CPA: Certified Pastry Aficionado

Strawberry Tres Leches

cake· dessert· Easter· Valentine's Day

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Strawberry Tres Leches – Vanilla cake is soaked with strawberry milk and topped with fresh strawberries and freshly whipped cream.

strawberry tres leches cake on a serving platter

Tres leches in one of my most favorite desserts of all time! But I must say, I have had more bad versions than good. Many of those bad versions are caused by bland or crumby cake. So I was determined to make my own at home that I could rely on.

I made my first tres leches years ago and it was incredible. The cake was light but dense enough to soak up the leches just right. And ever since perfecting that recipe, I use it to make different varieties throughout the year – a coconut tres leches, Irish cream tres leches, and a pumpkin tres leches. I thought it was only time to bring a sweet fruit into the mix. Enter my Strawberry Tres Leches!

Made with strawberry leches and a strawberry topping, you will love this fruity new take on tres leches!

side shot of a strawberry tres leches cake on a serving platter
overhead shot of a serving spatula on the serving platter of strawberry tres leches
strawberry tres leches cake on a serving platter with a few slices removed

Tips & Tricks

  1. Fresh vs frozen strawberries. You can easily swap out the fresh strawberries with frozen ones. Just make sure to thaw the berries before blending them to make the process easier.
  2. Separating the eggs. Beating the egg whites independently from the rest of the cake will give the cake a fluffier texture, perfect for soaking up the leches.
  3. Let all the liquid soak in the cake. When you first pour the leches over the cake, it will look like a lot. But overnight, the cake will soak up all the liquid, I promise!
  4. Top the cake before serving. Don’t add the strawberries and whipped cream on top of the cake until all the leches are soaked up. This will ensure the berries don’t bleed into the whipped cream.
slice of strawberry tres leches on a plate with a fork
Print Recipe

Strawberry Tres Leches Cake

Prep Time30 minutes
Cook Time35 minutes
Soaking time4 hours
Total Time5 hours 5 minutes
Servings: 18 slices

Ingredients

For the cake:
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
  • ⅛ teaspoon salt
  • 5 large eggs white and yolks separated
  • 1 cup sugar
  • ⅓ cup whole milk
  • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
For the tres leches mixture:
  • ½ pound fresh strawberries
  • ½ cup heavy cream
  • 1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
  • 1 12-ounce can evaporated milk
For the topping:
  • 1 cups heavy cream
  • 3 tablespoons sugar
  • 1½ pounds fresh strawberries diced

Instructions

For the cake:
  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a 9×13 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:
  • Hull and halve strawberries and place in a blender. Blend until smooth, about 30 seconds. Add sweetened condensed milk and evaporated milk and blend just until combined. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour. Remove from refrigerator and add heavy cream and stir together.
  • 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 4 hours or overnight. Then, you will top with strawberries and whipped cream, as directed below.
For the topping:
  • When the cake has set for at least 4 hours, it's time to top with strawberries and whipped cream. Place 1 cup of heavy cream and 3 tablespoons of sugar in the bowl of stand mixer. Beat on high until stiff peaks form.
  • Top cake with diced strawberries in one even layer. Dump out whipped cream all over the strawberries and use the back of a spoon to evenly spread over the top of the berries.
  • Let the cake sit for another 30 minutes before serving. Slice and serve within 48 hours.

Pin for later:

pin of strawberry tres leches

More recipes you’ll love:

Coconut Tres Leches
Coconut Tres Leches on a platter with slices taken out of it, shot from the front
Traditional English Trifle
zoomed in shot of a Traditional English
Chilled Strawberry Bisque
zoomed in shot of chilled strawberry bisque in a footed white bowl with strawberries and mint leaves as garnish

Comments

  2. Love Pawsona says

    Tres leches is already a great dessert, but adding strawberry flavor makes it perfect! I love that the author emphasizes beating the egg whites separately to give the cake a light and fluffy texture. This is important when making tres leches because if the cake is too heavy, it won’t absorb all the milk.

    Reply

  7. yourgirlfriend says

    This tres leches cake was absolutely delightful and wonderfully easy to prepare. I truly appreciated the fresh strawberries in every bite! I look forward to making this again very soon.

    Reply

  13. Lane says

    My taste buds were dancing with joy after trying the wonderful Strawberry Tres Leches recipe from Certified Pastry Aficionado! The step-by-step guide made it so easy to recreate this dreamy dessert. Watching the sweet milk mixture soak into the tender cake was pure magic! Try it now and become a rhythm star! https://gorillatagbanana.com

    Reply

  16. kaka says

    I enjoyed the delightful recipe and detailed instructions on making Strawberry Tres Leches on Certified Pastry Aficionado. For more creative cooking ideas, check out Corrupt Box https://corruptbox.net/ with a variety of innovative recipes and culinary inspiration.

    Reply

  32. Kate says

    Wow! My strawberry tres leches turned out amazing! Everyone asked for second helpings. I can’t wait to make it again.

    Reply

  33. Amy Liu Dong says

    Wow! This treat is overloaded with stuff everybody would love! Plus it looks incredibly delicious and very enticing! This will be our treat this weekend! Thanks for sharing! Loved it!

    Reply

  34. Jamie says

    This recipe looks very delicious and no wonder how delicious this is, it is very hard to perfect some recipe specially in baking. Thanks for sharing this to us!!!

    Reply

  35. DK Park says

    Oh my gosh, your strawberry tres leches looks so good and tasty!
    I love strawberry so much and I can’t wait to make this at home.

    Reply

  37. Alexandra says

    My strawberries are going wild in the garden at the moment, so I was searching for a way to use them all! (Summer time where I live). This beautiful cake was absolute perfection. Tender, creamy and beautiful strawberry flavor. We all loved it!

    Reply

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