Three Milks Cake is a popular dessert in Latin America and like many traditional dishes this dessert has its own variation depending of the cook and country.
What is Three Milks Cake?
It's known as torta de tres leches in Spanish and it's a popular dessert in Colombia and Latin America. This cake gets the name from the three milks we use, condensed milk, evaporated milk and heavy cream and it is what makes this cake so moist and delicious.
This Three Milks Cake is my Colombian version and is an easy to make, moist, absolutely delicious and authentic torta de tres leches recipe. This dessert is perfect for entertaining, because it can be make ahead and it tastes even better the next day.
Every country and family has their own version for the frosting and in Colombia the meringue frosting is very traditional. Fee free to use your own favorite frosting if you prefer a different one.
Ingredients You'll Need
The printable recipe card with exact amounts, cooking directions and step by step video is below
Flour: I recommend using a quality brad all purpose flour to make this cake.
Baking Powder: To help the cake rise.
Salt: A little bit of salt to balance the flavors.
Eggs: You need whole eggs for the cake and just egg whites for the frosting.
Sugar: To add sweetness to the cake.
Milk: You need whole milk to make this cake.
Butter: Adds richness to the tres leches cake.
Vanilla: Adds extra flavor to this recipe. You need it for the cake and the frosting.
Three Milks Mixture: Heavy cream, Evaporated Milk and Sweet Condensed Milk. Yo can use whole milk instead of the heavy cream, but I like the richness of the cream.
Frosting: For the meringue frosting you need egg whites, sugar, water and creme of tartar.
Tips to Make Three Milks Cake
*I use a 9 by 13 baking dish to bake this cake, but you can divide the batter into 2 cakes and use smaller baking pans.
*You can make this cake ahead of time and frost it before serving. It's usually better and very moist the next day.
*When making the frosting be sure that the bowl is very clean and dry. An oily bowl will prevent the egg white to form peaks.
*The leftovers are good up to 4 days, but the cake will soak the frosting over time.
More Cake Recipes
Dulce de Leche and Coconut Roll Cake
Pastel Borracho (Drunken Cake)
Chocolate Cake with Dulce de Leche Filling
Three Milks Cake Recipe (Torta de Tres Leches)
Ingredients
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 cup whole milk
- 5 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 6 tablespoons butter
- 2 cups sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 can sweetened condensed milk
- 1 can evaporated milk
- 1 cup heavy cream
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Frosting
- 2 egg whites
- ½ teaspoon cream of tartar
- ½ cup sugar
- ¼ cup water
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- preheat the oven to 350° F
- Grease and lightly flour a baking dish.
- To make the cake: In a bowl whisk together the flour, salt and baking powder.
- In a small pot heat the milk and butter, remove from the heat and set aside.
- In a large bowl beat the eggs with an electric mixer on high speed for 2 minutes. Add the sugar and continue mixing for 5 minutes. Reduce the speed to low. Add the flour mixture, butter mixture and vanilla extract and mix for 1 more minute.
- Pour the batter into the baking dish and bake for 40 to 45 minutes or until a toothpick stuck in the middle comes out clean. Remove cake from the oven and with a fork make holes all over the top of the cake. Set aside to cool for 10 to 15 minutes.
- When the cake is cooling, make the milk sauce, whisk together sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk, heavy cream and vanilla extract in a mixing bowl.
- Pour the 3 milks sauce over the cake until it is all absorbed. Refrigerate for a least 3 hours or overnight before frosting.
- To make the frosting, in a small pot mix the water and sugar, over medium high heat, stirring constantly for 5 minutes. Set aside.
- Beat the egg whites with cream of tartar until stiff peaks are formed. While beating the egg whites, add sugar syrup and continue beating for 5 more minutes. Add vanilla extract and beat 1 more minute. Spread the frosting over the cake and refrigerate into ready to serve.
- Turn on the broil for your oven and place the top rack in the middle. Cover cake with meringue. Bake for 2 minutes; or until the meringue is lightly browned. In this step you must be careful because the meringue can burn very quickly. To avoid accidents I do it with the oven door open.
new mommy
Thank you it worked:) my cake seems denser then the one in your picture
new mommy
im having trouble with my frostin the sugar keeps crystalising what can i do to fix it?
Erica
new mommy- Are you stirring the water and sugar often? Maybe your stove is stronger than mine....so just cook it the suagr and water for 2 - 3 minutes.
new mommy
hi erica i actually just baked the cake but im a lil worried that my cake didn't absorb the milk mixture as it should.there still seem to be a considerable amount of milk around the cake, i know i made enough holes with the fork did i do somethingwrong?
Erica
new mommy- If you opened enough holes with the fork, I am sure is good.
new mommy
hi erica,
i had a question. since the cake is best when left in the milk mixture for 24 hours is it ok to make the frosting when i make the cake,if so how do i store it,or am i supposed to make it when im gonna frost the cake?
Erica
new mommy- make the frosting when you are going to decorate the cake.
Angie
HI! ive always wanted to make tres leches.. Im going to make this recipe but I bought "heavy whipping cream" can i still use that? is it the same as heavy cream? or is it media crema what I have to use> thank you
Erica
Angie- I use heavy whipping cream.
Tangled Noodle
I'm so happy this link was on your latest post! I love Tres Leches and this sounds like a perfect recipe. Thank you!
new mommy
thank you so much for all your help i cant wait to try this recipe hopefully it will look as delicious as yours.
new mommy
I was also wondering if any of your flan recipes were more traditional,which one is more of a taste of home
Erica
new mommy- all the flans I have here are traditional Colombian desserts, but traditional flan and coconut flan are very popular all around the country.
new mommy
Yah I kinda thought so but since I'm not colombian I wanted to make sure what about like a guva ice cream
Erica
new mommy-That sounds delicious!
new mommy
hi i came a cross this site when i was looking for some sort of traditional Colombian dessert recipe for my boyfriends brother in law ,his birthday is at the end of January and i was wondering if there was any sort of sliced fruit i could use to decorate the cake ? something to keep with the Colombian theme?oh and there a certain pan size i should use?
Erica
New mommy- I used a 9 x 13 baking dish. I think if you use strawberries....it could be delicious! Traditionally this cake does not have any fruit, but you can try it 😉
La Gringa
Thank you so much....
La Gringa
I had a friend just go to the local grocery store here in my barrio. They said they didnt sale that leche . Do you think I could find that for sure at Carrefour or Exito..Thank you
Erica
La Gringa- Go the Exito.
La Gringa
I went yesterday to the store to buy the milk. I found leche condensada and I know about crema de leche. I couldnt find the leche evaporada. Could it be called something else. I want to make this for my Colombian but I dont want to mess up....
Erica
La Gringa- I usually buy a Nestle brand (Carnation evaporated milk) Leche evaporada. It comes in a can.
Erica
La Gring
1 lata de leche condensada
1 lata de leche evaporada
1 taza de crema de leche
LA Gring
Also could you give me it in grams instead of oz for each one.
LA Gring
Hello, I would love to make for my husband here in Cali but could you give me the 3 milks in spanish. I know everything else in Spanish but for the milks. thanks