The Ultimate Tres Leches Cake Recipe: An Ina Garten Masterpiece with Fresh Berries

Tres Leches Cake, often affectionately known as “three milks cake” or pan tres leches (though it’s far from just bread!), is a dessert phenomenon that captivates with its unbelievably moist texture and rich, sweet flavor. Originating from Latin America, this delightful confection is more than just a cake; it’s an experience. Prepare to indulge in a slice of heaven, especially when paired with freshly whipped cream and vibrant, sweetened strawberries.

While its exact birthplace is a delightful culinary debate, with some claiming Nicaragua and others Mexico, one thing everyone agrees on is its irresistible deliciousness. This dessert transcends borders, beloved for its unique ability to be both incredibly rich and surprisingly refreshing.

Imagine the best strawberry shortcake you’ve ever had, but elevated. Tres Leches cake offers a similar fruity, creamy sensation, yet with a distinct character derived from its unique soaking process. Unlike traditional shortcakes, this dessert begins with a light, airy sponge cake. This porous cake is then doused in an exquisite blend of three milks: evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk, and heavy cream. The result is a cake so moist, so tender, it practically melts in your mouth – a truly decadent treat that is undeniably worth every single bite.

Mastering the Make-Ahead Magic of Tres Leches

One of the best aspects of Tres Leches Cake, particularly with this fantastic adaptation from Ina Garten, is its make-ahead convenience. This isn’t a dessert you whip up an hour before serving; it’s designed to be prepared in advance, allowing the flavors to meld and the cake to fully absorb the luxurious milk mixture. This makes it an ideal candidate for entertaining, as most of the work can be done long before your guests arrive.

To ensure success, a little planning goes a long way. Here are a few essential tips:

• Room Temperature Eggs: Always start with eggs at room temperature. This is crucial for achieving maximum volume and a stable emulsion when beating them, leading to a lighter, airier sponge cake.
• Effortless Preparation: While the cake needs time to soak, the active preparation time is surprisingly minimal. Once you have your ingredients ready, the baking process itself is straightforward.
• The Chilling is Key: After baking and cooling the sponge cake, the magical three-milk concoction is poured over. This is where patience becomes a virtue. The cake must be refrigerated for at least six hours before serving. This extended chill time allows the cake to fully absorb the milks, transforming its texture and deepening its flavor profile.

Ina Garten, the undisputed queen of elegant make-ahead recipes, highlights this dessert in her 2014 cookbook, Make It Ahead: A Barefoot Contessa Cookbook. Her recipe for Tres Leches Cake truly embodies her philosophy. She even suggests that this cake can be completely prepared and kept in the refrigerator for a full five days! This makes it an absolute lifesaver for hosts and hostesses who want to impress without the last-minute stress.

Ina’s Secret: The Ten-Minute Beat

A key to Ina’s perfect sponge cake is her emphasis on beating the eggs, granulated sugar, and vanilla extract for a full 10 minutes. This extended beating time incorporates a significant amount of air into the mixture, creating a light, fluffy, and stable base for the sponge. This aeration is what allows the cake to absorb the three milks so beautifully, without becoming dense or soggy.

If you’re an avid baker, you’ll find immense joy in this step if you own a stand mixer. My KitchenAid, for instance, is a powerful and sturdy workhorse that can handle the continuous beating while I move on to other aspects of the recipe, making the process smooth and efficient.

The Secret to Flavor: Vanilla & The Three Milks

While the cake bakes, your focus shifts to preparing the luscious milk combination. Ina Garten’s recipe specifies using the seeds scraped from one vanilla bean. Vanilla beans offer an unparalleled depth of flavor and the visual appeal of tiny black specks throughout the milk mixture. However, it’s worth noting that high-quality vanilla beans can be quite expensive.

Don’t let the cost deter you from achieving a fantastic flavor! There are excellent substitutes available:

• Vanilla Extract: A good quality pure vanilla extract is a perfectly acceptable and more economical alternative. As a general conversion, one teaspoon of vanilla extract is roughly equivalent to a 2-inch piece of vanilla bean. An average-sized vanilla bean typically yields about two to three teaspoons of extract.
• Vanilla Bean Paste: For those who desire the intense flavor and beautiful specks of a vanilla bean without the fuss or higher cost, vanilla bean paste is a brilliant choice. Products like Nielsen-Massey Pure Vanilla Bean Paste are highly recommended. A simple conversion makes it easy to use: one tablespoon of vanilla bean paste equals one whole vanilla bean or one tablespoon of vanilla extract. This offers a fantastic balance of convenience, flavor, and visual appeal.

The “three milks” themselves are a crucial component. Evaporated milk adds a slightly caramelized, concentrated milk flavor; sweetened condensed milk brings the primary sweetness and a rich, creamy texture; and heavy cream provides luxurious mouthfeel and balances the sweetness. Together, they create a soak that is truly magical.

The Soaking Process: Patience for Perfection

Once your sponge cake is baked to golden perfection, the next critical step is preparing it to soak up all that milky goodness. Follow these steps for optimal absorption:

• Cooling Period: Keep the baked cake in its pan and allow it to cool on a wire rack for approximately 40 minutes. This initial cooling helps the cake structure set before the soaking begins.
• Poking Holes: After cooling, take a bamboo skewer or the tines of a fork and generously poke holes all over the cake’s surface. These tiny channels are vital; they act as conduits, allowing the milk mixture to penetrate deeply into every fiber of the sponge, ensuring a uniformly moist and flavorful cake.
• Slow and Steady Pour: When it’s time to pour the milk mixture over the poked cake, do so slowly and incrementally. Pour a portion, allow it a moment to absorb into the cake, then continue with the next portion. This gradual approach prevents the milk from simply pooling on top or spilling over, maximizing absorption and the desired moist texture.

And that completes the main preparation for the cake! Once the milk mixture is fully absorbed, simply cover the cake with plastic wrap and place it in the fridge. Remember, it needs at least 6 hours for optimal soaking, but can be held for up to 5 days, making it wonderfully flexible for your schedule. For the ultimate fresh experience, always prepare the whipped cream and sugared fruit just before you plan to serve it.

Serving Suggestions & Customizing Your Toppings

This recipe yields a generous 12 servings, making it perfect for a family gathering, a dinner party, or even enjoying over several days. Its impressive make-ahead quality means you can prepare it well in advance, leaving only the finishing touches for serving time.

The beauty of Tres Leches Cake is how wonderfully it pairs with fresh fruit and whipped cream. While strawberries are a classic choice and highly recommended, feel free to experiment with other in-season berries or a delightful medley. For every 2 cups of sliced berries, simply toss them with 1 tablespoon of granulated sugar. This slight sweetening helps to bring out their natural flavors and creates a luscious topping.

Beyond berries, consider other delightful toppings like toasted coconut flakes for a tropical twist, a dusting of cinnamon, or delicate chocolate shavings. The moist, sweet cake serves as a perfect canvas for a variety of complementary flavors and textures.

Print

Tres Leches Cake with Berries

Adapted from Ina Garten’s Make It Ahead: A Barefoot Contessa Cookbook

Servings 12 servings

Author Rosemary Stelmach

Ingredients

CAKE

• 1 1/2
  cup
  all-purpose flour
• 2
  teaspoons
  baking powder
• 3/4
  teaspoon
  kosher salt
• 3
  extra-large eggs, at room temperature
• 1
  cup
  granulated sugar
• 2
  teaspoons
  pure vanilla extract
• 1/2
  cup
  whole milk
• 1 1/4
  cups
  heavy cream
• 1
  12-ounce can evaporated milk
• 1
  14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
• 1/2
  teaspoon
  pure almond extract
• seeds scraped from 1 vanilla bean
• sifted confectioner’s sugar, for dusting

TOPPINGS

• 8
  cups
  sliced strawberries
• 4
  tablespoons
  granulated sugar
• 1
  pint
  whipping cream
• 1
  teaspoon
  pure vanilla extract
• 1/2
  cup
  confectioner’s sugar

Instructions

CAKE

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter a 9-by-13-by-2-inch baking pan.

2. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a small bowl and set aside. Place the eggs, 1 cup of granulated sugar and the vanilla extract in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat on medium-high speed for 10 minutes until light yellow and fluffy. Reduce the speed to low and slowly add half the flour mixture, then the milk and finally the remaining flour mixture. Mix with a rubber spatula to be sure the batter is well mixed.

3. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smooth the top and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the cake springs back when touched lightly in the middle and a cake tester comes out clean. Set on a wire rack to cool in the pan for 40 minutes.

4. In a 4-cup liquid measuring cup, whisk together the heavy cream, evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk, almond extract and vanilla seeds. Using a bamboo skewer, poke holes all over the cooled cake and slowly pour the cream mixture over the cake, allowing it to be absorbed completely before continuing to pour on more of the mixture. Cover the cake with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 6 hours.

5. Dust the cake with confectioners’ sugar, cut in 12 squares and place on dessert plates. Surround each serving with the strawberries, put a dollop of whipped cream on top and serve.

TOPPINGS

1. Toss the strawberries with the 5 tablespoons of granulated sugar.

2. Place mixer bowl in freezer for at least 20 minutes to chill. Pour whipping cream, sugar and vanilla into the cold bowl and beat on high speed until medium to stiff peaks form, about 1 minute.

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