Mexican Chocolate Tres Leches Cake is a twist on a classic! Rich chocolate cake soaked in cream and topped with whipped cream. Try today!
This easy dessert is like a Chocolate Poke Cake combined with a Classic Tres Leche, and topped with my easy Whipped Cream topping. It’s the perfect Dessert Recipe for chocolate lovers!
Table of contents
Sabrina’s Mexican Chocolate Tres Leches Cake Recipe
Who doesn’t love chocolate cake? A traditional, simple Chocolate Cake is always a favorite dessert, but sometimes you just want a bit more. And when you are craving something delicious Chocolate Leches Cake. The sweet chocolate, cinnamon, coffee, and creamy topping all combine for a bite that’s absolutely unbeatable.
Ingredients
- 2 cups Sugar: This provides a base of sweetness. I’m using regular granulated sugar but you can substitute with an equal amount of brown sugar for a slightly different flavor.
- 1 ¾ cups Flour: I’m using all-purpose flour because the higher gluten amount will give the cake a better structure to hold up to the heavy milk mixture.
- 1 cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder: This is what gives it the rich chocolate flavor. Use high-quality cocoa powder, and make sure it is unsweetened.
- 1 ½ teaspoons each Baking Powder & Baking Soda: Using both baking soda and baking powder gives you a light and fluffy cake that will soak up all the three milks without becoming dense.
- 2 large Eggs: Eggs help bind all the ingredients together. Bring the eggs to room temperature.
- 1 cup Whole Milk: The milk adds moisture and a little more richness to the cake batter. You can use low fat milk if you prefer.
- ½ cup Vegetable Oil: This is a neutral oil that helps keep the cake moist.
- 1 tablespoon Vanilla Extract: The vanilla extract enhances the chocolate flavor and adds a bit of warmth.
- 1 cup Hot Coffee: Coffee intensifies the chocolate flavor and adds moisture. You can use boiling water if you prefer a normal chocolate taste.
- ½ cup Heavy Cream: This helps it have a rich and creamy texture. You can use half and half in a pinch but I wouldn’t recommend using regular whole milk.
- 14 ounces Sweetened Condensed Milk: This adds sweetness and helps create the signature Tres Leches texture.
- 12 ounces Evaporated Milk: This final layer of milk adds creaminess without extra sweetness.
- 4 cups Whipped Cream: This easy creamy topping is light and only slightly sweet, which balances perfectly with the rich chocolate cake.
How to Make
Time needed: 3 hours and 45 minutes.
- Preheat Oven
Start by preheating your oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a 9×13-inch baking pan by either spraying it with cooking spray or greasing and flouring it to prevent sticking.
- Mix Dry Ingredients
Add the sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt to your stand mixer. If you don’t have a stand mixer use an electric hand mixer. Use the lowest speed on the electric mixer to combine the flour mixture without making a mess.
- Whisk in Wet Ingredients
Whisk together the eggs, milk, oil, and vanilla in a separate bowl. Add them to the stand mixer while it’s still on the lowest speed. Slowly increase the speed until combined. Turn off the mixer, and pour in the brewed coffee. Mix the coffee in by hand. Doing this part by hand will make sure the coffee doesn’t splash out and burn you.
- Bake
Pour the batter into your prepared pan and bake for 30 minutes.
- Prepare Milk Mixture
While the cake is baking, whisk the heavy cream, sweetened condensed milk, and evaporated milk together in a medium bowl.
- Soak the Cake
When you take the cake out, pierce the top of it with a fork all over. This will create ways for the milk to soak in all over. Pour the milk mixture over the top, and then refrigerate for 3-4 hours. This will give the cake time to chill and for the milk to entirely soak in.
- Finish and Serve
Just before serving, top it off with whipped cream and a dusting of ground cinnamon and optional chocolate curls. Enjoy!
Recipe Card
Ingredients
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 3/4 cups flour
- 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup hot coffee , you can substitute boiling water
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 14 ounces sweetened condensed milk
- 12 ounces evaporated milk
- 4 cups Whipped Cream
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray a 9×13 pan with baking spray or butter and flour it.
- In a stand mixer on low speed mix together the sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- In a small bowl whisk together the eggs, milk, oil, and vanilla then add it to the stand mixer on low then medium speed until just combined and finally add in the hot coffee carefully and stir it in by hand until just combined (do not turn on the mixer, it may splash on you).
- Pour into the baking pan and bake for 30-35 minutes.
- While the cake is baking whisk together the heavy cream, condensed milk, and evaporated milk.
- Remove from the oven, pierce all over with a fork and pour the milk mixture over the cake, then cover and chill for at least 3-4 hours.
- Top with whipped cream and sift ground cinnamon on top before serving.
Nutrition
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Chef’s Note: Coffee and Chocolate
To give a traditionally milky cake a strong dark chocolate flavor, I use a hack of adding hot brewed coffee. Coffee beans and cocoa beans have similar flavor profiles, and when you combine them in baking, you get richer, deeper notes of dark chocolate. Coffee’s bitter notes balance the sweetness which helps keep this cake from being cloyingly sweet. You want to use hot coffee because the heat brings out more flavor and it ensures the coffee grounds dissolve all the way.
Can This Be Made Ahead?
Yes. Tres Leches is a great cake recipe to make ahead because you don’t have to worry about it drying out. You’ll be soaking it in milk anyway, so go ahead and make the cake part up to 4 days in advance and then the morning you want to serve it, drench it in the sweet cream mixture, letting it soak while you finish the rest of your party preparations.
Nutritional Facts
Ideas to Serve Tres Leches
My Chocolate Tres Leches Cake is topped with homemade Easy Whipped Cream, but you can always swap it with store-bought or homemade Cool Whip too. Skip the cream topping all together and make it even more chocolaty with a layer of rich Chocolate Ganache or a scoop of Chocolate Ice Cream. A dusting of finely ground espresso mixed with ground cinnamon and hot chocolate powder would add a delicious sweet mocha flavor. For an easy, elegant design, use decorative stencils or paper doilies when you sprinkle the topping.
How to Store
- Store: This Chocolate Tres Leches is best served chilled after it has been soaked for at least 3 hours in the cream mixture. Store this cake for no more than 2 hours at room temperature. Cover the cake pan in plastic wrap to store it in the fridge. It’s best eaten within the first 48 hours but can stay good for as long as 4 days.
- Freeze: You can freeze Chocolate Tres Leches for up to 3 months. It is best frozen without the whipped cream topping. Make sure it’s covered tightly so moisture doesn’t get in, a sheet of plastic wrap before covering it with aluminum foil or pan lid is a great way to preserve your cake in the freezer.
Frequent Questions
It’s for texture. The coffee needs to be hot because it helps to bloom the cocoa powder flavor and helps us get a smoother texture in the batter as well as helps to dissolve the sugar better so that the batter gives us a perfectly textured cake.
Tres Leches Cake is a traditional Latin American dessert. Originating in Mexico, the name Tres Leches means three milks. The delicious cake is named this way because it’s soaked in three different kinds of milk. Heavy cream, evaporated milk, and condensed milk all come together to make this milky cake the most tender and moist you’ll ever taste. It’s traditionally served for birthdays, weddings, and any kind of gathering or celebration.
Yes, chilling the cake for at least 3-4 hours is needed to get the desired tres leches texture. If you’re in a hurry, you can chill it for a minimum of 2 hours, but the longer the better!
Variations
- Chocolate Shavings: Add to the cinnamon topping by sprinkling chocolate shavings over the top. You can also just leave the cinnamon off and use all chocolate or use sweetened cocoa powder.
- Mexican Chocolate: Try adding some spice to the chocolate mixture with cayenne pepper. Up to 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper should be plenty to add a little spice to the Mexican chocolate. Add chili pepper and cinnamon with the cayenne for a classic Mexican or Aztec flavor combo.
- Coffee: If you don’t want to use the brewed coffee in the recipe, you can add boiling water. To still get that coffee taste mix in 1 tablespoon instant espresso with the hot water.
- Flour: If you want a gluten-free Tres Leches Cake, try using almond flour, oat flour, or coconut flour to replace the all-purpose flour.
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Photos used in previous versions of this post.
So…why does the coffee have to be HOT?