The BEST homemade Tres Leches Cake - a light and airy mini sponge cake soaked in a sweet milk mixture and topped with fresh whipped cream and cinnamon.

We've taken our traditional mini tres leches cake and given it a unique twist by adding a splash of sweet limoncello. If you're a fan of this sweet Italian liqueur, then you're sure to love this version. If you'd like to make an authentic tres leches cake without alcohol, you can do that too by just leaving out the limoncello.
What Is Tres Leches Cake?
A tres leches cake gets its name from the three different kinds of milk it uses. It begins with a light and buttery sponge cake that is soaked in heavy cream, evaporated milk, and sweetened condensed milk. The cake is topped with homemade whipped cream and a touch of cinnamon.
In the case of this limoncello tres leches cake, the limoncello is poured over the top of the cake along with the three milks. The cake acts like a sponge and soaks up the milk/limoncello mixture.
Tres leches cakes are popular throughout Latin America. They are usually eaten straight out of the refrigerator and are a cool and refreshing dessert.
RELATED: 15 Easy Dessert Recipes For One
Why This Recipe Works
- The taste is decadent and sweet, yet light because we do not use any butter or oil. The limoncello adds a delightful lemon flavor but can be left out if preferred.
- We also love using different flavors of schnapps instead of limoncello. Peach, lemon, and peppermint schnapps are a few of our favorite ones to use.
- The secret to a fabulous traditional tres leches cake is the time you let the cake soak up the syrupy milk mixture. Soak it for at least 5 hours, and preferably overnight. That way when you serve it, the cake will be perfectly moist.
- This is a small tres leches cake recipe and is a wonderful size to be enjoyed by one or two people.
Ingredients
Ingredient Notes
To make a mini tres leches cake, you will need:
- Flour: Use all-purpose flour. This recipe has not been tested with other types of flour.
- Baking powder: This ingredient helps the cake to rise.
- Egg: Use one whole egg in this recipe. The egg yolk and the egg white will need to be separated.
- Sugar: Granulated sugar not only sweetens the cake but also helps to make the cake more tender.
- Milk, heavy cream, sweetened condensed milk, and evaporated milk: Milk is used in the cake batter and the other milks and cream are whisked together and poured over the baked cake. These ingredients make the cake deliciously rich and give it that traditional "soaked" texture.
- Limoncello: Limoncello is an Italian liqueur made from lemon zest, sugar, and neutral grain alcohol like vodka. My husband makes it using his very simple limoncello recipe or you can purchase it in many liquor stores. Again, this ingredient is optional. You can make tres leches cake without limoncello by adding an additional tablespoon of sweetened condensed milk in place of limoncello.
- Whipped cream and cinnamon: While you can purchase whipped cream at the store, I encourage you to make your own using just heavy cream and sugar. Whip the two together with an electric hand mixer until fluffy. I add a bit of ground cinnamon for additional flavor.
See below for ways to use leftover ingredients.
How To Make A Mini Tres Leches Cake
See the recipe box below for ingredient amounts and full recipe instructions.
- Heat the oven to 350° F (177° C). Lightly butter a 5x5-inch baking dish or use an oil cooking spray (see below for best baking dish sizes to use).
- Mix flour and baking powder in a small bowl. Set aside.
In a separate medium-sized bowl, use an electric mixer to whip the egg white until foamy. With the mixer still running, gradually add the sugar and whip to soft peaks, about 3 minutes.
What are soft peaks?: When you lift the beaters or balloon whisk out of the egg white, the peaks should be soft and will curl downwards and melt back into themselves almost immediately.
- Beat in the egg yolk, then add half of the flour mixture followed by the milk, and finally the remaining flour. Blend well after each flour and milk addition.
- Pour the batter into the baking dish.
- Bake for 25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove the cake from the oven and let it cool slightly on a baking rack for 10 minutes.
- Pierce the cake all over with the tines of a fork or a thick skewer.
- In a small bowl, whisk together heavy cream, sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk, and limoncello. Pour over the cake. Cover and refrigerate the cake for at least 5 hours or overnight.
- When you're ready to enjoy the cake, top with whipped cream.
How To Make Homemade Whipped Cream
To make a small batch of whipped cream to go on top of this small tres leches cake, you will need:
- ¼ cup heavy cream
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- ⅛ teaspoon ground cinnamon
Using an electric hand mixer or a balloon whisk, whip the heavy cream, sugar, and cinnamon on medium speed until soft peaks form.
Pro Tip: As you whip the cream, sugar and cinnamon together, you'll start to see the mixture increasing in volume. The cream will begin to thicken, become smooth, and leave trails in the mixture. When you lift the beaters or take the whisk out of the cream, the peaks are soft and will curl downwards and melt back into themselves almost immediately.
Expert Tips
- Cold egg: Use a cold egg for easier separation. Cold eggs are easier to separate.
- Whip the egg white to soft peaks: This is what helps the cake get a sponge-like texture which is perfect for soaking up the milk mixture.
- Measure correctly: Measure ingredients correctly. In order for a tres leches cake to turn out perfect, it’s important that the flour is measured out accurately. In fact, this is important for all baked goods. Whenever a reader asks me why something doesn’t turn out right, whether it’s my mini pound cake recipe or my oatmeal cookies recipe, the first question I ask is, “How did you measure the flour?” Weighing ingredients is by far the most accurate way to measure flour, but it isn’t a common practice here in the U.S. A digital scale is useful for measuring and weighing ingredients. If you don’t have a scale, you can still measure flour successfully. Here’s what you do: Use a spoon to stir the flour inside the container. You want to loosen it up in case it’s packed tightly inside. Use a spoon to scoop the flour into a dry measuring cup.
- The cake needs to rest: Make sure to let the cake rest in the refrigerator for a minimum of 5 hours after soaking. This resting period gives the cake time to absorb every last bit of the milk mixture.
- Skip the limoncello, if you want: If you don't want to use limoncello in this recipe, add an additonal tablespoon of sweetened condensed milk in place of the limoncello.
What To Do With The Leftover Ingredients
If you have any ingredients leftover from this personal tres leches cake, you might like to consider using them in any of these single serving or small batch recipes:
- Evaporated milk: Leftover evaporated milk can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for about a week. You can freeze it in an ice cube tray and take out a cube when you are ready to use it.
- Stir evaporated milk in coffee or tea or use it in sauces as a substitute for cream. You might like to consider using it in a single serving pumpkin pie.
- Sweetened condensed milk: Key Lime Pie, Microwave Fudge, Vanilla Ice Cream, Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream, Mini Lemon Mango Pie
- Heavy cream: Mini French Silk Pie, Two Vanilla Cupcakes, Mini Boston Cream Pie, Crustless Quiche Lorraine, Lime Posset
- Milk: Panna Cotta, Strawberry Milkshake, Biscuit with Gravy, Blueberry Coffee Cake, Flan
- Eggs: Eggs Benedict, Bacon, Egg and Cheese Cup, Pasta Carbonara, Carrot Cake, Carrot Souffle
- Cinnamon: Snickerdoodles, Apple Cinnamon Scones, Mini Cherry Pie, French Toast, Bananas Foster
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, the cake is soaked in the milk mixture and topped with whipped cream. It definitely needs to be refrigerated. The cake is traditionally served cold so there is no need to bring the cake to room temperature before eating.
Store tres leches cake in the refrigerator, covered for up to 4 days. It is best when eaten within the first day or two after baking.
You do! Tres leches is Spanish for "three milks", so you need to use all three kinds of milk to make this cake. The three milks work together to create a sweet and moist cake.
For this single serving tres leches cake recipe, we use a 5x5-inch baking dish that has a base area of 25 square inches.
Other alternative baking dishes:
4x6-inch dish
6x6-inch dish (this will yield a thinner crust and filling)
6-inch round dish
These baking dishes can be viewed on our Store page.
If you would like additional information on the cooking and baking dishes I use in our “recipes for one”, please visit our FAQ page.
For more information on the cooking and baking dishes I use in our “recipes for one”, please visit our FAQ page. Examples of the dishes I use at One Dish Kitchen can be found on our Store page.
If you’ve tried this small tres leches cake or any recipe on One Dish Kitchen please let me know how you liked it by rating the recipe and telling me about it in the comment section below.
Mini Tres Leches Cake
See the post above for expert tips,
FAQs and ways to use leftover ingredients.
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup all purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 large egg , white and yolk separated
- 5 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons milk
- 4 tablespoons heavy cream
- 3 tablespoons sweetened condensed milk
- 2 tablespoons evaporated milk
- 1 tablespoon limoncello *see notes
For the whipped cream topping
- ¼ cup heavy cream
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- ⅛ teaspoon ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 350° F (177° C). Lightly butter a 5x5-inch baking dish or use an oil cooking spray.
- Mix flour and baking powder in a small bowl. Set aside.
- In a separate medium-sized bowl, use an electric mixer to whip the egg white until foamy. With the mixer still running, gradually add the sugar and whip to soft peaks., about 3 minutes.What are soft peaks?: When you lift the beaters or balloon whisk out of the egg white, the peaks should be soft and will curl downwards and melt back into themselves almost immediately.
- Beat in the egg yolk, then add half of the flour mixture followed by the milk, and finally the remaining flour. Blend well after each flour and milk addition.
- Pour the batter into the baking dish.
- Bake for 25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove the cake from the oven and let it cool slightly on a baking rack for 10 minutes.
- Pierce the cake all over with the tines of a fork or a thick skewer.
- In a small bowl, whisk together heavy cream, sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk, and limoncello. Pour over the cake. Cover and refrigerate the cake for at least 5 hours or overnight.
Make the whipped cream topping
- Using an electric hand mixer or a balloon whisk, whip the heavy cream, sugar, and cinnamon on medium speed until soft peaks form.As you whip the cream, sugar and cinnamon together, you'll start to see the mixture increasing in volume. The cream will begin to thicken, become smooth, and leave trails in the mixture. When you lift the beaters or take the whisk out of the cream, the peaks are soft and will curl downwards and melt back into themselves almost immediately.
- When you're ready to enjoy the cake, top with whipped cream.
Notes
- Cold egg: Use a cold egg for easier separation. Cold eggs are easier to separate.
- Whip the egg white to soft peaks: This is what helps the cake get a sponge-like texture which is perfect for soaking up the milk mixture.
- Measure ingredients correctly: In order for a tres leches cake to turn out correctly, it’s important that the flour is measured out accurately. In fact, this is important for all baked goods. Whenever a reader asks me why something doesn’t turn out right, whether it’s my mini pound cake recipe or my oatmeal cookies recipe, the first question I ask is, “How did you measure the flour?” Weighing ingredients is by far the most accurate way to measure flour, but it isn’t a common practice here in the U.S. A digital scale is useful for measuring and weighing flour as well as sugar. If you don’t have a scale, you can still measure flour successfully. Here’s what you do: Use a spoon to stir the flour inside the container. You want to loosen it up in case it’s packed tightly inside. Use a spoon to scoop the flour into a dry measuring cup.
- The cake needs to rest: Make sure to let the cake rest in the refrigerator for a minimum of 5 hours after soaking. This resting period gives the cake time to absorb every last bit of the milk mixture.
- Skip the limoncello, if you want: If you don't want to use limoncello in this recipe, add an additional tablespoon of sweetened condensed milk in place of the limoncello.
4x6-inch dish, 6x6-inch dish (this will yield a thinner crust and filling), 6-inch round dish
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Michelle says
So good! Especially with the cinnamon in the whipped topping. How would you increase the amount of ingredients if you wanted to use a 8-inch round pan?
Joanie Zisk says
I'm so glad you enjoyed the cake. If you want to bake the Tres Leches Cake in an 8-inch round pan, double the ingredients.
Barbara O'Keefe says
This sounds fantastic, but I'm not crazy about limoncello. How do you think rum would go?
Joanie Zisk says
Hi Barbara,
Although I haven't used rum, I would say give it a go! The amount used isn't that much but I bet it would be delicious. Please let me know how it turns out for you.
Joanie
J. Hegyi says
Great sponge cake recipe.
Peggy says
Rum would probably be good, or used rum extract, because it’s one of the flavor of pina colada.
Peggy says
What is limoncello? Never heard of it before!
Debra Fine says
I just made the limoncello tres leches cake and it was wonderful, I have a can of chocolate sweetened condensed milk that I've been wondering how to use, now I know! Only sub Godiva liquor. Can't wait!
Michele says
Limonello Tres Leches cake is wonderful.
Joanie says
Thank you, Michele.