Mango Tres Leches Cake
Mango Tres Leches Cake full of mango flavor with the moistest crumb. It is soaked in 3 types of milk one of them being coconut milk to bring those tropical flavors out and it’s topped with lightly sweetened whipped cream. Such great recipe for any occasion.
Mother’s day is coming up and I though you might want to bake something for your moms. Several years ago, when I used to blog, I participated in some group challenges and every month or so we would try different recipes from different cultures. It was fun and a great way to learn about cuisines from other cultures. That was the first time I made and tasted Tres Leches Cake. I have never had the opportunity to try one at a restaurant at that time. I have no idea why I never tried it. We often went out for Mexican food.
The very first time when we tried it, we felt some similarities to Indian dessert we all grew up with, but I could not point my fingers at what it was. Gradually it made me realize it tasted so similar RasMalai, my favorite dessert.
What is Tres Leches Cake?
It’s usually a single layer sponge cake drenched in 3 types of milks and that’s where the name comes from. Like every nook and cranny is soaked in milk mixture making it the most moist cake you would have ever tried. It’s topped with ever so lightly sweetened whipped cream. Traditional cakes also have little flavor of cinnamon. That milky bath though gives it the characteristics of Tres Leches cake.
Few years ago, we had a friendly baking competition at work. I wanted to make something that’s different but also not traditional two-layer cake. So, I decided to make Mango flavored Tres leches cake. I added some mango pulp, sliced mango as garnish, also added ground cardamom flavor instead of cinnamon. I didn’t win the competition as first person. But, scored second place and not only that I got another recognition as unique dessert. It was an anonymous judging. They didn’t know who made which dessert. Not only did I get one but two medals. 😊 Overall, it was fun competition. We got medals and some baking tools.
People kept raving about my cake and the flavors. At first, they thought there is lots going on, but after trying it – they loved it. If you are wondering which cake reigned supreme – it was banana cake over mango 🙂
How do you make it?
There are three components to the recipe
The sponge, the milk mixture and the whipped cream. The sponge is made with separately whipping the egg yolks and egg whites. The egg whites give it volume and the sponginess. There is no butter or oil in this recipe. The recipe is straightforward and very easy to make.
This cake recipe has some variations to the original recipe. I have added mango pulp and to give it tropical theme I have replaced milk or heavy cream to coconut milk. It has same richness and adds nutty flavor to the overall bake. Finally its topped with lightly sweetened whipped cream. If you want more coconutty flavor, you can use coconut cream to make whipped cream too. It might be too much coconut flavor though.
Fun part– a little bit of liqueur can also be added. I cannot stop thinking about adding some rum next time.
It is one of those desserts that can be prepared in advance and bakes up quickly. I find it very easy on skill level. It is portable in the same dish you baked it, so you do not waste another dish for it. It is one of those cakes that you need to leave it in the fridge for several hours or overnight to make sure the sponge absorbs the milk and converts into this velvety custardy cake.
Traditional recipes use all the contents of the milk in a can. But I decided to reduce the amount due to its sweetness and richness added by mango pulp. I used store bought mango pulp which is usually sweetened. If you make mango pulp using mangoes, then you can add all the condensed milk. I would highly suggest you taste the milk mixture and then make a decision. I ended up adding few squeezes of lemon juice to balance out the sweetness.
If you want to try the original Tres Leches Cake its linked here.
Mango Tres Leches Cake
Ingredients
The sponge
- 1- 1/2 cup all-purpose Flour
- 1 tbsp. baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 5 whole eggs separated
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
3 Milk Mango Mixture
- 1 cup unsweetened coconut milk
- 1 can evaporated milk 12 oz.
- 1 can sweetened condensed milk 9 oz. 7/8 cup
- 1 cup mango puree
Heavy Cream Frosting
- 1 cup heavy Cream For Whipping
- 1 tbsp. sugar
- Garnish – Mango slices, any other fruit, dried rose petals, edible flowers, pistachios, etc.
Instructions
The Sponge
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9 x 13-inch pan until coated. You can also butter it if you do not have baking spray. Set aside.
- Beat egg yolks with 1/2 cup sugar on high speed until yolks are pale yellow in a kitchen aid mixer with whisk attachment or using hand blender. Stir in the vanilla. Pour egg yolk mixture over the flour mixture and stir very gently until combined.
- In a clean mixing bowl, beat egg whites on high speed until soft peaks form.
- Fold egg white mixture into the batter very gently until just combined. Be careful not to deflate the egg white mixture. Pour into prepared pan and spread to even out the surface.
- Bake for 35 to 45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Once the cake is baked, turn it out onto a rimmed platter and allow it to cool.
3 milk mango mixture
- While the cake is cooling, whisk condensed milk, evaporated milk, coconut milk, mango puree in a medium measuring cup or bowl with a pouring lip. Make sure the condensed milk is dissolved well.
- When cake is cool, pierce the surface with a fork several times. Slowly drizzle all the milk mixture all over. Try to get as much around the edges of the cake as you can.
- You can reserve some to drizzle later while serving. Allow the cake to absorb the milk mixture for 30 minutes.
To make the whipped cream frosting
- Take cold heavy whipping cream and sugar into a large mixing bowl of kitchen aid mixer with whisk attachment and beat on high speed for 1 -2 minutes or until thick. Spread it over the cake with the help of a spatula then decorate with chopped mangoes, edible flowers, any other fruits etc.
- Serve it chilled cut into squares.
Notes
- Make sure to fold the batter carefully using a spatula until its incorporated. Do not over mix it since the cake gets the voluminous structure from that soft peaks egg whites.
- Make sure to bake the cake in the same baking pan as you will be serving. It should have rimmed edges to catch all the milk drippings.
- If you separate egg yolks and whites while they are cold, it’s easier to separate them.
- If the mango puree is sweet, then use half the condensed milk. Taste the milk mixture and then proceed to add more to your liking. Store bought mango puree is sweet, condensed, and evaporated milk are both sweet.
- You can also add couple of tsp of lemon juice to balance out the sweetness if you like.
- Cardamom powder can also be added for extra flavor.
- Leftover condensed milk can be stored in the refrigerator.
- Tightly wrap the leftover cake and store it in the refrigerator.
XO, Devangi