Strawberry Tres Leches

Fluffy strawberry cake soaked with a strawberry 3-milk soak, topped with fluffy whipped cream and fresh strawberries, a strawberry recreation of the classic tres leches

What is a tres leches?

A tres leches aka pan tres leches is a Latin American cake made from a light and fluffy sponge cake soaked in three kinds of milk; evaporated milk, condensed milk, and whole milk.

The resulting cake is incredibly moist while also being light and fluffy.

This strawberry version is strawberry milk embodied in a cake. Sweet, fruity, and refreshing while also being creamy and delicious. It's such a fun and fresh cake, especially for summer!

Ingredients

Strawberry Cake

• Egg yolks: The egg yolks give the cake a rich flavor and tender texture.
• Granulated sugar: Sugar plays two uses. It gives the cake sweetness, while also creating a meringue with the egg whites.
• Vegetable oil: Vegetable oil gives the cake a tender texture as well as a moist crumb.

• Strawberry puree: Fresh strawberry puree gives the cake the best strawberry flavor, while also adding moisture to the sponge cake.
• All-purpose flour: Flour gives the cake structure! If you want an even softer cake you can also use cake flour.
• Baking powder: Baking powder helps to give your cake an extra boost, helping it bake up taller and with a more even rise.

• Egg whites: Egg whites are whipped with sugar to form a meringue. The air whipped into the meringue helps it rise to that light and fluffy sponge cake. Make sure you use large eggs as you need all the egg whites for the cake to rise.
• Pink food coloring: Food coloring will help give the cake an even more vibrant pink color! Totally optional if you prefer a more natural shade.

3 Milk Soak

• Condensed milk: Condensed milk gives the milk soak sweetness. If you don't want the cake to be too sweet you can reduce this to your taste
• Evaporated milk: Evaporated milk gives the cake a sweet creaminess

• Fresh whole milk: Fresh milk makes up the rest of the soak, giving it a fresh, milky flavor
• Strawberry puree: For a fresh strawberry flavor
• Nesquick powder: This is optional, but it gives it that nostalgic strawberry milk flavor

Whipped Cream

• Heavy cream: Aka thickened cream. I find that heavy cream whips up the best for frosting cakes. Whipping cream or regular cream works great too.
• Granulated sugar: The sugar here sweetens the cream, you can add more or less according to your taste.

• Strawberry puree: There is strawberry puree in each component so the cake has a super fragrant strawberry aroma!
• Nesquick powder: More nesquick powder used here to really recreate that strawberry milk flavor.
• Pink food coloring: Strawberry puree has a little bit of a grey tinge to it, so the pink food coloring helps the color of the frosting to pop.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does this last?

This cake will last up to 3 days when stored in an airtight container in the fridge. Keep the cake stored in the fridge until you're ready to serve. As this cake is made with a lot of milk and dairy it needs to be kept chilled.

How do I make the strawberry puree?

To make the strawberry puree just blend some fresh or frozen strawberries in a blender until smooth. Then you can use it in all components of your cake!

Can I change the flavor?

Yes, you can! You can replace the strawberry puree with any other kind of fruit puree for a different kind of fruity cake. If that is the case can leave out the nesquick.

Why did my cake crack?

There are a couple of reasons why the cake cracked:

• The egg whites were overbeaten
• The oven temperature was too high

How do I get a smooth whipped cream frosting?

There are a couple of ways to get a smooth cream frosting:

• Don't over-whip the cream as this can make the frosting grainy
• Spread the frosting over the cake, then run an offset spatula under hot water, wipe it dry and use it to smoothen the top of the cake

Let's Get Cooking

If you liked this recipe make sure to leave me a comment and rating down below, I would love to know how you went. Also don't forget to tag me on Instagram @catherine.desserts so I can see and share your desserts.

Follow me on facebook, pinterest, youtube and tiktok for more of my baking creations and updates! Until next time... happy caking!

📖 Recipe

Strawberry Tres Leches Cake Recipe

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Fluffy strawberry cake soaked with a strawberry 3-milk soak, topped with fluffy whipped cream and fresh strawberries, a strawberry recreation of the classic tres leches

• Author: Catherine Zhang
• Prep Time: 30 minutes
• Cook Time: 60 minutes
• Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
• Yield: 6 Slices 1x
• Category: Cake
• Method: Easy
• Cuisine: Latin American

Ingredients

Units MUS Scale 1x2x3x

Strawberry Cake

• 5 Egg yolks
• 25g Granulated sugar (2 tbsp)
• 60g Vegetable oil (¼ cup)
• 125g Strawberry puree (just less than 1 cup)
• 110g All-purpose flour (1 cup)
• 1 ½ tsp Baking powder
• 5 Egg whites
• 65g Granulated sugar (II) (⅓ cup)
• Pink food coloring, optional

3 Milk Soak

• 120ml Condensed milk (½ cup)
• 120ml Evaporated milk (½ cup)
• 120ml Fresh whole milk (½ cup)
• 50g Strawberry puree (¼ cup)
• 1 tbsp Strawberry Nesquick powder

Whipped Cream

• 480ml Heavy cream (2 cups)
• 65g Granulated sugar (⅓ cup)
• 50g Strawberry puree (¼ cup)
• 1 tbsp Strawberry Nesquick powder
• Pink food coloring

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Instructions

Strawberry Cake

1. Preheat the oven to 160C/320F
2. Line a 8 x 8 inch /20 x 20cm square cake tin with baking paper
3. Whisk together the egg yolks, sugar (I), vegetable oil, and strawberry puree in a medium bowl until smooth
4. Sift in the flour and baking powder, and whisk until just combined, set aside
5. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment or in a large bowl with an electric mixer whisk the egg whites until soft peaks
6. Add the sugar (II) and whisk on medium-high until stiff peaks
7. Add ⅓ of the meringue into the egg yolk mixture and whisk until combined
8. Transfer the egg yolk mixture to the remaining meringue and fold with a rubber spatula until just combined
9. Pour the cake batter into the prepared cake tin and bake for 50-60 minutes, or until the cake springs back when pressed
10. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely
11. Remove the cake from the tin and peel off the baking paper
12. Reline the cake tin with baking paper and place the cake back into the tin
13. Poke holes all over the cake with a fork

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3 Milk Soak

1. Combine all the ingredients together in a large jug and stir to combine
2. Slowly pour the milk mixture over the cake, then cover it with cling wrap
3. Put the cake in the fridge to soak for at least 1 hour or overnight

Whipped Cream

1. Combine the cream, sugar, strawberry puree, nesquick and food coloring in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment or a large bowl with an electric mixer
2. Whisk the cream until it reaches stiff peaks
3. Remove the cake from the tin and top with the whipped cream, smoothening off the top and sides
4. Trim the edges, cut into 6 slices and serve!

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