Lemon Tres Leches Cake

Lemon Tres Leches Cake is an update of an old classic. No one can ever get enough of this delicious dessert, but finding the right recipe can be a challenge. Look no further, this is it.

The Best Recipes on the Planet

I can’t say that I developed this recipe on my own. My stand-by reference for all recipes is the Better Homes and Gardens cookbooks. This was inspired by the 1968 edition of this annual publication. These recipes were tested over and over again by professional chefs, usually women that were simply thought of as home-economists or “test kitchen ladies.” Back in the day, these nameless female recipe developers and testers of this red-and-white checked kitchen icon never got a lot of credit. But ladies, I’m here to say you that your hardcore attention to recipe success puts us contemporary bloggers to shame. I hope someday we learn more about you, because you taught all of us here at the ranch to cook, even my sons.

Bundt Pans are Excellent for Tres Leches Cake

Tres Leches cake should always have a base of a chiffon or sponge cake, which relies on egg whites for its light texture. Usually made in a rectangular pan, I prefer the Bundt shape, as you can pour the soaking milk over and down the center hole, and then spread frosting on top.

Use a Bundt pan without Teflon coating, if possible. Egg whites help a cake rise by sticking to the sides of a pan, as if the batter is crawling up a wall. If the pan is slick with Teflon, the batter loses its ability to climb. My pan has a bit of Teflon, but the cake still turns out very nicely. Don’t grease the pan, for all the reasons I just mentioned.

Tres Leches Cake History

Tres Leches cake was a recipe that appeared in most Spanish speaking households back in the 1940’s via evaporated milk can labels. The test kitchens must have been given the task to develop a recipe that maximized company product purchases. Thus, Tres Leches was decidedly better than Dos Leches, and Una Leche wasn’t even worth considering.

Before the milk can recipe, the ancestors of Tres Leches cake was the Portuguese soupa dourada, which eventually became English trifle and Italian zabaglione. All are cakes soaked in custard, served with fruit, and delicious European favorites. There are a few recipes that go back to Roman times, from what I understand.

Very happy those professional chefs (aka “test kitchen ladies”) served up this recipe on the milk can. Grateful that they gave us such a culinary treasure.

So enjoy this Lemon Tres Leches Cake, and let’s offer a little spoonful of thanks for all those nameless professional women chefs that gave us some of the best recipes on the planet. Mil gracias, hermanas. Thanks, sisters.