Buttermilk Tres Leches Cake
Updated June 12, 2024
- Total Time
- 6 hours (includes 1 hour soaking and 4 hours’ refrigeration)
- Prep Time
- 10 minutes
- Cook Time
- 50 minutes, plus 1 hour soaking and 4 hours’ refrigeration
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- Nonstick baking spray (such as Baker’s Joy), for the pan
- 1½cups/215 grams all-purpose flour
- ⅔cup/109 grams coarse cornmeal
- 1½teaspoons baking powder
- 1teaspoon coarse kosher salt, such as Morton (or use 1½ teaspoons kosher salt)
- 6large eggs
- ⅔cup/133 grams granulated sugar
- ⅔cup/146 grams light brown sugar
- ⅓cup/80 milliliters vegetable or canola oil
- Zest of 1 orange, grapefruit or lemon
- 1teaspoon vanilla paste or extract
- 2⅔cups/630 milliliters heavy whipping cream
- 1¾cups plus 2 tablespoons/595 grams sweetened condensed milk, about 1½ (14-ounce) cans
- 1⅓cups/320 milliliters whole cultured buttermilk
- 1½teaspoons vanilla paste or vanilla extract
- ½teaspoon ground cinnamon
- Salt
For the Cake
For the Soak
Nutritional analysis per serving (18 servings)
387 calories; 21 grams fat; 10 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 7 grams monounsaturated fat; 2 grams polyunsaturated fat; 44 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram dietary fiber; 30 grams sugars; 7 grams protein; 316 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
Heat the oven to 325 degrees. Spray a 9-by-13-inch baking pan with nonstick baking spray and set aside.
- Step 2
Prepare the cake: In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cornmeal, baking powder and salt and whisk until well incorporated.
- Step 3
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the eggs and both sugars on medium-high until well combined and incredibly fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes, scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl about halfway through. (Drape a towel over the top of the mixer if needed to contain splashing.)
- Step 4
With the mixer on low, add the oil, citrus zest and vanilla paste, beating well and scraping the bowl intermittently for the first turns. Turn the speed up to medium-high and beat until fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes more.
- Step 5
On low speed, add the dry ingredients to the bowl. Mix on medium to high speed until incorporated, scraping the bottom and sides of the bowl once to incorporate everything.
- Step 6
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and spread evenly. Thump the pan on the counter a few times to get out any air bubbles. Bake until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 30 to 40 minutes.
- Step 7
While the cake bakes, make the soak: In a large bowl, whisk together the cream, sweetened condensed milk, buttermilk, vanilla paste, cinnamon and a medium pinch of salt until well incorporated; set aside.
- Step 8
Allow the cake to cool in its pan on a rack for 5 minutes before handling. Then, with a skewer, poke several small holes all over the cake.
- Step 9
Gradually pour the soak over the still warm cake (about a cup at a time), allowing it to sit until it absorbs. Continue adding and soaking the cake and letting it absorb until you use most, if not the entirety, of the soaking liquid. This soaking method will take about 1 to 2 hours as it absorbs. Cover the cake very well with foil, tenting it a little so the foil doesn’t touch the top of the cake, and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, but preferably overnight. Cut and serve the chilled cake directly from the pan.
- If you did not use all the soaking liquid to soak the cake, reserve it and serve it alongside the cake. This cake is also wonderful with a dollop of lightly sweetened whipped cream, cajeta (or “milk jam”) and roasted fruit, preferably peaches or plums.
Private Notes
Comments
I had about two cups of soak left. Instead of serving it over the cake, I chilled it overnight and then put it into my Cuisinart ice cream maker. I churned it for 20 minutes. The ice cream was a little thicker than soft serve and completely smooth. I served a small scoop along side a piece of cake. Absolutely delicious. Also, the ice cream remained easy to scoop, even when it was frozen solid.
Perhaps just use the hand mixer?
1teaspoon coarse kosher salt, such as Morton (or use 1½ teaspoons kosher salt) The author is probably referring to Diamond Crystal, which is saltier by volume, but since she doesn't name it, perhaps the recipe follower will use a brand that is more like Morton, and end up with 50% more saltiness than desired. What worked for many, many generations of chefs and cookbook authors was uniform, granulated table salt. In almost all recipes, it simply makes zero difference which form of NaCl is used.
This was good except for the cornmeal. If you like gritty cake then this is a winner. Not for me.
Don't you just love it when someone changes the recipe? Here goes: I didn't want to half a can of sweetened milk leftover, so I just used one. I also just used one pint of heavy cream--which is two cups--because I didn't want to buy another thing o' heavy cream. I decreased the buttermilk to one cup. I think it was just enough soak--I had none leftover, and the sweetness wasn't overpowering. It was just right, both in amount and sugar-wise.
If you love Whole Foods tres leches this will disappoint you. The cornmeal makes this a dry dense cake even after soaking overnight, the cornmeal gives it a grainy taste. It is definitely a more traditional tres leches and don’t recommend to anyone who prefers a silky white cake tres leches. My husband loves tres leches but was sadly disappointed by the cornmeal taste.
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