Jenna Lang

Formerly Eat Drink Pretty

Tres leches cake

Tres leches cakeThe Mexican Fiesta co-ed shower was awesome last weekend. My sister-in-law to be’s family hosted a great party. My sister Katie and I chipped in with margaritas, decor and tres leches cake.

My favorite part of the shower was the nacho bar. I didn’t take a photo of it but I sure ate enough nacho cheese to last me a while (uh, why is that stuff so damn good?!).
Tres leches cakeWe set up a drink table with lemonade, water and build-your-own margaritas. We had cups with red striped straws for color. Tres leches cakeWe kept decor pretty simple yet colorful for impact. We had lemons and limes in cylinder vases and flowers from Trader Joes. Tres leches cakeMmmmmm, margaritas. I had a few of these. Tres leches cakeI love using salsa cans from the Hispanic aisle of the grocery store as vases. Cost $2.50 and are perfect decor pieces. Tres leches cakeI fretted a bit about the Tres Leches cake but it turned out perfect. I tripled the recipe (below) and ended up having more than enough for the 40ish people that were at the party. Tres leches cakeSombrero suckers!Tres leches cake Tres leches cakeWe displayed the cake on a little table with a white tablecloth and a papel picado banner. The other cakes were in 9×13 pyrex which we cut and served in individual pieces with a paper flag on each slice. Tres leches cakeThe happy couple (they are getting married in a little over a month!). I really can’t believe my baby brother is about to get married!

Mexican fiesta parties may be one of my favorite party themes ever. Everyone loves a taco bar, a nacho bar and of course, guacamole. The bold colors make everything so festive. And Cuervo never hurts either.

Tres leches cake (recipe via The Pioneer Woman)

  • 1 cup All-purpose Flour
  • 1-1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon Salt
  • 5 whole Eggs
  • 1 cup Sugar, Divided
  • 1 teaspoon Vanilla
  • 1/3 cup Milk
  • 1 can Evaporated Milk
  • 1 can Sweetened, Condensed Milk
  • 1/4 cup Heavy Cream
  •  FOR THE ICING:
  • 1 pint Heavy Cream, For Whipping
  • 3 Tablespoons Sugar

Preparation Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9 x 13 inch pan until coated.
Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Separate eggs.
Beat egg yolks with 3/4 cup sugar on high speed until yolks are pale yellow. Stir in milk and vanilla. Pour egg yolk mixture over the flour mixture and stir very gently until combined.
Beat egg whites on high speed until soft peaks form. With the mixer on, pour in remaining 1/4 cup sugar and beat until egg whites are stiff but not dry.
Fold egg white mixture into the batter very gently until just combined. Pour into prepared pan and spread to even out the surface.
Bake for 35 to 45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Turn cake out onto a rimmed platter and allow to cool.
Combine condensed milk, evaporated milk, and heavy cream in a small pitcher. When cake is cool, pierce the surface with a fork several times. Slowly drizzle all but about 1 cup of the milk mixture—try to get as much around the edges of the cake as you can. (Don’t drizzle too much of the liquid, the texture of the cake can become too soggy. I was pretty conservative with the liquid and everyone really liked it that way). 
Allow the cake to absorb the milk mixture for 30 minutes. To ice the cake, whip 1 pint heavy cream with 3 tablespoons of sugar until thick and spreadable.
Spread over the surface of the cake. Cut into squares and serve.
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Comments

  2. Tres Leches cake is my all time FAVORITE cake. On a side note, you always manage to host and contribute to the cutest looking parties! I wish I could be as crafty as you. =)

    Reply

  3. Kristin – you can make it the day before. What event are you making the cake for? It's so good! And yes, definitely keep it refrigerated.

    Reply

  5. adorbs! did you make the papel picado or did you buy it? Also would love the deets on the nacho bar, have a Nacho Libre theme birthday party coming up and trying to figure out the set up for a build your own nacho bar 🙂

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