Tres Leches Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
5/6/2026
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This incredibly moist and flavorful homemade tres leches cake recipe features a fluffy vanilla sponge cake soaked in tres leches (3 milks) and topped with a tangy cream cheese frosting. You’ll appreciate the ease of baking and frosting the cake in the same pan – no fancy layers or frosting techniques required!
Because chilling this cake for at least 4 hours before serving is essential (leave enough time to do so!), it’s a wonderful make-ahead dessert for any occasion.
Recipe Highlights
- 3 parts to love: Tres leches cake comes together with a light, fluffy vanilla sponge cake, sweet tres leches mixture, and tangy cream cheese frosting.
- Perfect for dinner parties: Tres leches cake must chill before serving so it’s a guaranteed make-ahead dessert.
- Rich + moist: The tres leches creates a tender crumb and the cream cheese frosting adds an indulgent twist.
What You’ll Need
Vanilla Sponge Cake
- Flour: All-purpose flour provides structure and is the base of this cake.
- Baking powder: Helps the cake rise.
- Salt: Adds flavor.
- Eggs: Separated egg yolks and egg whites are the key to this cake’s airy texture. You’ll combine each of them separately, then fold the egg mixtures together to create a light sponge crumb.
- Milk: Whole milk adds flavor, richness, and moisture.
- Butter: Melted and cooled butter adds flavor – a little goes a long way in this recipe.
- Vanilla: Pure vanilla extract adds flavor.
- Tres leches: It’s not tres leches cake without a combination of 3 milks! Pour a combination of sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk, and half and half on top of the cake for sweetness, flavor, and moisture.
Cream cheese frosting
- Cream cheese: Sturdy cream cheese is the base of this tangy cream cheese frosting. Make sure it’s softened to room temperature before using (here’s how to soften cream cheese quickly!).
- Powdered sugar: Adds sweetness and structure.
- Heavy cream: Thins out the frosting so it’s smooth and spreads easily.
- Vanilla: Pure vanilla extract adds flavor.
How to Make Tres Leches Cake
This single-layer sheet cake comes together fairly easily – the most time-intensive step is whipping the egg whites into stiff peaks that create a light, airy crumb (it’s worth it!). For the full recipe with step-by-step instructions, refer to the recipe card at the bottom of the post.
Make the sponge cake
- Whisk the dry ingredients together (flour, baking powder, and salt) in a large bowl and set aside.
- Cream the wet ingredients together (melted butter, sugar, egg yolks, milk, and vanilla extract) until the mixture is smooth and the sugar has dissolved. Use a hand or stand mixer, scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed. Set aside.
- Beat the egg whites with the remaining sugar on high speed until stiff peaks form. Use a clean bowl and be sure to rinse all of the egg yolk mixture off of the beaters (the egg whites won’t turn into stiff peaks if there is any fat (from the egg yolk mixture) present in the bowl). This should take about 6-10 minutes.
- Gently fold the egg whites into the egg yolk mixture using a spatula. Be careful to avoid deflating the egg whites.
- Add the dry ingredients and gently whisk until just combined.
- Pour the cake batter into a 9×13-inch baking pan sprayed with nonstick spray. Make sure the batter is spread into an even layer.
- Bake for 40-45 minutes at 350ºF until the top is set and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven and let the cake cool.
Add Tres Leches
- Mix the tres leches together (condensed milk, evaporated milk, and half and half) in a bowl while the cake cools.
- Poke holes all over the top of the cooled cake. Use a large serving fork, skewer, or straw to do this.
- Pour the tres leches mixture on top of the cake and let it absorb.
Make the Frosting
- Mix the frosting ingredients together (cream cheese, powdered sugar, heavy cream, and vanilla) until smooth. Use an electric hand or stand mixer and scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed.
- Frost the cooled cake.
- Cover and refrigerate the cake for at least 4 hours (overnight is ideal).
Variations & Substitutions
- Instead of whole milk in the cake layer, use 2% milk (or any variety of dairy or non-dairy milk you have on hand).
- Use a 1:1 gluten free flour blend in place of the all-purpose flour for a gluten free tres leches cake. The crumb might be a little more dense, but will still be delicious.
- If the cream cheese frosting is a little too sweet for your liking, add a pinch of salt to offset the sweetness.
- For an adult-only cake, add 1-2 tablespoons of rum or brandy into the tres leches mixture.
How to Serve It
Tres leches cake is a refreshing ending to any meal. Garnish each slice with fresh raspberries, blackberries, or sliced strawberries, a dollop of homemade whipped cream, or sprinkle of flaky sea salt.
Tip: For a little something extra, reserve about 1/2 cup of the tres leches mixture for serving (step 14). Store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator and when ready to serve, drizzle it onto each slice before enjoying.
Storing Tres Leches Cake
Store leftover cake in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Any longer and the cake structure will begin to fall apart.
Freezing Instructions
I don’t recommend freezing assembled tres leches cake. If you do want to freeze this cake and assemble/frost it later, prepare the cake through step 11 (use a freezer-safe 9×13-inch baking dish with a lid). Once cool, tightly wrap the pan with plastic wrap and cover. Freeze for up to 3 months. When ready to assemble, remove the pan from the freezer and let the cake thaw for 1-2 hours at room temperature. Continue with the recipe as written.
FAQ
Tres leches cake (“3 milks cake”) is a traditional Latin American dessert recipe. It features a sponge cake with holes in it topped with 3 different kinds of milks (sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk, and cream). The airy cake soaks up the sweet milk mixture, creating a delicious, moist cake.
Yes. This recipe was created specifically using a combination of sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk, and half and half. I don’t recommend substitutions or omission for any of these.
Tres Leches with Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
For the Cake
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 5 large eggs, separated
- 2 cups sugar, divided
- 6 tablespoons whole milk
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 14-oz. can sweetened condensed milk
- 1 12-oz. can evaporated milk
- 1 cup half and half
For the Frosting
- 8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
- 5 tablespoons powdered sugar
- 1.5 cups heavy cream
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Instructions
Make the Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF and spray a 9×13-inch baking pan with nonstick spray. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together. Set aside.
- Add the 5 egg yolks, 1.75 cups of sugar, whole milk, melted butter, and vanilla extract to a medium bowl.
- Use an electric hand mixer or stand mixer with the paddle attachment set to medium/high speed and mix until the sugar is dissolved. Use a spatula to scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed. Set aside.
- If using a hand mixer, rinse the egg and sugar mixture off of the beaters.
- Add the 5 egg whites to a separate medium-sized bowl. Beat the egg whites on high speed using a hand mixer with clean beaters or stand mixer with the whisk attachment, slowly adding the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar. Mix until stiff peaks form, about 6-10 minutes.
- Use a spatula to gently fold the egg white mixture into the egg yolk mixture. Be careful not to deflate the egg whites.
- Add the dry ingredients to the egg mixture and whisk until just combined.
- Pour the cake batter into the prepared pan. Use a spatula to spread it into an even layer.
- Bake for 40-45 minutes or until the top is set and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Remove the cake from the oven and let it cool for 15-20 minutes.
- While the cake bakes, pour the condensed milk, evaporated milk, and half and half into a bowl. Whisk to combine and set aside.
- Once the cake is cool, use a fork (a skewer or straw also work) to poke holes all over the top of the cake.
- Pour the tres leches mixture onto the cake. (Optional: Reserve 1/2 cup of this mixture for serving. Transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate until ready to serve.)
Make the Frosting
- While the cake soaks up the milk, make the frosting. Add the cream cheese, powdered sugar, heavy cream, and vanilla to a large bowl. Use an electric hand or stand mixer with the paddle attachment first on low speed to combine, then on high speed until the frosting is smooth and fluffy. Use a spatula to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed.
- Use a spatula to spread the frosting in an even layer on top of the cake.
- Cover the cake pan and refrigerate for at least 4 hours (and up to 24 hours) before serving. If you have reserved tres leches, slice the cake and drizzle it onto each slice before enjoying.
Tips & Notes
- Storing leftovers: Store leftover cake in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Any longer and the cake structure will begin to fall apart.
- Freezing instructions: I don’t recommend freezing assembled tres leches cake. If you do want to freeze this cake and assemble/frost it later, prepare the cake through step 11 (use a freezer-safe 9×13-inch baking dish with a lid). Once cool, tightly wrap the pan with plastic wrap and cover. Freeze for up to 3 months. When ready to assemble, remove the pan from the freezer and let the cake thaw for 1-2 hours at room temperature. Continue with the recipe as written.
- Chill time: The longer the cake chills, the better. 24 hours is ideal for the cake to soak up the tres leches mixture.
- Rum or brandy: For an adult-only cake, add 1-2 tablespoons of rum or brandy into the tres leches mixture.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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