Contents
A sponge soaked in three milks — evaporated, condensed and cream — until it is saturated to the point of collapse and held together mostly by the crumb's own starch. Latin American, most strongly associated with Nicaragua and Mexico, and almost certainly promoted by the condensed-milk companies who printed the recipe on their labels from the 1940s.
The cake is a soaking vehicle. Everything about it is built for absorption.
What makes it work
- A lean sponge with no butter. Fat repels the soak. This is a whipped-egg sponge, and the drier it bakes, the more it drinks.
- Poke the whole surface with a skewer while the cake is still warm, then soak in three or four pours, waiting for each to disappear.
- Soak in the tin, and serve from the tin. A soaked tres leches cannot be turned out.
- Overnight in the fridge. The milk has to reach the centre. Four hours is the minimum; twelve is right.
- Whipped cream on top, not buttercream. The topping should be as light as the cake is heavy.
Ingredients
One 23 × 33 cm tin. Serves 12.
Sponge:
- 5 eggs, separated
- 200 g granulated sugar
- 200 g all-purpose flour
- 8 g baking powder
- 3 g fine salt
- 80 ml whole milk
- 1 tsp vanilla — see Pure vanilla extract
The three milks:
- 400 g sweetened condensed milk
- 350 ml evaporated milk
- 250 ml double cream
Topping:
- 400 ml double cream, cold
- 40 g powdered sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
- ground cinnamon, or fresh fruit
Method
Heat the oven to 175 °C / 350 °F. Butter a 23 × 33 cm tin.
Whip the yolks with 150 g of the sugar until pale and thick, then whisk in the milk and vanilla. Fold in the flour, baking powder and salt.
Whip the whites to soft peaks, add the remaining 50 g sugar, and whip to firm peaks. Fold into the batter in three additions.
Bake 25–30 minutes, until golden and springy. Cool 15 minutes.
Whisk the three milks together. Poke the warm cake all over with a skewer — dozens of holes — and pour the milk over in three or four goes, letting each soak in. It will look like far too much liquid. It is not.
Cover and refrigerate at least four hours, ideally overnight.
Whip the topping cream with sugar and vanilla to soft peaks, spread over, and dust with cinnamon.
Notes
- Dulce de leche or coffee can replace part of the condensed milk; cuatro leches adds a fourth, usually coconut milk. See Coconut milk.
- If the cake floats in unabsorbed milk, it was over-baked or too rich. Next time bake three minutes less.
- Keeps four days refrigerated and is better on day two.
Elsewhere on the site
Method and theory: Cake recipes · cakes · milk
Nearby: genoise · chiffon cake · butter mochi