This Strawberry Tres Leches Cake takes the ultra-moist, gently sweet pastel de tres leches that we all love and infuses it with fresh strawberry flavor. Make as a layer cake with a filling of jammy strawberries in between.
This post was first published April 27, 2022 and last updated April 18, 2023.
My love for all things Tres Leches is no secret. I’ve been dreaming about a strawberry version for a while and now that strawberries are in season here in Southern California, I knew it was time to start experimenting.
The one type of tres leches cake I’ve never made is a layered round cake. I’ve always admired them in the Mexican bakeries so I wanted to give it a try. It was a bit more fussy than a standard tres leches sheet cake but what a stunner! It’s what you want to make for a special birthday, anniversary, or Mother’s Day celebration.
Keep reading for the step-by-step instructions for how to make it!
One reader said: “This cake is fantastic!! I made it for a friend’s birthday , a special request and now I’m making it for my son. Beautiful and delicious! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️“
-Leah
What is Tres Leches?
Pastel de leche or milk cake is a sponge cake that is soaked in a sweet milk mixture made from sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk, and cream. The top of the cake is covered in gentle poofs of whipped cream.
Ingredients For Strawberry Tres Leches Cake
- Large eggs
- Granulated sugar
- Vanilla extract
- All purpose flour
- Freeze-dried strawberries
- Kosher salt
- Baking powder
- Sweetened condensed milk
- Evaporated milk
- Heavy whipping cream
- Fresh strawberries
How To Make This Strawberry Cake Recipe
step one
Cook strawberries. The first thing you want to do is cook down the fresh strawberries for the filling. This takes a bit of time, plus you want the filling to be completely cool before filling the cake. Core and quarter the strawberries and place in a large saucepan over medium heat.
Cook, stirring frequently, until strawberries break down and their juices thicken, about 25 minutes. You know when they are ready by scraping a wooden spoon across the bottom of the pan. The spoon should leave a trail and the juices should not immediately run back in on each other. Remove from heat and let cool completely.
step two
Do some prep. Heat oven to 325°F and grease two 8-inch round cake pans. Line cake pans with parchment paper circles and spray those as well.
Grind the freeze-dried strawberries in a food processor until they are in a powder. Measure out 1/2 cup of ground strawberry powder. I used two (1.2 ounce) packages and had about 1/4 cup of ground strawberries leftover which I used to dust the top of the cake but that is optional.
step three
Combine the dry ingredients. Whisk together the flour, 1/2 cup of ground freeze-dried strawberries, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl.
step four
Whip the eggs. Gently crack the eggs into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Be very careful not to break the yolk or you’ll have to start over. With your hands, gently remove the yolks to a separate large bowl, letting any whites drip back into the stand mixer bowl.
Add the sugar to the yolks and whisk vigorously until yolks have lightened in color and are thick, about 2 minutes.
Whip egg whites on medium speed until they hold a peak that is stiff, but not dry, about 6 minutes.
step five
Finish cake batter. Add about 1/3 of the whites to the yolk mixture and gently fold them in. Spoon in remaining whites and continue to fold them in until only a few largish pieces of whites remain. Add flour mixture and gently fold that in as well being careful not to deflate the egg whites too much.
step six
Bake. Evenly divide the batter between the two prepared pans and smooth the tops. Bake cakes in the middle of the oven until the tops are golden brown around the edges and springy to the touch. Insert a toothpick in the middle and it should come out clean. This should take 20-25 minutes.
Remove to wire racks and let cool 5 minutes.
step seven
Make tres leches mixture. While cakes are baking whisk together sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk, and cream in a medium bowl.
step eight
Arrange cake on stand. Run a knife around the outside of the cake pans and gently flip cakes over onto the wire racks to remove them from the pans. Remove the pieces of parchment paper and flip cakes back over so the tops don’t stick to the wire racks.
Place one cake layer, top down, on a cake stand or platter that you plan on serving the cake from. Make sure whatever you use has a rim to catch the tres leches mixture and is not completely flat or the milk will spill everywhere. Also make sure whatever you use will fit in your refrigerator because you will need to chill the cake for a few hours. This is my favorite cake stand for this particular strawberry cake recipe.
step nine
Poke holes. Poke cakes all over with a toothpick or fork so the milk mixture can easily seep through. Go ahead and poke holes in the other cake that is not on the cake stand as well, then it will be ready to go after you layer it.
step ten
Soak cake. Spoon half of the tres leches mixture over cake letting the mixture soak in before adding more. Soak the cake evenly making sure to get the sides, don’t just pour it all in the middle.
step eleven
Add strawberries and layer cakes. Spoon cooked strawberries evenly over the top. Place the second cake layer, top down, over the strawberries and gently press to squeeze strawberries out to the edge.
Spoon the remaining tres leches mixture over this top cake just like you did with the first cake layer. Cover and refrigerate for 4 hours.
step twelve
Finish decorating cake. Combine remaining 1 cup of heavy whipping cream with remaining teaspoon of vanilla extract in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Whip on medium until firm but not stiff peaks form, about 3-4 minutes.
Remove cake from fridge, uncover and spoon whipped cream on top. Make big swoops with your spoon until it reaches the edges.
Slice remaining strawberries in half and arrange sliced strawberries on top of the cake.
More Dessert Recipes To Try!
- Easy Carrot Cake Recipe With Pineapple
- Homemade Chamoy Sauce with Mango
- Simple Authentic Capirotada Recipe
- Mangonada {Spicy Mango Slushy}
- Authentic Arroz Con Leche
- Churros Recipe with Chocolate Sauce
- Easy Sopapilla Recipe
A Special Cake For A Special Somebody
Or for no reason at all other than Strawberry Tres Leches Cake is AMAZING! Let me know when you make it by snapping a pic and tagging me on Instagram @holajalapeno and #holajalapeno so I can see or leave me a comment below (don’t forget to leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating) ! Also, sign up for my weekly newsletter, lots of good stuff there too!
Strawberry Tres Leches Cake
This Strawberry Tres Leches Cake takes the ultra-moist, gently sweet pastel de tres leches that we all love and infuses it with fresh strawberry flavor. Make as a layer cake with a filling of jammy strawberries in between.
Ingredients
- 2 pounds fresh strawberries, divided
- 2 (1.2 ounce) packages freeze-dried strawberries
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 6 large eggs
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract, divided
- 1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
- 1 (12-ounce) can evaporated milk
- 1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream, divided
Instructions
- Cook strawberries. Core and quarter 1 1/2 pounds of the strawberries (save the other 1/2 pound for decorating). Place in a large saucepan and place over medium heat. Cook, stirring frequently until strawberries are broken down and the juices have thickened, about 25 minutes. You will know when they are thick enough because when you scrape your spoon along the bottom of the pan it will leave a trail and the juices won't run back on themselves right away. Remove from heat and let cool completely.
- Grind strawberries. Place freeze-dried strawberries in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the blade attachment. Pulse 20-30 times or until the strawberries are finely ground without turning into a paste. Measure 1/2 cup of the ground strawberries and save the rest for garnish.
- Heat oven. Heat oven to 325°F and arrange a rack in the middle. Grease 2 (8-inch) cake pans and line the bottoms with parchment paper circles. Grease the parchment paper and set pans aside.
- Mix dry ingredients. Whisk together all purpose flour, ground strawberries, baking powder, and kosher salt in a medium bowl.
- Separate eggs. Gently crack eggs into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Do this carefully so you don't break the yolks. If you break a yolk you'll have to start over. Gently remove the yolks with your hands, scooping them up and letting the whites run through your fingers. Place yolks in a large bowl—make sure the bowl is big enough to mix all the cake batter eventually. *Once again: important that you don't get any trace of egg yolk in the whites or they won't whip up to stiff peaks. I know this method of separating eggs might sound weird, but it actually is the most gentle way of dividing the yolk from the white.
- Beat egg yolks. Add sugar and 1/2 teaspoon of the vanilla to the egg yolks and whisk until thick, creamy, and the sugar is mostly dissolved, about 3 minutes.
- Whip egg whites. In the stand mixer, whip the egg whites on medium speed until they are stiff, but not dry, about 6 minutes.
- Fold batter together. Add about 1/3 of the egg whites into the yolks and fold gently with a rubber spatula. Add remaining whites and gently fold until only a few largish pieces of egg white remain. Add flour mixture and gently fold that in as well being careful not to deflate the egg whites too much.
- Bake. Divide the batter evenly between the two cake pans and bake in the middle of the oven until the top of the cakes are golden around the edges and springy to the touch. A toothpick inserted in the middle should come out clean, about 20-25 minutes.
- Make tres leches mixture. While cakes are baking whisk together the sweetened condensed milk, the evaporated milk, and 1/2 cup of the heavy cream in a large bowl.
- Cool. Let cakes cool on wire racks for 5 minutes then run a knife around the edge of the cake pans and turn cakes out of the pans onto the wire racks. Remove parchment paper and flip right side up again.
- Place on serving dish. Place one cake, top-side-down on a rimmed cake stand or serving platter. Make sure whatever you use has a high rim or the milk mixture will run off the sides. Also make sure your serving plate fits in your refrigerator because it will have to chill for 4 hours.
- Soak borttom layer. Poke cake all over with a toothpick then spoon half of the tres leches mixture evenly over the cake. Let a spoonful of the mixture soak in before adding the next and distribute it evenly, don't just dump it in the middle.
- Add strawberry filling. Spoon cooked strawberries over the bottom layer of the cake and spread evenly.
- Soak top layer. Lay second cake top-side-down on top of the strawberry filling. Press gently to squeeze the filling out to the sides. Poke cake all over with a toothpick and spoon remaining tres leches mixture over the top layer the same as you did with the bottom layer.
- Chill. Cover cake and chill in the refrigerator for 4 hours.
- Make whipped cream frosting. Right before serving, whip remaining heavy cream and remaining teaspoon of vanilla extract in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachement on medium-high until it forms big, puffy peaks, about 3 minutes.
- Finish decorating. Spoon whipped cream over the top of the cake and spread in swirls to the edge of the cake. Slice remaining 1/2 pound of strawberries in half (I like to leave the stems on if they are pretty). Dust with any leftover ground strawberries if you'd like and serve!
Recommended Products
As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 10 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 364Total Fat: 19gSaturated Fat: 11gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 7gCholesterol: 164mgSodium: 209mgCarbohydrates: 39gFiber: 2gSugar: 27gProtein: 10g
In support of this small business, ¡Hola! Jalapeño earns revenue in a few different ways. Several sponsored posts are published each month. I also earn an affiliate commission on the sales of products I link to— there are a few of those links in this post. I only feature items I genuinely love and personally use on a regular basis. This commission is an arrangement between the retailer and ¡Hola! Jalapeño (readers never pay more for products). This income allows me to run the site. Thank you for reading!
Previous
leave a reply