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Irish Cream Tres Leches Cake

A traditional tres leches cakes soaked with three milks (cream, condensed milk, evaporated milk) but now with an added kick from Bailey's Irish Cream liqueur. This cake is perfect for your St. Patrick's Day celebrations!
Prep Time20 minutes
Cook Time35 minutes
Total Time2 hours 55 minutes
Servings: 18 slices

Ingredients

For the cake:

  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • 5 large eggs white and yolks separated
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1/3 cup whole milk
  • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

For the tres leches mixture:

  • 1/2 cup Irish cream liqueur (I used Bailey's Original Irish Cream)
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • 1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
  • 1 12-ounce can evaporated milk

For the topping:

  • 2 cups heavy cream
  • 1/2 cup Irish cream liqueur
  • 3 tablespoons sugar
  • 18 chocolate-covered espresso beans

Instructions

For the cake:

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a 9x13 casserole dish or baking pan. This is important so the cake doesn't stick! In a large bowl, mix flour, baking powder, and salt until combined. Set aside.
  • In the bowl of a stand mixer, add 5 egg yolks and 3/4 cup of sugar. Beat with a beater attachment until the yolks turn a very light yellow, about 4-5 minutes. Add milk and vanilla and mix until combined. Pour yolk mixture over the flour mixture and gently fold together just until combined.
  • Clean the bowl of the stand mixer. Add egg whites and beat on high until soft peaks form. Add 1/4 cup of sugar and continue beating until stiff peaks form. Add beaten egg whites to the rest of the mixture and slowly and gently fold together until it's almost completely combined.
  • Pour batter into prepared cake pan and smooth out with a spatula. Place in preheated oven to bake for 35 minutes, or until golden brown on top. It may be done sooner than 35 minutes but it's important that the cake is golden brown on top so that it soaks up the leches.
  • When the cake is done, remove from oven and let it cool in the pan on top of a wire rack until completely cool (about 1 hour). Once cool, flip cake upside down onto a serving platter.
  • Using a fork, poke hole all over the top of the cake. This will help the leches soak through the cake. Make leches mixture as directed below.

For the tres leches mixture:

  • Mix Irish cream, heavy cream, condensed milk, and evaporated milk together in a large bowl. Slowly pour the mixture all over the cake and make sure to get the edges too. There will be some pooling on top and on the sides but don't worry, that will all get soaked up.
  • Place cake in the fridge to soak for 30 minutes. Then, you will top with whipped cream, as directed below.

For the topping:

  • When the cake has set for at least 30 minutes, it's time to top with Irish whipped cream. Place 2 cups of heavy cream, 3 tablespoons of sugar, and 1/2 cup of Irish cream in the bowl of stand mixer. Beat on high until stiff peaks form.
  • Dump out whipped cream all over the cake and begin spreading it evenly with an offset spatula. I didn't spread along the edges, but you can if you want to.
  • Place 18 chocolate covered espresso beans on top of the cake, evenly spaced. I spaced them so that the bean would sit in the middle of each slice.
  • Let the cake sit for another 30 minutes before serving. The cake tastes even better the next day, so, if you can wait, let it sit overnight before serving. But I don't blame you if you can't ;)

Notes

Recipe adapted from Confessions of  Baking Queen