This tres leches cake made from cake mix is incredibly moist, tasty, and easy. Tres leches cake has whipped cream on top and is covered in a sweet milk syrup. If you want to go all out, drizzle the cake with some strawberry syrup and chopped strawberries.
| Prep Time: | 20 mins |
| Cook Time: | 25 mins |
| Additional Time: | 3 hrs 30 mins |
| Total Time: | 4 hrs 15 mins |
| Servings: | 10 |
| Yield: | 1 (10×15-inch) cake |
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon vegetable shortening for greasing, or as needed
- 1 (15.25 ounce) package yellow cake mix
- 1 cup cold water
- 3 large eggs
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract, divided
- 1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
- 1 (12 fluid ounce) can evaporated milk
- 1 cup half-and-half
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1 tablespoon white sugar, or to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Generously grease a 10×15-inch baking dish with shortening.
- Beat together cake mix, cold water, eggs, oil, and 1 teaspoon vanilla in a large bowl with an electric mixer until very smooth, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Pour batter into the prepared baking dish. Smooth the top, shake the dish, and tap lightly on the counter 2 or 3 times to eliminate air bubbles.
- Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center of cake comes out clean, about 22 minutes. Let cake cool in the dish for at least 30 minutes. Poke holes all over cake with a bamboo skewer or the handle of a wooden spoon.
- Whisk together condensed milk, evaporated milk, and half-and-half in a large bowl until well combined; slowly pour milk mixture all over the top of cake and allow to soak in. Wrap cake with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 3 hours to overnight.
- Beat together cream, sugar, and remaining 1/2 teaspoon vanilla in a medium bowl with an electric mixer until fluffy; spoon over cake slices to serve.
- You can bake the cake in a 9×13-inch baking dish.
- For best results, allow cake to soak in milk mixture overnight.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 456 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 52 g |
| Cholesterol | 104 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 1 g |
| Protein | 8 g |
| Saturated Fat | 11 g |
| Sodium | 469 mg |
| Sugars | 32 g |
| Fat | 24 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
Made this many times and always a crowd favorite!!!
Chef John makes everything seem easy-I made two at once and it was quite literally “a piece of cake!”
Easy and great.
I made many changes to the recipe approximating the recipe based on what I had on hand even so, my husband said it was the best cake I’d ever made! I used coconut milk, and almond milk and no water and diced pineapple and incorporated lots of shredded coconut in the batter. I topped it with fresh sweet whipped cream. 5 days now and we have only 2 pieces left but the cake is as fresh as when it was baked having stored it in the fridge.
I have now made this cake more than any other cake. Everyone loves it, and it’s so easy! It’s very sweet, so if you don’t have a sweet tooth this recipe might not be for you.
Delicious! Made for a dinner party and everyone loved it. The second time I made it, I substituted cream of coconut for the sweetened condensed milk to try a tropical spin on the recipe and it was so good as well!
My kids and I love it!
I’ve tried tres leches using a cake mix before and was disappointed because the cake didn’t have the texture to stand up to the tres leches mixture of milks. The *only* reason I decided to try with a mix again is because this was a Chef John recipe. I’m so glad I tried it because it was perfect. I used a white cake mix (because that’s what I had on hand) and I sifted the mix first to make sure there would be no large chunks. I also used Baker’s Joy to spray the pan in lieu of greasing it. Other than that, I followed the recipe exactly. I let the cake cool completely before poking holes in it and I poured the milk mixture over very slowly. I let it sit in the refrigerator overnight before topping it with whipped cream. I did use gelatin to stabilize my whipped cream as I didn’t want it to separate and make the cake too soggy and knew we wouldn’t eat it all in one sitting. (I used 2 tsps. of unflavored gelatin to 8 tsps. of water; let it sit for 5 minutes, then heat over low heat in a small pan stirring constantly until the gelatin is dissolved. Set it to the side and let it cool for about 4-5 minutes. I whipped my cream with about 1/4 cup of powdered sugar until it was thickened, then drizzled the gelatin mixture in. This is double the topping recommended because we like whipped cream.
I have made this cake twice, the first time everyone loved it it is so creamy and delish, I made it with white cake mix instead of the yellow. the second time instead of 1 cup half/ half I did a 1/2 cup half /half and a 1/2 cup Rumchata and added a 1/4 cup of Rumchata to the whipped cream topping. Turned out sooooo good..
Excellent recipe came out soft and moist and not overly sweet. At the request of the friends who were sharing this with me, I left off the whipped cream topping, but you can rest assured that it will be there next time.
Loved it and it’s a little faster then the original recipe but taste as good .I put a 1/2 cup of coconut milk and 1/2 cup water in the cake mix it give s it better taste and I love anything with coconut .and I also added .1/3 cup of coconut milk. in the milk mix as well …
It was so moist and enjoyed by all. My son-in-law is not much for sweets but went back for a second piece..
This is a very simple, and tasty, recipe that really doesn’t take long to make. I thought the flavor was good but I added some sweetened shredded coconut I wanted to use up. I now understand the benefits of pouring the syrup on the cake slowly. I’d baked the cake in clear Pyrex and was able to see the how the cream absorbed. I got the balance pretty much on-base with a little syrup left over for those who prefer the cake a little wetter. Topped it off with fresh raspberries… it was great. Next time I might substitute canned dulce de leche instead of sweetened condensed milk to get a little caramel flavor!!
First time ever making this and it turned out wonderful!
I substituted and/or added Kahlua to the cake mix, the milk syrup, and the whipped topping. (1 Tbsp ea) made it a hit at the company pitch in.!!
this cake is increíble. 🙂 I used olive instead of vegetable oil and doubled the whipped cream, as the suggested amount wasn’t enough to cover the cake. I did let the leches sink in overnight, and the cake turned out very moist. Finally, I topped the cake off with cinnamon.
I followed the recipe with the exception of the cup of water, I used coconut milk in the cake mix. It turned out amazing. I served it with a Mexican themed meal and ALL my guests devoured it! It is a keeper for me! My kids enjoyed it, and it is a nice change from the normal stack cake!
Made this cake a day before I served it. It was swimming in the milk mixture and a soggy mess. I usually make Ina Garten’s recipe but decided to take the easy way and use a box mix. Won’t make this one again!
I made it for my culinary class and it was delicious!! I would definitely make it again!!
Not good. Too moist.
Would it get too soggy if I made it 2 days ahead. The date changed on me I’ll wait to put whipped cream on