Eggless tres leches cake | Three milk cake
This eggless tres leches cake or three milks cake, is everything I need from a cake! Vanilla flavoured super moist, juicy sponge topped with a generous amount of whipped cream. It is a true delight! Oh, did I mention my eggless Tres Leches cake is made using whole wheat flour? Makes it marginally healthier too! 😀 No whole wheat aftertaste either! You need to try it to believe it! 🙂
Tres Leches cake originated in Mexico and is always on the dessert menu in Mexican restaurants. Tres Leches in Spanish means ‘three milks’ which refers to the three kinds of milks the cake is soaked in. The cake gets drenched in a mixture of evaporated milk, condensed milk and some fresh cream. If that does not get you drooling!
The structure of the sponge is very important in a Tres Leches cake! The cake should be airy with many air bubbles to hold all that delicious milk sauce, but still not get soggy! Can you guess my excitement when a whole wheat baking experiment resulted in exactly this texture?! I knew right then that it would make a wonderful eggless whole wheat tres leches cake! 😀
My whole wheat sponge is lightly sweetened, so that it does not get overly sweet when soaked in milk syrup. Without the frosting and the milk syrup, this whole wheat sponge makes a very good tea time cake!
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Ingredients and substitutions for Eggless tres leches cake
Atta
Atta is Indian whole wheat flour. I use the sharbati variety of Atta in my baking. If you like baking with whole wheat, I would recommend buying Atta as it’s lighter in taste and develops lesser gluten than regular whole wheat flour resulting in a lighter crumb.
Atta is finely ground, similar to whole wheat pastry flour and has a milder flavour, similar to white whole wheat flour.
Almond powder/flour
Almond powder/flour lightens the flavour of whole wheat flour. However, it can be replaced with Atta with good results.
To make your own almond flour at home, powder almonds and pass the powder through a sieve and use only the fine powder. Keep in mind to use the pulse mode to powder, so that almonds do not release oils.
Corn starch
Corn starch reduces the protein content of our dry ingredients, thereby making the cake more tender.
Three Milks mixture
Three kinds of milk, which are evaporated milk, condensed milk and fresh cream(heavy whipping cream) are used in the milk syrup.
You can choose to leave out the whipping cream, and use more evaporated milk instead.
To make your own evaporated milk, boil and simmer whole milk till it reduces to half it’s volume. For example, start with 2 cups of whole milk to make 1 cup of evaporated milk.
Icing sugar/confectioners sugar
Icing sugar is powdered sugar with added corn starch. Corn starch helps in making the whipped cream more stable.
Homemade powdered sugar can be used instead.
Egg replacer
As this is an eggless tres leches cake, adding an egg replacer helps in adding some structure to the cake! I have tried making this cake using both Bob’s red mill egg replacer and good old flax seed powder with good results!
Tips
Measuring ingredients
Measuring ingredients by weight is the most accurate way to measure ingredients while baking. Especially true with flours!
Of course, not everyone has a weighing scale, when using measuring cups, I recommend fluffing the whole wheat flour to loosen it up, before measuring.
Mixing the batter
Sieve dry ingredients twice to make it airy!
Mix the wet and dry ingredients only after the oven has preheated to 350F. This helps the baking soda remain in good strength as it goes into the oven.
Do not overmix the batter. This is true in any cake, but more true in eggless cakes. Gently mix the wet and dry until just combined.
Storing and making ahead.
This cake refrigerates well, as it is made with oil and not butter. It stays soft in the refrigerator. Do make sure to store in an airtight container, so that strange ‘fridge’ smells do not get into the cake! 😀
The cake can be made a day or two in advance, it will still be moist and this cake will not get soggy.
Also check out my easy Eggless whole wheat pancakes recipe! Such a quick and delicious breakfast to fuel your day!
Eggless tres leches cake | Three milk cake
Equipment
- Measuring cups/ food weighing scale
- oven
- Electric whisk
Ingredients
Dry ingredients
- 1 cup Atta/white whole wheat flour 120 grams
- ¼ cup almond powder 24 grams
- 2 tbsp corn starch 16 grams
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
Wet ingredients
- ½ cup sugar
- 195 grams milk ¾ cup + 1 tbsp
- ¼ cup yogurt 60 grams
- ¼ cup avocado oil or any flavorless oil 50 grams
- ½ tbsp vanilla extract
- â…› tsp salt
Egg replacer
- 1 tbsp egg replacer/flax seed powder
- 2½ tbsp water
Three milks to soak the cake
- 1 cup evaporated milk
- ¼ cup condensed milk
- 2 tbsp fresh cream
For whipped cream frosting
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 5 tbsp confectioners/icing sugar
- 1 tbsp milk powder optional
Instructions
Prep work
- Add milk, yogurt, sugar into a bowl to allow milk and yogurt to come to room temperature.
- Turn on the oven to 350F or 177C.
- Set a bowl and whisk in the freezer, to be used to whip cream.
- Grease a square pan with oil and line it with parchment.
- Mix the egg replacer/flax seed powder with water. Mix and set it aside to gel.
Prepare dry ingredients.
- Mix atta, almond powder, corn starch, baking soda, baking powder in a bowl.
- Sieve all the dry ingredients together twice, to make it airy.
Prepare the wet ingredients.
- Whisk milk, yogurt, salt and sugar till sugar dissolves.
- Add oil and whisk to incorporate.
- Add in the gelled egg replacer/flax egg and vanilla extract.
Mix wet and dry ingredients
- When oven is preheated, mix the wet and dry ingredients gently, just until the wet and dry are just mixed.
- Do not over mix the batter. A few lumps can remain.
Bake
- Pour the batter into greased and parchment lined 8×8 inch square baking pan.
- Bake at 350F for 35 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.
- Let the cake cool down completely before continuing with the next steps.Tip: Make the sponge a day ahead to allow it to cool down completely.
Milk mixture. Check notes for flavour ideas!
- Mix evaporated milk, condensed milk and fresh cream.
- Prick the cake all over with a fork.
- Slowly, pour the milk mixture all over the completely cool cake.
Whipped cream frosting
- Take out the cold bowl and whisk from the freezer.NOTE: If kitchen is very warm, use an ice bath under the bowl.
- Add in the cream and milk powder, if using.
- Using an electric whisk, beat it on medium-high speed till soft peaks form.
- Add confectioners sugar and whisk until stiff peaks form.
- Spread whipped cream all over the cake.
- Decorate with berries or colored whipped cream if desired.
- Serve immediately or refrigerate in an airtight container.
Video
Notes
- Make sure the baking soda and powder are fresh & active.
- Allow milk and yogurt to come to room temperature after mixing them together.
- Mix wet and dry ingredients only after the oven has preheated.Â
- Mix gently and do not overmix the batter.
- Avoid opening the oven door until at least 75% of the baking time has elapsed.
- Baking time will change based on the size and shape of your pan. I have used a 8×8 inch square pan.
- Vanilla extract and vanilla essence are two different things. If using essence, use lesser than mentioned in the recipe.
- Almond powder can be replaced with 1/4 cup of Atta/white whole wheat flour. Refer pic in post for texture.
- Confectioners sugar is powdered sugar with some added corn starch. The corn starch in it adds some strength to the whipped cream and makes it more stable. You can also powder sugar and use it instead of confectioners sugar.Â
- To make your own evaporated milk, take two cups milk, boil, simmer and reduce it to half it’s quantity.Â
- Different kinds of flavours can be infused into the milk mixture like coffee, saffron, rose, cardamom etc.
- The whipped cream frosting too can be flavoured accordingly.Â
Did you try this recipe?
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Looks so tempting.
Thank you!
Delicious 😋
Thank you!