Soft, moist, and rich Mexican special eggless tres leches cake with mango-flavored whipped cream frosting—a simple eggless cake to celebrate any occasion.
Finally, I am posting a cake recipe for this blogging marathon. I am glad that I am sharing our family’s favorite – Tres Leches Cake, of course, the eggless version. :-)
What is Tres Leches-
We all know that this is a famous Mexican cake, and Tres means three, and leches mean Milk. It’s a sponge cake soaked in three milk mixture; Whole milk /heavy cream, condensed milk, and evaporated milk. I did not use any butter for this recipe. It’s a light, spongy cake with the air bubble, and this texture helps to absorb the Milk and make it moist and juicy.
Be it vaandu’s birthday or mine or M’s or our anniversary, if there is a cake, then it is always a Tres Leches cake, and if I bake for any particular occasion, it will always be Tres Leches too. :-) But I didn’t get a chance to post it on my blog until now. :-) Even though I have posted a few cake recipes, this is the first cake recipe with frosting.
I used my basic vanilla sponge cake recipe here but modified the flours a bit. In that recipe, Instead of using APF entirely, I removed 3 tbsps of APF and used corn starch instead.
Homemade Cake Flour Mix:
Cake flour mix provides a nice texture to this cake, and it helps in absorbing the mix. But I did not want to buy a cake mix flour just for this recipe and always follow the trick that I learned from here. To prepare one cupcake flour mix, all you have to do is remove 2 tbsps of APF from 1 cup of APF and add 2 tbsps of cornstarch. Sieve them so that the flours are well combined. For this recipe, as I used 1.5 cups of APF, I removed 3 tbsps and included 3 tbsps of cornstarch. So hence in my ingredient list, you will 1.5 cups minus 3 Tbsps of APF.
Milk Mixtures:
The below measurement yields 2 cups of the milk mixture, but I usually add about 1.5 cups initially, and then if required, I will add the remaining half cup. If you are planning to soak the cake overnight, initially add 1.5 cups and then add the remaining half cup. This time, I soaked the cake for about 1 hour, and I added a little more than 1.5 cups of the milk mixture.
Frosting:
We like the mango flavor, so I used one tsp of mango-flavored custard powder. Instead, you can use fresh mango puree, or you can skip that too.
I think I have written too much. So without any further ado, here is the cake recipe. Enjoy!
Eggless Tres Leches Recipe with Step-wise Pictures-
Ingredients:
For the Sponge Cake:
- Maida/All purpose flour – 1.5 cups minus 3 Tbsps
- Corn Starch – 3 tbsps
- Yogurt – 1 cup
- Granulated Sugar – ¾ cup
- Baking soda – ½ tsp
- Baking powder – 1.25 tsp
- Salt – a pinch
- Vegetable oil – ½ cup
- Vanilla essence – 1.5 tsp
For the Milk Mixture:
- Whole Milk – ¼ cup
- Condensed Milk – 1 can(14 oz)
- Evaporated Milk – ½ cup
For the Frosting:
- Heavy Whipping Cream – ¾ cup
- Sugar – 2 tbsps
- Custard Powder – 1 tsp
For decoration:
- Maraschino Cherry – 15 to 20 cut into halves.
Steps:
Sponge Cake Preparation:
- Preheat the oven to 350 deg F.
- Grease a cake pan and set aside.
- Add the yogurt and sugar in a wide bowl and whisk them together. Make sure the sugar is dissolved.
- Now add the baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix them and let it sit for 5 minutes.
- The mixture will be emulsified now. Add the vanilla extract and whisk again.
- Now slowly pour the oil and whisk the mixture. This helps in excellent emulsification.
- Sieve the APF and corn starch to this wet mix and combine gently.
- Make sure there aren’t any lumps. Pour this cake batter into the cake pan and spread it evenly.
- Tap it twice, so that the mixture settles. Bake the cake for about 30 to 35 minutes or until when a toothpick inserted in a center comes out clean.
- Let it cool for 15 min.
Adding Milk Mixture:
- Once the cake has cooled for 15 minutes, transfer the cake to a plate with high edges like below. I inverted the cake and let the bottom part on the top. I didn’t revert it back.
- Let it cool again for 10 minutes, meanwhile, prepare the milk mixture.
- Add the whole Milk, condensed Milk and evaporated Milk and mix them well.
- Now using a fork, pierce the cake all over the top.
- Slowly pour the milk mixture on top of the cake.
- Let the cake rest for about 1 hour so that the cake absorbs all the milk mixture.
Frosting Preparation:
- Add ¾ cup of Milk and sugar in a wide bowl and using hand mixture, whisk it nicely until soft peaks are formed.
- At this stage, add the custard powder and whisk again until stiff peaks are formed.
Decorating the Cake:
- After 1 hour, spread the prepared frosting on top of the cake and spread it evenly.
- Decorate the edges with maraschino cherries and serve.
Recipe Notes:
- Using cake flour mix is not mandatory. You can use plain APF too.
- I used vegetable oil for this recipe; you can use saffola or canola oil too.
- Cooling the cake for at least 20 minutes is important.
- Make sure you use a high edge plate, as the milk mixture will run out the sides as you pour it on top.
- Custard powder addition is optional, and you can decorate the cake in your preferred way.
- You can let the cake soak overnight. In that case, cover the cake with cling wrap and refrigerate.
- Make sure you soak the cake for at least 45 minutes to one hour.
- Traditionally Maraschino cherries are used for decoration, but you can decorate with any berries.
- Whole Milk is preferable, but you can replace it with heavy cream, or if you want the cake to be light add 2% milk instead of whole Milk.
- Every oven is different and timing might differ between convection and conventional oven, the rack position, etc. Make sure you bake until when a toothpick inserted in a center comes out clean. For this measure, you might not need to bake beyond 45 minutes.
If you like eggless cakes, then check out my,
📖 Recipe
Tres Leches Cake | Eggless Tres Leches Cake with Mango Flavored Whipped Cream Frosting
Ingredients
For the Sponge Cake
- 1.5 cup All-purpose flour
- 3 tbsp Corn starch
- 1 cup Yogurt
- ¾ cup Granulated sugar
- ½ tsp Baking soda
- 1.25 tsp Baking powder
- ⅛ tsp Salt
- ½ cup Vegetable oil
- 1.5 tsp Vanilla essence
For the Milk Mixture
- ¼ cup Whole milk
- 14 oz Condensed milk one 14 oz can
- ½ cup Evaporated milk
For the Frosting
- ¾ cup Heavy whipping cream
- 2 tbsp Sugar - 2 tbsps
- 1 tsp Custard powder - 1 tsp
For decoration
- 20 Maraschino Cherry - 15 to 20 cut into halves.
Instructions
Sponge Cake Preparation
- Preheat the oven to 350 deg F.
- Grease a cake pan and set aside.
- Add the yogurt and sugar in a wide bowl and whisk them together. Make sure the sugar is dissolved.
- Now add the baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix them and let it sit for 5 minutes.
- The mixture will be emulsified now. Add the vanilla extract and whisk again.
- Now slowly pour the oil and whisk the mixture. This helps in excellent emulsification.
- Sieve the APF and corn starch to this wet mix and combine gently.
- Make sure there aren't any lumps. Pour this cake batter into the cake pan and spread it evenly.
- Tap it twice, so that the mixture settles. Bake the cake for about 30 to 35 minutes or until when a toothpick inserted in a center comes out clean.
- Let it cool for 15 min.
Adding Milk Mixture
- Once the cake has cooled for 15 minutes, transfer the cake to a plate with high edges like below. I inverted the cake and let the bottom part on the top. I didn't revert it back.
- Let it cool again for 10 minutes, meanwhile, prepare the milk mixture.
- Add the whole milk, condensed milk and evaporated milk and mix them well.
- Now using a fork, pierce the cake all over the top.
- Slowly pour the milk mixture on top of the cake.
- Let the cake rest for about 1 hour so that the cake absorb all the milk mixture.
Frosting Preparation
- Add ¾ cup of milk and sugar and using hand mixture, whisk it nicely until soft peaks are formed.
- At this stage, add the custard powder and whisk again until stiff peaks are formed.
Decorating the Cake
- After 1 hour, spread the prepared frosting on top of the cake and spread it evenly.
- Decorate the edges with maraschino cherries and serve.
Notes
- Using cake flour mix is not mandatory. You can use plain APF too.
- I used vegetable oil for this recipe; you can use saffola or canola oil too.
- Cooling the cake for at least 20 minutes is important.
- Make sure you use a high edge plate, as the milk mixture will run out the sides as you pour it on top.
- Custard powder addition is optional, and you can decorate the cake in your preferred way.
- You can let the cake soak overnight. In that case, cover the cake with cling wrap and refrigerate.
- Make sure you soak the cake for at least 45 minutes to one hour.
- Traditionally Maraschino cherries are used for decoration, but you can decorate with any berries.
- Whole milk is preferable, but you can replace it with heavy cream, or if you want the cake to be light add 2% milk instead of whole milk.
- Every oven is different and timing might differ between convection and conventional oven, the rack position, etc. Make sure you bake until when a toothpick inserted in a center comes out clean. For this measure, you might not need to bake beyond 45 minutes.
Nutrition
I am not a nutritionist. The nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. It varies depending upon the product types or brands.
Sending this recipe to Valli’s Anniversary Mela Event.
Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 75
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Thank you this is a great cake, I made it, the taste was fantastic. Followed the instructions to the T, however I had one issue the milk did not soak all the way through any pointers to correct this next time?
Thanks a lot for trying and the feedback. If the base cake is not spongy enough, it might not soak the milk at times. Make sure the emulsification is happening properly and also you can let the milk soak for more time instead of 1 hour. I have let the cake soak the milk mixture for 3 hours also. I hope this helps. thanks again.
Bring to boil the heavy cream and evaporated milk (2x) then simmer it for a minute on low flame. Add desired sugar and let the mixture cool it for sometime. Soak the cake (you can cut it horizontally and make layers) or layers of the cake with the warm mixture. This way it will be all be soaked fully and in less time. Also, this way you can skip using the sweetened condensed milk. Alternatively, you can add saffron and cardamom powder to the milk mixture above and use rasgullas (already soaked in sugar syrup) in layers to make a delicious Indian rasgulla cake. Thanks!
Hi. Can I use whole wheat flour for this instead of all purpose flour? Thanks! Planning to make this cake.
You can. But the texture will be different. I haven’t tried it with wheat flour so far.
Thanks for this awesome recipe!! I am planning to make this for my little one’s first birthday. Can you please suggest the size of baking pan I should use if I need a slightly bigger cake (around 25 medium slices). Thanks again!!
Hi Savitha, you can use a 10X10 pan, and can tripe this measure. I hope this helps. Thanks and happy bday to your son.
Thank you for responding and for your wishes. I will try using a 10X10 pan.
The sponge is nice – a little sweet for my liking but could work well as victorian sponge cake with cream and strawberries but once soaked in the milk, its sickly sweet. I barely had 3 teaspoons of it and felt very sick.
Sorry that the cake was on the sweeter side. Thanks for the feedback. Probably you can try reducing the condensed milk to half next time.
Hi Viidya, the square cake pan I have is 10×10, how do I scale my ingredients for that size pan? Please advise. Want to make this for my son’s birthday next Sunday.
For a 10X10 pan, you can tripe this measure. I hope this helps.
Made it for my son’s 10th birthday yesterday, he loved it! I did reduce the condensed milk to 1/2 can and it was at right level of sweetness for us! Also made mango frosting, his favorite one, Thanks so much SriVidhya, xoxo
Awesome. Thanks a lot for your feedback. I really appreciate it.
Also can I use brown sugar?
Hello, I made this cake today with some slight modifications. I didn’t add vanilla to the cake because I forgot. I also didn’t have any sweetened condensed milk, so I made my own milk mixture by condensing whole milk, heavy cream, sugar and vanilla essence.
Both my modifications were unintentional. Your sponge recipe is so on point. My husband was thrilled to have this cake for this birthday. Also, my parents who are not egg eaters were able to partake. I will be making this recipe again and again!
Thanks a lot for your feedback. I am so glad you made this for the special occasion. :-) Your commend really made my day. Thanks again!
Greek yogurt or whole/low fat milk yogurt for the recipe ?
I would recommend Greek yogurt or reduced fat ones (2%)
Hi ! This cake looks so delicious. I have to try it. Can you please tell me how I can make a topping without using cream . All the posts I looked up use whipped cream for the topping . Please suggest me an alternative . Thanks
Are you looking for dairy-free alternatives?
What is difference between evaporated milk and condensed milk
Can you please mention what evaporated milk means in hindi or marathi
Does it means khoya im a bit confused
Hi Neha, both are dehydrated milk but condensed milk is always sweet and evaporated milk is not. I am not sure about the Hindi or marathi names. But it is not the dry khoya. If you can’t find evaporated milk, just use whole milk instead. Thanks
Hi Neha boil full fat milk till it reduces to a little less than half like rabri.Do not add sugar.That is evaporated milk.Hope it helps.
Can we replace 1/2 cup vegetable oil to butter ?
If yes do we cream the yoghurt and sugar or the butter and sugar mixture ?
Hi Bhavana, I would recommend creaming yogurt and sugar and then add the baking powder to bubble up. Melt the butter and add it later in the place of vegetable oil. As the fat content differs in vegetable oil and butter add a little more than 1/2 cup of butter to get the same effect. Hope this helps. Thanks
Looks so delicious and tempting ,This was my first pick for letter T. So somehow had to skip due to my timings limitations.. Should give a try soon!!
Yeah I could understand your situation. Please do try Sharmila, when you can. Thanks
Tres leches is in my to do list since ages. Yours looks so sinful. I wish I could get a slice.
Awww.. thanks sapana. I wish I could send you some.
OMG Vidhya, that is such a sinful cake. I wish my husband was not averse to milk — I would have made this cake for every possible occasion. One of my absolute favorites but alas I can’t make it at home often :-(
Oh no…. Come over, lets dig in here. :-)
Same pich, I made the same cake, but a different version. I like the mango flavoring in the cake, just perfect for the season.
:-) Thanks Vaishali.
Thats a beautifully done cake Srividhya, I have been wanting to bake this cake for so long!..did the milk mix not get absorbed completely?..
Thanks Valli. The milk did get absorbed, but just for deco I added more milk around the cake. That got absorbed after an hour or so. :-)
Looks very sinful and tempting and the milk mixture soak is a superb idea!!
:-) Thanks
Omg, how gorgeous and catchy this cake looks. Beautiful presentation and neat frosting Vidhya, wish i get a super huge slice of this ultimate cake rite from u. Well done yaar..
Thank you so much Priya. I wish I could send you the cake now. :-)
Wow that’s a gorgeous cake! I love Tres Leches too but haven’t tried the eggless one, you are inspiring me to :) Love the addition of mango custard powder.
Thank you Namratha.
I am going to make this very soon. Thank you ?
:-) Please let me know how it turned out. Thanks :-)
Wow! That looks fantastic! Love the cake and the Mango frosting…..am not too good with cakes and so slightly scared to even bookmark this. But I so want a slice of it now!
I wish I could send you some sowmya.. To be honest, I am not good with cakes too. This is my first one with frosting. If I can do you sure can. Got for it yaar.
Looks delicious. What’s the size of your cake pan?
Thanks Tina. Mine is 8 inch X 8 inch.