This shortcut tres leches cake is soaked in three types of milk to make it moist and tasty. It’s a perfectly sweet, spongey cake made with a yellow cake mix. Using a boxed cake mix simplifies the recipe. It's so easy anyone can make it!
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Whether you've tried this Mexican cake at a restaurant or bought some at the bakery, you will love how this recipe brings back all those wonderful memories of the first time you tried it. And if you've never tasted a shortcut tres leches cake, you are going to love it!
“Tres leches” means three milks in Spanish. The secret to making sure the cake comes out moist is poking holes in it as you would with poke cake before adding three kinds of milk; evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk, and heavy whipping cream.
If you have more than one box of yellow cake mix, be sure to check out my easy peach cobbler and this amazing caramel apple dump cake too!
Main Ingredients
You don't need that many ingredients to prepare the cake or topping. Let's take a look at some of the key components of this cake:
- Yellow cake mix: A timesaving ingredient. Rather than having to make the cake from scratch, a boxed mix saves time and energy and means you need fewer ingredients. You could use white cake mix if you wanted to, although yellow is more traditional for this dessert recipe.
- Condensed milk: One of the three types of milk. You need sweetened condensed milk to make tres leches cake. This ingredient adds a sweet, almost caramelized flavor to the dessert.
- Evaporated milk: The second type of milk. Also known in some places as unsweetened condensed milk, this ingredient is fresh milk that has been heated. During heating, about 60% of the milk's water content evaporates.
- Heavy whipping cream: The third milk. This goes into the milk mixture and you also need some for the cream topping. To get the most authentic result, don't swap out any of the dairy for alternatives.
- Confectioners' sugar: To sweeten the topping. When combined with heavy cream and vanilla, this ingredient adds sweetness without adding graininess as regular white sugar would. Confectioners’ sugar is also known as powdered sugar and icing sugar.
Instructions Overview
This is such an easy recipe. You are going to love how straightforward tres leches cake is to prepare! Whisk the cake mix with the eggs, milk, butter, and vanilla until everything is well combined.
Transfer the batter to a greased baking pan and cook for about half an hour. Let it cool while you whisk all the topping ingredients together.
Use a fork, chopstick, or skewer to make holes in the cake, and then pour the milk mixture on top. Let the cake cool and then chill it for a minimum of 4 hours. Whip the cream and add in the sugar and vanilla. Spread this on top of the cake and serve right away.
Common Questions
This cake is decidedly Mexican. It's a dessert found in almost every Mexican restaurant and bakery. If you love Mexican desserts as much as I do, you will also love these Mexican popsicles.
The cake shouldn't disintegrate or be soggy. When you pierce it using your spoon or fork, some milk should come out but it shouldn't just fall apart.
The likely cause of this is you used too much oil, butter, or nonstick cooking spray when greasing the cake pan. The cake has to cling to the pan during baking when it's rising. If you greased it too heavily though the cake pulls away from the sides of the pan and then it will shrink while it cools. So don't over-grease the baking pan.
If you like your desserts sweet (and who doesn’t?), you’ll love the flavors. It’s served cold which renders a creamy, milky texture in every bite with a sweet sugary vanilla taste.
Because of all that milk and cream, you need to keep your tres leches cake in the fridge. It will be good for 4 days though it’s best to eat it as soon as possible to enjoy the best flavors. Do not leave it out longer than it takes to serve and eat!
Some claim Nicaragua is where this milky cake originally comes from, though Mexico has a stronger case backing up its origins of this dessert.
Yes, though you should make it without frosting it, then freeze it. Cover it tightly in freezer wrap and it should be good for 2 to 3 months. You’ll need to thaw it in the fridge overnight before you plan on serving it.
Chopnotch Tips
- 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 shortcut tres leches cake, preferably overnight, without frosting it. You’ll want to make the frosting right before serving.
Shortcut tres leches cake makes a wonderful dessert. It's sweet, rich, moist, and utterly delicious.
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Recipe
How to Make
Shortcut Tres Leches Cake
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.
Always a hit at parties! Easy to make.
Thanks for the feedback, Rebecca! I'm so happy to hear it's always a hit!