Tres Leches Cake meaning the cake with three milk is a decadent, subtly flavoured and melt in the mouth dessert cake. I have never tasted it in any dessert shop yet but the idea of this cake seemed too irresistible for me to let go and i decided to make this myself and try it out ! With many variations in mind, i decided to go a little Caribbean with flavours for this one and chose to marry mango and coconut here 🙂 Presenting my first take at Tres Leches torte – Mango Coconut Tres Leches Cake !
I think it was somewhere near last year when i heard about this cake for the first time. It was during a long due online chat with an old friend.. i had just started this blog and was looking out for new ideas for recipes to develop. I remember telling her very enthusiastically about this date and coconut cake that i wanted to make (i made that a couple of months later 😛 I named it the “Sticky Date Coconut Cake“) and she (very ecstatically) told me about this Tres Leches cake which she ate at a friend’s place and absolutely fell in love with. As a food enthusiast, my eyes glittered and i was really intrigued with the name of the cake and the general concept. In my experiences with cake, i had never come across anything like this. Somehow the whole concept of cake soaked in milky mixture was a bit out of place for me. I always liked my cakes, simple, fairly moist with basic frostings (fondant and colored icings scare me) and this cake was so not basic in that sense. I am not a big fan of milk either, so i was not sure if i was ever going to make this for myself.
The conversation with the friend continued a few days later and she told me that she actually made the cake herself too and found it really simple to put together. This was definitely motivating and i thought this was something i need to try out myself. Months passed and i got so consumed in so many things at my end that this cake never made its way into my kitchen. The idea though, kept lingering on.
We moved to San Diego in Nov last year and all of a sudden i was in a place which was full of Mexican delicacies around. I even made a Mexican friend here and just a few days back, while sipping Chai tea at my place, she mentioned “Tres Leches Cake”.. Instantly i was drawn to the conversation and i asked her the basic concepts of creating this cake. This time i decided to make this cake without any further Ado 🙂
Tres Leches or the 3 milk cake is a sponge cake which is soaked in 3 milk mixture (in various proportions) of Condensed milk, heavy cream/half-half and evaporated milk. In my recipe below, i have made my own tweaks and used Condensed milk, whole milk and coconut milk – making this dessert a little less rich while incorporating the subtle coconut flavour to it. The flavour of the coconut is complimented and enhanced with the mango sponge cake and the mango coulis on top.
Mango Coconut Tres Leches Cake
Mango Coconut Tres Leches Cake
Recipe
This Cake recipe has 3 components :
- The Base Cake -Mango Sponge cake
- The milk filling mixture
- Topping whipping cream
Base Cake – Mango Sponge cake
- 1.5 cup All purpose flour
- 1- 1.5 cup milk (depending on the consistency)
- 2 eggs. whites and yolks separated
- 3/4 cup sugar
- pinch of salt
- 1 mango, pureed
- 1/2 stick of butter (approx 50gms), room temperature
- 1 tsp soda bi carb
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Milk filling mixture
- 1/2 cup of coconut milk
- 1/2 cup of condensed milk
- 1/2 cup of milk (2% or full fat)
Whipping Cream Topping
- 1/2 tub of Cool Whip (u can make your own whipping cream too)
- Puree of 1 mango
- 2 tablespoons of fine sugar
Method
We begin with baking the cake.
- Take a bowl and in it add in the flour, soda bi carb, baking powder and pinch of salt. Combine together. Meanwhile, pre-heat the oven to 375 F and keep ready.
- Now, take a bowl/ stand mixer, pour in the 2 egg whites and beat on high speed till you get stiff peaks. Remove and keep aside.
- Next, put in the butter and sugar in the bowl and whisk till both are homogenous and a bit fluffy.
- While still beating, slowly add in 1 egg yolk at a time and whisk till the mixture comes together. Add in the vanilla essence, mango puree and milk. Keep on stirring till the mixture is homogenous.
- Now, stirring on low speed, slowly add in the dry ingredients and combine well. Once the mixture is ready, slowly add the egg whites into this mix and gently fold in.
- Pour the batter in a pre-greased cake tin/pyrex glass dish and bake for about 30-40 minutes or till the pin pocked in the cake comes out clean. I used Pyrex dish for baking this one as that way i can see it coming to life when i pour in the milk filling.
- Once done, remove the tin/pyrex dish from the oven and let it cool down completely. In case you want to place the cake on a serving platter, u can remove the cake from the tin once it cools down a bit. Choose a deep dish to place the cake as we would require some space when pouring the milk mixture
- When the cake is cooled down, poke some holes in the cake. Next, mix all the ingredients of the “milk filling mixture” and using a spoon, gently pour all of this mixture over the cake. You might notice that the milk mixture is not getting absorbed completely by the cake but do not worry , let the cake rest.
- Place this cake inside the refrigerator and let it rest overnight (6-8 hrs). When you check the cake after the resting time, you would be amazed to see all the milk “disappeared” :P.. Imagine all that tasty milky mixture inside the cake… YUM !
- Now, we would lather the cake with generous scoops of whipping cream on all sides.
- In a bowl, add in the pureed mango and sugar and mix till homogenous. This would be your instant mango coulis.
- Before serving, pour the mango coulis in horizontal motion on top of the whipping cream and with the back of a spoon, make vertical lines over the topping to create this simple but elegant pattern. Now you are the proud owners of your own “Mango coconut tres leches cake” …. D.E.L.I.C.I.O.U.S !!
For my first attempt at this Mexican dessert, i think i absolutely nailed the taste ! This cake was super moist and had a really subtle and mellow flavour of the coconut used in the milk mixture which complimented the taste of the tangy sweet mango. My husband loves all things milky and this cake turned out be the perfect dessert for our 2nd year anniversary ! If you have not tried this cake before, you are surely missing something purely genius and you should make this soon. I love coconut and mango together but you can try the classic version without the mango and the coconut milk (use heavy cream instead) and you would be glad you did ! 🙂
Bringing this delicious dessert to the Fiesta Friday co-hosted by Tracy and Nancy ! Thank u for hosting this 🙂 Click below to continue with other entries
Also, try some other cakes from my bakery Basket :
Oh my I do so love Tres Leches cake, I’ve often thought of making it, but considered the ingredients just a tad too rich (although I would willingly eat 2 slices). Your version has somehow made me want to try it now, you’ve reduced the fat content, yet making it sound delicious. Will definitely be trying it now. 🙂
Oh that is lovely to know Loretta ! I had the same apprehensions coz condensed milk + cream was just too rich for me to try. I would eat it at a moment’s notice but could not see myself making it … so i had to develop a recipe which i could be comfortable with.. i am glad i did this.. it was so amazing !
Thanks for checking it out <3
Lovely cake Prachi!!! Awesome decor too 🙂
Thank u so much Malar ! <3
Beautiful cake Prachi 🙂
Looks delicious! I’ve been curious about tres leches cakes for a while too now, so it’s great to see such a great version! Thanks for sharing! 🙂
I am glad u stopped by Lili 🙂 I had some apprehensions about this dessert too .. mainly due to the rich factor but this recipe helped me cut that down to probably half which is when i could dare to make it . Try it and let me know if u like it 🙂 Thanks again !
You’re welcome and I will!!! Maybe I’ll even try making both the full-fat and yours – 2 cakes! In the name of research of course … 🙂 Thanks for the information!
This looks delicious and I am a big fan of mango so it’s already sold on me!
hehe thanks great to know Caroline ! I hope u give it a go sometime 🙂
I love that you used Coconut and Mango! It’s such a BEAUTIFUL flavour combination too… 🙂 They look absolutely delicious!
Thank u so very much Giramuk’s kitchen 🙂
What a beautiful, and delicious update of a traditional tres leches cake- love it!
Thanks a lot lady !
Been wanting to try the tres leches cake since long… And with mangoes in season, I’d rather try this version of it… It look really good!! Just wanted to ask a few things… Should we make one single cake only so that it’s easier to soak it with the milk mix? Or is it practical to also make small muffin size cakes and soak them? Can they be served individually?? Also, for the mango purée in the batter, can you tell me how much qtty would one mango puréed be approx? 1/2 cup?? Or more?
Thanks
Hi Akanksha. Thank u for visiting my space.. i am happy u like my tres leches cake and are willing to give it a go …
So, lets answer the questions for you now 🙂
1) u can make smaller/single serving cakes. Soaking these cakes are pretty easy though with muffins, i would just suggest u use aluminium muffin cups so that the covers are not soggy. Also, another concern might be that they may remain a bit drier as there might not be enough space in the muffin covers to pour in extra milk mixture. The cakes do take a few hours to soak up all the goody milk mixture, so just keep these points in mind and u would be good to go :)U can always cook these muffin style and then place each individual portion in glasses and then pour the milk mixture in it generously. That way u can serve it like u might do a pudding in a glass 🙂
2) The mangoes i get here yield me approx 3/4 cup per mango which was good to bring that nice , subtle taste to the cake. Just check for the sweetness of the mango and adjust the sugar accordingly.
Hope i answered ur questions 🙂
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This sounds so wonderful, Prachi! I love Tres Leches and I love mangoes, so it’s probably safe to say I would LOVE this cake! 🙂
Aww thank u Angie ! I tried this for the first time and seriously mango-coconut combination worked great for this recipe 🙂 Now u just have to make it and let me know if u liked it 🙂 Though i am pretty sure u will
Ummm can i have the whole cake? Pretty please? 🙂
Thank u so very much girl! So glad to see u here and that u liked the recipe 🙂 and u get the whole cake +an extra slice too
Aww thank u so much 🙂 btw, I am now your newest follower. Ur blog looks interesting.. Looking forward to interacting more with u now!
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Amazing Prachi! i made Tres Leches cake for the first time recently and fell in love – I absolutely love your version with coconut and mango, I gotta try it!
Michelle thank u so very much for stopping my. I too, totally fell in love with Tres Leches as soon as i made it ! Since this was also my first try, giving this spin was a risky take but i guess it worked really well 🙂 Thank for your appreciation ! I hope u try this version too sometime and please give me your feedback when u do !! Thanks ! Btw, may i say Michelle, i have been following ur work for sometime, mostly through FF and i absolutely love it 🙂 U have such fun recipes and i found your orange tarts gorgeous !
I’m glad you took the risk, it’s such an awesome idea!
I will definitely let you know when I try it 🙂
Aww thank you so much, you’re so sweet 😀
I don’t know how I missed this cake so very happy that you got featured on FF! I love mangos and this looks like an amazing way to use them!
Aww i am so happy Julie that u stopped by here to drop me a comment ! I am glad u liked my spin on the Tres Leches cake and hope u would try my version sometime too ! When u do, please let me know about your experience:) Thank u!
I am checking out your blog right now and it is just so beautiful… I am your latest Follower 🙂 Hope we interact more in the days to come
Thank you Prachi! I am so happy you stopped by. I love finding new blogs and your blog is lovely!
Hi Prachi, even i love these tres leches as well a lot. Just one query, can i make this using the eggless recipe for mango cake as well?
Yes Swati, u can definitely make this without the eggs. Just make sure that your batter is combined well and is light/airy and a bit runny. The basics for this dessert to work well is : the fluffier the cake, the more it soaks up the milk and the tastier the cake !
Make it soon and share with me your pics. Thanks 🙂
This cake indeed looks divine Prachi! Absolutely fab – my two fav ingredients – mango and coconut. yum! 🙂
Hi Prachi,
A note to inform you that I have had to remove this entry of yours from the Potluck since it i a VEGAN ONLY Potluck. Please only enter vegan recipes.
Best wishes.
Poppy
Hi Poppy,
I understand that and i am sorry to have linked it up. It was only after the linkup did i realize my mistake and i could not remove it by myself. I always bring vegan dishes to the table. Please excuse me for this mistake
Thank u for understanding.
Ok thanks, hope to see some of your vegan delights this time round too!
Thanks a lot for the recipe… Tried it and it was very yummy!!
I am so glad you tried the recipe and liked it ! Nothing like getting a good feedback 🙂
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The page does not open up Lili. Maybe some problem at the linking end. You may like to check that . Thanks !
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Reblogged this on Divine Spice Box and commented:
Weekend is here and i am all in mood for a slice of my new found love for Tres Leches Cake. I made this one sometime back and it was not only an instant hit with my friends and family, it was so delicious that this very cake became my “all time favorite”. I am going in my kitchen right away to recreate this recipe and i thought why not re-share the recipe with you all again.
I can go on and on about how awesome this cake is… but i have a cake to bake right now! So i shall get to that and let you all have a look at the recipe for your weekend baking inspiration !! Have a look and try out the recipe today 🙂
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I want to try this cake. What size pan should I use for baking, 9×13?
Hi Kathy !
Great to see you here 🙂 Well i used a rectangular cake pan myself and it was about 9×12 so this quantity should be fine with 9×13 too. The only thing i make sure is that the batter is super fluffy so that it makes for a very light sponge. Only a light sponge will absorb all the tres leches goodness :)I hope u try this recipe. Do let me know how it turned out 🙂 Thanks !!
what size dish did you use for this ?
I used 9X13 for this dish but you can really go with any size. The smaller the size, more would be the number of the layers of the tres leches.
Thanks for dropping by !! Hope you like the recipe 🙂
are you able to substitute mango puree for the mangoes? my son ate the 2 i had on the counter.
😉
Oh sure. If you have mangoes, just puree them before you add.. Though you can also use chunks, the texture of the cake will be affected and you want a smooth batter so that the liquids could be absorbed evenly.. If u meant you have the store bought puree instead of mangoes, that works just fine. Adjust the sweetness according to your taste. Hope you like the recipe !!
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