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    My Colombian Recipes » Recipes » Breads and Cakes » Tres Leches Chocolate Cake

    Tres Leches Chocolate Cake

    Mar 7, 2023 by Erica Dinho · 42 Comments

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    This easy Tres Leches Chocolate Cake is a wonderful dessert. Perfect for any celebration.

    Torta de Tres Leches de Chocolate (Three Milks Chocolate Cake) |mycolombianrecipes.comPin

    I want to share this Tres Leches Chocolate Cake that I made for my husband's birthday a month ago. He had been asking for this tres leches cake variation for a while, but I never made or even heard about it before. So, I created it for his birthday and it was a great idea. The result was a moist, rich and absolutely fantastic chocolate cake!

    Torta de Tres Leches de ChocolatePin

    What is Tres Leches Cake?

    It's basically a cake soaked in a mixture made with three kinds of milk. Tres leches translates to “three milks,”. This cake is usually made with condensed milk, evaporated milk and heavy cream.

    It's a popular dessert in Latin America and the original is made with a vanilla cake. But now days you find many variations of the traditional cake. Some of my tres leches variations are dulce de leche three milks cake, tangerine three milks cake, coffee three milks cake and coconut three milks cake.

    Torta de Tres Leches de ChocolatePin

    This tres leches cake variation is rich, sweet and moist with a wonderful chocolate flavor. It pairs wonderfully with my meringue frosting, but you can use your favorite frosting for this cake if you don't like mine.

    Torta de Tres Leches de ChocolatePin

    Ingredients to Make this Cake

    You'll find the printable recipe card with exact ingredients amounts and directions below.

    Baking powder: Check that your baking powder is fresh.

    Eggs: I always use cage free eggs for my recipes.

    Milk: To make this tres leches cake, you need condensed milk and evaporated milk. If you don't want to use evaporated milk, replace it with whole milk.

    Heavy cream: I like to use heavy cream in my three milks mixture.

    Flour: Use all purpose flour to make this cake.

    Cocoa: Use a good quality cocoa powder to make this recipe.

    Vanilla: I recommend using a good quality vanilla extract for this recipe, because I added to my the cake, three milks mixture and frosting.

    Sugar: Granulated sugar for the cake and frosting.

    Butter: Be sure to use unsalted butter.

    Torta de Tres Leches de ChocolatePin
    Torta de Tres Leches de Chocolate (Three Milks Chocolate Cake) |mycolombianrecipes.comPin

    Tres Leches Chocolate Cake Recipe

    Erica Dinho
    5 from 42 votes
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe
    Prep Time 15 minutes mins
    Cook Time 35 minutes mins
    Total Time 50 minutes mins
    Course Dessert
    Cuisine Colombian
    Servings 12 servings
    Calories 397 kcal

    Ingredients
     

    Cake

    • 2 ½ cups all purpose flour
    • ½ teaspoon salt
    • 2 teaspoons baking powder
    • 2 cups sugar
    • 1 cup cocoa
    • 1 cup water
    • 12 tablespoons butter soft
    • 5 large eggs
    • ½ teaspoon vanilla

    Tres Leches Sauce

    • 1 can sweetened condensed milk
    • 1 can evaporated milk
    • 1 cup heavy cream
    • ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

    Frosting

    • 3 egg whites
    • ½ teaspoon cream of tartar
    • ¾ cup sugar
    • ¼ cup water
    • ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

    Instructions
     

    • Preheat the oven to 350° F.
    • Grease and lightly flour a baking dish.

    Make the Cake:

    • In a bowl whisk together the flour, salt, sugar, cocoa and baking powder.
    • In a large bowl beat the eggs with an electric mixer on high speed for 2 minutes, reduce the speed to low. Add the flour mixture, butter, water and vanilla extract and mix for 2 more minutes.
    • Pour the batter into the baking dish and bake for 35 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.
    • For 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.
    • 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.

    Nutrition

    Calories: 397kcalCarbohydrates: 72gProtein: 8gFat: 11gSaturated Fat: 6gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0.01gCholesterol: 92mgSodium: 231mgPotassium: 236mgFiber: 3gSugar: 47gVitamin A: 416IUVitamin C: 0.1mgCalcium: 95mgIron: 3mg
    Keyword Tres leches Cake
    Have you Tried this Recipe? Tag me Today!Mention @mycolombianrecipes and tag #mycolombianrecipes!
    Torta de Tres Leches de ChocolatePin

    More Cake Recipes to Try

    Coffee Flavored Cake (Torta de Café)

    Colombian Black Cake (Torta Negra)

    Chocolate and Dulce de Leche Cake

    Torta de Tres Leches de ChocolatePin

    More Desserts Recipes

    Natilla Colombiana (Colombian-Style Pudding)Passion Fruit And Coconut DipBrevas Con Arequipe (Colombian-Style Figs Stuffed With Dulce De Leche)Torticas De Lechera (Sweet Condensed Milk Mini Cakes)Apple Crisp
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    About Erica Dinho

    My name is Erica and I was born and raised in Colombia and now live in the northeastern United States with my husband and family. This blog was inspired by my grandmother, Mamita, who was an amazing traditional Colombian cook.

    Author Page →

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Diana

      February 13, 2016 at 10:32 pm

      5 stars
      Hi Erika. Love merengue, but not a fan of tres leches. Do you think it would work on a regular chocolate cake??

      Reply
      • Erica Dinho

        February 16, 2016 at 7:52 pm

        5 stars
        Yes.

        Reply
    2. OLGA RIOFRIO

      December 05, 2015 at 10:29 am

      5 stars
      Que delicia.
      Yo siempre he hecho el 3 leches pero nunca con chocolate seguro ha de ser un manjar delicioso.
      Tomo nota con tu permiso de la receta.
      Saludos y decirte que yo soy de ecuador y vivo en Washington dc y tengo un blog de recetas de cocina.
      recetasolguis.blogspot.com
      Saludos
      Olga.

      Reply
    3. Veronica

      December 29, 2012 at 9:56 pm

      5 stars
      Stumbled upon the website recently and this is my first recipe....Simply amazing! Everyone must try it.

      Reply
      • Erica

        December 30, 2012 at 8:31 am

        5 stars
        Thanks,Veronica!

        Reply
    4. frank

      September 29, 2012 at 10:59 am

      5 stars
      I am helping my son make this for a school project....Can't decide on an 8X8 pan, 9X13 or a bundt pan??
      What have you used?

      Reply
      • Erica

        September 29, 2012 at 1:16 pm

        5 stars
        I used a 8-inch round cake pan.

        Reply
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    Hola and welcome to My Colombian Recipes. My name is Erica and I was born and raised in Colombia and now live in the northeastern United States with my husband and family. This blog was inspired by my grandmother, Mamita, who was an amazing traditional Colombian cook.

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