A few years ago for the first time I discovered tres leches cake and ever since that day it has never ceased to satisfy! Sometimes I will get the craziest random cravings for a piece! There was an international grocery store with a Mexican bakery that would have variations of the typical vanilla with whipped cream and I would ride my bike down the bumpy road to find it! One time I decided to exercise self control and wait till I got home to eat it but I didn’t have a very good way to carry it back and the result was a cake that fell off my bike 3 times and ended up pretty smashed but still delicious.
Just as a comparison here’s what that beaten and dropped cake looked like:
This is a fairly simple recipe that I recommend to anyone looking for an easy crowd pleaser. The first time I made this cake was for a family party and I was a little concerned it would not be well received. It was quite the opposite however and my extended family all loved it so much there were no leftovers. My picky 5 year old nephew even endorsed it as “The best cake ever!”
If you can find a fresh ripe mango I highly suggest that, although I have made this cake with frozen mango chunks before and those work just as well!
- For the Cake:
- 1 cup All-purpose Flour
- 1-1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder
- ¼ teaspoon Salt
- 5 Eggs
- 1 cup Sugar, Divided
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla
- ⅓ cup Milk
- 1 can Evaporated Milk
- 1 can Sweetened, Condensed Milk
- ¼ cup Heavy Cream
- -----------------------------
- For the Mango Whipped Cream:
- 1¼ cups Heavy Cream
- ½ ripe Mango
- ⅓ cup Sugar
- Garnish of your choice (Strawberry or Mango are my favorite)
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and Flour a 9x13 pan.
- Combine flour, baking powder and salt in a large bowl
- Separate eggs and combine egg yolks with ¾ cup of sugar. Mix until light yellow and well combined.
- Add milk and vanilla to egg yolk mixture and mix well.
- Gently pour the egg yolk mixture over the dry ingredients and carefully stir to combine.
- Beat the egg whites at medium speed while incorporating the remaining ¼ cup of sugar then increase the speed to high until the egg whites are stiffly beaten.
- Fold the beaten egg whites into the other ingredients until no streaks remain.
- spoon out the mixture into the prepared pan and then spread evenly.
- Bake in oven on center rack for 25-35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out of the center clean.
- Allow to cool in pan then invert onto a rimmed dish or baking sheet.
- Once cool poke holes with a fork all over the top of the cake.
- Whisk sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk and heavy cream together and pour the mixture over the cake evenly. Make sure to give the milks time to seep into the cake! Allow to refrigerate at least 30 minutes (The more the better)
- Cut the mango into chunks and blend with the sugar until no chunks are left.
- Cook the mango and sugar mixture in a small saucepan for 5 minutes until it thickens and becomes slightly more transparent. Allow to cool completely.
- Beat the whipped cream until stiff peaks form and then fold the mango into it until no streaks remain.
- Spread evenly over the top of the cooled cake and garnish as desired.
- Refrigerate until served.
