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.
Anonymous
I made this cake for my mother in-laws birth day and everyone loved it! i had no problem with the icing or the cake. Everything came out great!
Whitney
Looks fantastic! Can't wait to try it!
Beatriz from NJ
Hola Erica! Tengo que darte las gracias por esta receta. La hice el Sabado para una reunion and quedo de ataque!
Thank you so much for providing this recipe. I made it this past Saturday for a dinner party & it was it! Can't wait to make it again!
Bea
maria
Hi, I'm in England and we dont use cups to measure when baking so Im a little confused. Do you have any idea what the measurements are in weight, ounces or grams? My husband is from Bolivia and his mum makes this cake, I would love to make it for him 🙂
Jordan
oh...i'm sorry i just saw the serving size above...I'm a blonde...thanks!
Jordan
hey...i'm going to try to make this recipe for a class project..how many servings does this recipe make?
Erica
Jordan- About 12 servings.
David
We made this cake for a party and everyone asked for the recipe. Thank you!
Nicole
Hi Erica
I just wanted to say thankyou. I made the cake last night and it was to die for and my husband thought it was amazing. I made the sponge covered it with the three milks and left it in the fridge over night. Then covered it in dulce de leche and whipped cream with a little vanilla and spinkled a little coco powder over the top. It worked perfectly. Thanks again.
Erica
Nicole- Thank you so much for your feedback!Glad you liked it 🙂
Chanelle
WOW its the best!!! I have tried a few different recipes and this by far is the BEST!!!! Thank you soooooo much for it!!!! Yummy 🙂
Lynda
Thanks for posting this recipe, Erica- I have had this cake at a local hispanic restuarant and loved it! I've been wanting to find a recipe for it to try it at home. Can't wait! I'll let you know how it turns out.
Ruby
I want to thank you for this recipe! the tres leche cake was a hit with my family! I love love love your website. My mother is Colombiana and these recipes are excellent for me. I've never lived in Colombia so this is great for me to make for my children and family. Keep up the great work! Felicidades en tu primer aniversario y gracias! estoy bien agradecida!
Erica
Ruby- Thank you so much for your feedback! Glad you liked the cake!!!
Nicole
Hi Erica
I was going to cover the cake in the milk mixture like you say and leave it over night. The turn it out on to a plate and cover it in dulce de leche and whipped cream.
I have never tried this cake before so I wasn't sure weather it would be two sweet. My husband who is Colombian loves arequipe but it is very hard to buy here in Spain that why I am using dulce de leche.
Any suggestions you might have would be very much appreciated, I really want this cake to be perfect.
Thanks Nicole.
Erica
Nicole- You can try it! That sounds interesting and delicious! Let me know if he likes it.... I love arequipe too!
Nicole
Hi Erica
I am going to make the three milks cake for my husbands birthday. I am thinking about puting whipped cream on top and dulce de leche instead of the frosting. What do you think, would the cake still taste ok and does the cake sit in the dish or can it be taken out and put on a plate? Thank you. Nicole.
Erica
Nicole- The dulce the leche sounds delicious! Are you going to put whipped cream in the frosting too? or just in the milk mixture?
You can place the cake on a plate or just leave it in the baking dish! I do it both ways, but my husband likes the cake better when I leave it in the baking dish. 🙂
new mommy
Its not the wet it didn't seem to rise its very solid looking alnost like a browny would look
Erica
new mommy- It is hard to tell you, because I can't see the cake. The texture of tres leches cake is a little wet.
new mommy
My cake came out very dense can you give me some pointers on how to make it lighter