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–+ servings
A close up of a piece of shortcut tres leches cake on a plate with a fork.

Shortcut Tres Leches Cake

This amazing tres leches cake is a breeze to make, tastes incredible, and uses boxed cake mix as a handy shortcut.
Prep Time:20 minutes
Cook Time:30 minutes
Total Time:50 minutes
Servings:10 slices

Ingredients

  • ½ package yellow cake mix
  • 2 eggs room temperature
  • ⅓ cup milk
  • ¼ cup unsalted butter softened
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

For topping:

  • ½ can condensed milk sweetened
  • ½ can evaporated milk
  • ½ cup heavy whipping cream

For cream:

  • ½ cup heavy whipping cream
  • 1 ½ tablespoons confectioners’ sugar
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350F. Prepare and grease a baking pan.
  • Combine cake mix, eggs, milk, butter, and vanilla in a bowl. Whisk well to combine, for about 2 minutes.
  • Transfer to the pan, bake for 30-35 minutes.
  • Let cool for about 20 minutes. Whisk all topping ingredients in a bowl until blended.
  • Poke holes in the top of the warm cake with a fork or a skewer. Pour milk mixture over the cake and fill all the holes. Let cool completely.. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight.
  • Beat cream in a bowl until thick. Add confectioners' sugar and vanilla, beat until soft peaks form. Spread over cake and serve.

Notes

  • This is a rich cake and a little really does go a long way so you will get at least ten servings out of the cake, maybe more.
  • Cool the cake upside down so it has enough room to stretch out in the pan and won't collapse or shrink.
  • If you want to change the flavor, swap the vanilla for any other extract you like.
  • Don’t forget to grease your baking pan! You want that yellow cake to come out of there with ease.
  • If you’ve ever made a poke cake before, this recipe is similar in that you’ll want to poke lots of holes on the top so the 3 milks can seep into every part of it.
  • A chopstick is a handy tool to use to do the poking, as is a fork or skewer.
  • Refrigerate this cake, preferably overnight, without frosting it. You’ll want to make the frosting right before serving.

Nutrition

Calories: 142kcal | Carbohydrates: 2g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 15g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Cholesterol: 78mg | Sodium: 66mg | Potassium: 41mg | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 552IU | Calcium: 31mg | Iron: 1mg