thing you need to get right for this recipe is, unsurprisingly, the Sponge Cake itself. Unlike many recipes which use boxed cake mix and end up feeling heavy and dense, this recipe uses a “biscuit sponge” which is very light and airy with no oil or butter. When correctly made, the cake will have lots of air pockets that soak up all the liquid like a sponge while still maintaining a light texture.

There are 2 common mistakes people make which result in a dense or rubbery sponge instead of a light one – and here’s how you can avoid them.

1. Not whipping the egg whites properly

The egg whites are whipped with sugar and cream of tartar until they form a white and glossy meringue. The air whipped into the meringue is what gives the cake its texture, so it is crucial to whip it perfectly. Here are my best tips for you:

  • Make sure there’s no fat in the egg whites. Use a clean bowl and clean whisks with no grease residue, and ensure you don’t accidentally get any egg yolks in them. Fat causes egg whites to deflate
  • Whisk on medium speed. Medium speed allows creating the right sized air bubbles that are stable. If you try to whisk at high speed, the meringue can become split and deflate. So be patient and take your time!
  • Don’t under-whip. You are looking for the stiff peak phase. This means when you lift the whisk (or beaters) from the meringue, it should leave behind a little peak that stands up straight and doesn’t fall back down. If it bends back down into the bowl, whisk longer
  • Don’t overwhip, either! Once the meringue reaches the stiff peak stage, stop whisking. Over-whipping adds too many air bubbles which break down the structure of the meringue

2. Overmixing the batter

The meringue needed to be folded into the rest of the cake batter. The goal with here is to retain as much of the air in the meringue as possible, so you don’t undo all the effort! Many people end up overmixing or being too aggressive with this step, which causes the batter to deflate. Here are my tips:

  • Start with a third of the meringue. This will lighten up the texture of the cake batter, making it easier to mix with the rest of the meringue
  • Use a very gentle folding motion with a rubber spatula. Go around the bowl, then cut through, then lift from the bottom. Don’t do any rigorous whisking, and take your time here
  • Don’t overdo it! As soon as the meringue is 95% of the way folded in, you can stop. If you see a few tiny lumps of meringue, break them gently with the spatula.
A slice of creamy tres leches cake topped with whipped cream and fresh berries sits on a white, scalloped plate, with whole strawberries in the foreground and another cake slice in the background.

A Few More Tips

  • Weigh your ingredients with a kitchen scale – this is much more accurate than measuring cups, and you won’t accidentally add too much flour!
  • Don’t let the cake batter sit out for too long – bake it straight away so it doesn’t lose air
  • Use a metal baking pan, NOT ceramic or glass. Sponge cakes do not bake and dry out properly in ceramic / glass pans
  • Do NOT grease the pan, and ideally avoid nonstick! Put parchment paper on the bottom but no oil, butter or spray on the edges. We want the cake batter to be able to hold on to the edges of the pan to rise and stay there as it cools. If your pan is greased, the cake will fall away from the edges immediately and deflate more than desired
  • Taste the three milk mixture. Start with a smaller amount of sweetened condensed milk, taste, and add more as needed
  • Feel free to customize the flavor. Don’t like cinnamon? Skip it or use vanilla instead. Want a rus malai flavor? Replace it with cardamom powder (my personal fave!)
A rectangular tres leches cake with creamy frosting and mixed berries sits in a white baking dish. A large square piece has been cut out, revealing the cake’s moist layers. Whipped cream and berries decorate the top.
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A decadent slice of tres leches cake topped with whipped cream, a strawberry half, a blueberry, and a raspberry sits on a scalloped plate with a gold fork, surrounded by scattered berries.

Perfect Tres Leches Cake (Milk Cake) Recipe

by Zoha Malik

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 5 stars from 39 reviews

A heavenly light, soft and moist Tres Leches Cake drenched in a balanced three-milk mixture that’s not too sweet, and topped with whipped cream!

Yield:16 servings

Prep Time:
40 mins
Cook Time:
15 mins
Chilling Time:
1 hr
Total Time:
1 hr, 55 mins

Ingredients

Cake Sponge:

  • 6 eggs, separated into whites and yolks
  • 1 cup granulated sugar (200g), divided into 2 equal portions of 100g each
  • 2 tsp vanilla bean paste
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/3 cup whole milk (80g)
  • 1 1/3 cup all purpose flour (175g)
  • 3 tbsp cornstarch
  • 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp cream of tartar (optional)

Three Milk Mixture:

  • 14oz sweetened condensed milk (1 14oz can) (400g)
  • 24oz evaporated milk (2 12oz cans) (680g)
  • 1 cup milk (240g)
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon powder (optional)

Decoration:

  • 2 1/2 cup heavy cream, chilled and whipped to medium peaks (600g)
  • Fresh berries of choice

Instructions

Cake Sponge:

  1. Preheat your oven to 350F (conventional) and prepare a 9×13″ metal cake pan with parchment paper on the bottom (no butter, oil or spray)
  2. Separate the egg whites and yolks into 2 clean bowls, taking care not to get any yolk into the whites
  3. To the yolks, add half of the sugar, salt, vanilla, and milk. Whisk for 2-3 minutes until light in color
  4. Sift in the flour, cornstarch and baking powder, and gently mix until just combined
  5. Add the cream or tartar and remaining half cup of sugar to the egg whites, and use a clean mixer to whisk on medium speed until a glossy, stiff meringue is formed (you should be able to hold the bowl upside down without the meringue falling out). This process can take several minutes, please read my tips in the blog post above to ensure the meringue is perfect
  6. Add 1/3 of the meringue to the remaining cake, and use a rubber spatula to very gently fold it in. Then add the rest of the meringue and continue to very slowly and gently fold it in. Take care not to knock out the air or overmix the batter; it should be very light and fluffy
  7. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 15-18 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean
  8. Let the cake cool down in the pan – it is normal for it to deflate a bit; as long as it is still soft and light, it will be fine! 

Soaking:

  1. Mix the ingredients of the three milk mixture in a bowl. Taste and adjust as needed
  2. Keeping the cake in the pan, poke holes in it using a skewer
  3. Slowly pour half of the three milk mixture onto the cake inside the pan. If baked properly, it should soak up the mixture quickly. Wait 10 minutes, then pour over the remaining milk mixture
  4. Keep the cake in the fridge for 1-2 hours until it has absorbed all the liquid

Decoration:

  1. Whisk the heavy cream to medium peaks and transfer to a piping bag. Pipe swirls on top of the cake (alternatively, just spread it with a spatula). Decorate with berries however you like
  2. Slice up & enjoy!

Video Tutorial

Notes

  • Make ahead: You can prepare this cake 1-2 days in advance. Soak the cake after baking, then cover the pan with cling wrap and refrigerate. Decorate with freshly whipped cream when ready to serve
  • Storage: Store the cake in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 1 week

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Comments

  1. Jessica Word

    I’m going to try make this Saturday

    1. Zoha Malik

      Yay good luck!

  2. Shabana Ali Lodha

    Made this for my son’s 18th birthday for the first time and yay (!) it turned out brilliant! He and his friends commented it was the best tres leches they had ever had ♥️

    Thank you for the step by step instructions. Would be wonderful to have the cups equivalent for easy access. I struggled later with the whipping cream as it melted quickly but I guess that’s to do with the weather – India, Bangalore.

    1. Zoha Malik

      Thank you so much for the kind review, Shabana!

  3. Hafsa

    made this today and it’s the best thing i’ve ever made by a mile!! i subbed half of the milk in the milk mixture for heavy cream and it made the cake lovely and rich!

    1. Zoha Malik

      YAYYYYY thank you so much!

  4. Nidhi Singh

    Awesome recepie it’s a go to easy one for any party

  5. Saima

    I followed this recipe to a tea.
    However when beating the egg whites, despite whipping at a medium speed and ensuring no fat remained anywhere, it still didn’t form stiff peaks. There was a peak and I beat for almost 15 mins so I stopped. I live in a hot and humid environment.
    The batter was light and airy and I did the toothpick test after 17 minutes of baking and it was clean. But once the cake came out, it was so gummy! 🙁
    What can I do to rectify.

    1. Zoha Malik

      Hi Saima! Can you explain what exactly was happening with the egg whites? It sounds to me like you actually overwhipped them, especially if they started looking grainy (almost like a cloud)

  6. Mahalakshmi V

    Hi zoha!
    Please tell me what I can use instead of evaporated milk?
    Planning to make this for mom’s birthday (:

    1. Zoha Malik

      Hi there! You could just use normal milk if needed!

  7. S.A

    Hey Zoha , I used your Tres Leches cake recipe twice with cardamom and cinnamon and both were super hit but now want to try a pistachio based tres leches. Would you be so kind to suggest how to about it. Any changes to the base or just add pistachios to both the milk mixture and cake batter?

    1. Zoha Malik

      Hi Sahrish! unfortuantely it’s not just as simple as adding pistachios to the cake batter (because the added fat will risk deflating the batter) or the milk mixture (might become too thick and not absorb properly). I will try to work on this recipe but in the meantime I’d suggest following a recipe that’s already made with pistachio 🙂

  8. Ali

    Cake turned out amazing. Thank you for the wonderful recipe.

    1. Zoha Malik

      It’s my pleasure!

  9. Afraa

    how to get rid of the smell of the egg
    i added vanilla but still
    the smell is not going

    1. Zoha Malik

      Hi Afraa, you can try adding some cinnamon or cardamom to the milk mixture to add a different scent!

  10. Farva Hussain

    I used this recipe mainly for the sponge and my other recipes wasn’t soaking up the milk mixture as good and cake was dense . This sponge recipe was a game changer for the milk cake . I made pistachio milk cake and it was a hit. The sponge soaked up the milk beautifully and the texture of the sponge was beautiful . Thank you so much Zoha ❤️

    1. Zoha Malik

      I am so pleased to hear this, Farva! So glad the recipe worked well for you! <3

  11. Daima

    hi 👋
    well the recipe itself is out of the world. however i wanted to ask few things, i followed point by point your recipe. but when I blended yolks with flour ( after adding all things) its not runny as you showed in your instagram video, mine was quite thicker, like littel hard mass. could u tell why thats happening, I tried three times, all times its same. please guide me why its happening

    1. Zoha Malik

      Hi Daima! I am not sure why that is happening. Are you sure you are using the correct quantities? Are you using a scale?

  12. Maryam

    Zoha, you seriously have a gift. Tried this recipe and was dangerously good. Amazing!

    1. Zoha Malik

      Literally made my day. Hugs!!

  13. Pearl

    Hey Zoha,
    This is my first time visiting and seeing your video recipes. I was looking for a great tres leches recipe for my daughter’s birthday coming up this Wednesday. Her favorite cake is a tres leches cake and I really can’t afford a store bought one right now so I am going to try to be brave and make your recipe instead of a cake mix. When I have used a cake mix in the past as soon as the cake comes out of the oven I would poke the holes and add the three milk mixture and it would absorb the milk very fast. I see in your recipe that we need to let it cool before we add the milks. Can adding the milk mixture while it’s still hot/warm ruin the cake?
    thank you for such a beautiful recipe!

    1. Zoha Malik

      Hi Pearl! You’re most welcome. Cake mix is regular cake while this is a sponge cake which doesn’t have oil or butter in it. As a result it is lighter, softer and more delicate. Putting holes in it while it’s still warm will cause it to deflate / puncture. That’s why I recommend waiting. It cools fast, though! 15 min should do the trick

  14. Hey new

    How do i cut this recipe in half?

    1. Zoha Malik

      Halve all of the quantities and use a 9″ round pan to bake instead of a 9×13 rectangle pan 🙂

  15. Shabneez

    One word scrumptious 😋

    1. Zoha Malik

      AGREED!

  16. Areeba Arif

    so simple yet delicious!!!!

  17. Aishani

    My father in law has been obsessed with the tres leches in Whole Foods. Rather than making the drive, I thought I’d try Zoha’s recipe and it was super easy to follow and tasted even better!

    1. Zoha Malik

      YAY! What’s funny is my husband still goes to whole foods for his tres leches, haha!!

  18. Humaira Gulzad

    So good 😊

  19. Ramya Reddy

    I have tried this many times and never was i disappointed! Thanks for making lives easier. Please post more no bake easy desserts!

    1. Zoha Malik

      Thank you so much, Ramya! <3

  20. Tooba Ataullah

    My sister made this cake for us and it was one of the best three milk cakes I’ve had! It is such an easy recipe to follow and the cake came out to be perfect 👌

    1. Zoha Malik

      Thank you so much for your kind review, Tooba! <3

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