Tres Leches | EASYBAKED

Tres Leches Cupcakes

Posted on July 20, 2020 by Ruthanne

If you’ve ever had tres leches cake, you already know you will love these little cupcakes! Soaked in a vanilla cream sauce, the dense cupcake is a not-too sweet base for delicious dulce de leche caramel and whipped cream. Add a little fruit and you have perfection!

Ever since the stay-at-home rules have been in place, we are looking for anything (even little things) to celebrate. So Cinco de Mayo was a fiesta- complete with these little cupcakes. I made this recipe as a cake several years ago, but my husband had never tried it, so this was his 1st time trying these, and he declared them his favorite cupcakes I’d ever made.

So… there’s that endorsement for this recipe… 🙂

These are not too fussy to make, they keep for over a week in the fridge. I made half of this recipe, or 12 cupcakes, and it still took us the whole week to eat them all! Is anyone else sad that they can’t bring extra blog baked goods in to work or over to the neighbors?!?! Slowing packing on my quarantine 15…

Here is how to make these sweet treats: (printable recipe)

INGREDIENTS

Cupcake

9 eggs, separated
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour

Vanilla Sauce:

1 (14oz) can sweetened condensed milk
1 (12oz) can evaporated milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Topping/filling

2 cups heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
fresh fruit for garnish
1 (13.4 oz) can of La Lechera Dulce de Leche (or make your own here)

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350F degrees and place 24 cupcake liners into baking tins.
Divide eggs into 2 bowls. Put the egg whites into a large mixing bowl and the yolks into a medium bowl.
Beat the egg whites on medium-high until they form soft peaks. Add sugar and beat on high until they form stiff peaks (this will take 4-5 minutes, depending on your mixer).
Beat the egg yolks on high for 5 to 6 minutes until they increase in volume and turn a creamy yellow.
Beat the vanilla into the egg yolks until combined.
Add the yolks to the whites and use a spatula or large spoon to gently fold them together.
Add flour and gently mix until completely combined.
Divide batter evenly between the 24 cupcake liners and bake for 15-20 minutes. The tops should be golden and when a toothpick is inserted in the center, it should come out clean.
Remove from tin and cool completely on counter.
Make sauce by combining the 3 milks (condensed, evaporated and cream) together with the vanilla.
Poke (lots!) of holes in the top of each cupcake with a toothpick and use a pastry brush to spread vanilla cream over the top of each cupcake- letting it soak into the cake. I did this twice to use up the sauce and make my cupcakes super soaked and moist.
Spread dulce de leche caramel over the top of each cupcake- spreading all the way to the edges.
Make frosting by beating together the whipping cream and powdered sugar, until stiff peaks form.
Pipe frosting on tops of cupcakes, and serve with fresh fruit. Refrigerate until serving, and store chilled.

My thoughts: If you like a cupcake that isn’t overly sweet, you’ll love this. The firm cake soaks up all that cream, and the dulce de leche caramel soaks into the top as these sit- so yummy! You don’t have to wait until the next Cinco de May to try them either- this is such a refreshing summer dessert! I hope you get a chance to try it!!! Enjoy ~r

Other fun and refreshing desserts for summer:

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Posted in Cupcakes and tagged cake, cinco de mayo cake, cinco de mayo recipe, cupcake, dulce de leche, mexican cake, party cake, Tres Leches, tres leches cake. Bookmark the permalink.

Tres Leches Layer Cake

Posted on May 2, 2014 by Ruthanne

This traditional sponge cake is soaked in a vanilla 3-milk sauce and layered with dulce de leche. Topped with whipped cream and fresh fruit, it is a light and refreshing dessert.

It’s nearly Cinco de Mayo time! I first tried Tres Leches cake in Mexico. I had taken a group from our church down to a tiny village in Sinaloa. We had spent the week building, painting, doing electrical work and laying cement. It was my birthday while I was there, and some of the ladies from the church made me a HUGE tres leches cake. It was DELICIOUS! When I asked for the recipe, they all looked at me funny and said- it’s tres leches cake..? (like everyone knows how to make that!!!)

Since then, I’ve tried this cake at other places in Mexico and in the states. I’ve noticed that there are two kinds: The firm, sweet and moist kind, and the dripping with milk kind. I really don’t like the dripping with milk kind…that consistency is really gross to me- and cake should never be gross!

I researched lots of recipes, and discovered that there are two varieties: a butter based sponge cake and an egg based sponge cake. The egg based one is the one I liked. It soaks up all that yummy sauce and stays firm, while the other just sits in a puddle of sauce…YUCK!

All of that said, this is an egg based recipe that I found on a lovely blog called Pati’s Mexican Table. My research paid off- this was a FABULOUS cake! Here’s the recipe: (printable version)

INGREDIENTS

Cake

9 eggs, separated
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour

Vanilla Sauce:

1 (14oz) can sweetened condensed milk (I used La Lechera brand)
1 (12oz) can evaporated milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Topping/filling

2 cups heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
fresh fruit for garnish
1 (13.4 oz) can of La Lechera Dulce de Leche (or make your own here)

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 360F degrees and spray two 8 or 9 inch cake pans with non-stick spray. Cut a circle out of parchment paper to place in the bottom of each pan to help these cakes come out of the pan cleanly.
Divide eggs into 2 bowls. Put the egg whites into a large mixing bowl and the yolks into a medium bowl.
Beat the egg whites on medium-high until they form soft peaks. Add sugar and beat on high until they form stiff peaks (this will take 4-5 minutes, depending on your mixer).
Beat the egg yolks on high for 5 to 6 minutes until they increase in volume and turn a creamy yellow.
Beat the vanilla into the egg yolks until combined.
Add the yolks to the whites and use a spatula or large spoon to gently fold them together.
Add flour and gently mix until completely combined.
Divide batter evenly between the 2 pans and bake for 20-25 minutes. The tops should be golden and when a toothpick is inserted in the center, it should come out clean.
Cool completely, run a small knife around the edges and tip cakes over on a plate. Remove parchment paper.
Make sauce by combining the 3 milks (condensed, evaporated and cream) together with the vanilla.
Poke (lots!) of holes in the top of each cake with a fork and carefully pour sauce over the top, dividing it evenly between the 2 cakes.
Place one cake on a serving plate, spread dulce de leche caramel over the top, stack second cake on top.
Make frosting by beating together the whipping cream and powdered sugar, until stiff peaks form.
Frost cake and serve with fresh fruit. Refrigerate until serving.

My thoughts: I was so pleased with how yummy this cake was. The sponge cake is very firm and easy to work with, even when it’s soaked with sauce. You can make this in a 9×13 inch pan too- I just wanted the tall layer cake look~ and that caramel in the middle? Oh my… take a look at my pictures- it partially soaks in to that bottom layer and gives it a rich caramel flavor. I think you all are going to love this cake!! I hope you get a chance to try it!!! Enjoy!!!! ~r

Other cinco de Mayo recipe ideas: