This ridiculously easy Strawberry Tres Leches Cake tastes amazing and uses boxed cake mix to make your life even easier! It’s rich and creamy and full of milky goodness! You can top it with fresh strawberries and sprinkles like I did or you can use whatever you’d like!
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My good friend Monica is not only a super prolific (undercover) food blogger in Orlando but she's also an amazing baker!
I'm constantly hitting her up for all of my Central Florida restaurant recommendations because I know I can always trust her advice.
Most recently, we've both been obsessively trying to find the best Tres Leches Cake in Orlando.
Unfortunately, between the two of us, we've ordered a lot of subpar slices and to be truthful I kind of gave up on my favorite cake in the world.
However last week, Monica posted an instagram story of her making a Shortcut Strawberry Tres Leches Cake and my mind was legit blown!
As you know, I HATE BAKING! I'm the type of person that messes up a box cake mix if I don't pay full attention to what I'm doing.
But luckily with Monica's guidance (and permission!) I made her shortcut Tres Leches Cake and literally cried tears of joy at how delicious and easy it was! And when she said I could share the recipe, I knew I had to do so ASAP!
Because let's be real, I think we could all use some really tasty cake mix tres leches right now... especially one that is beyond easy to make!
The first time I made it, I just used regular sprinkles but this time I added fresh strawberries and I have to say it was sooooo dang good!
Ingredients - What you need
- 1 box of your favorite vanilla cake mix, prepared according to directions on the box
- milk
- sweetened condensed milk
- evaporated milk
- heavy cream
- white sugar
- fresh strawberries + rainbow sprinkles* *optional
How to make shortcut strawberry tres leches cake
The first thing you'll want to do is make the cake mix according to the directions on the box.
Once the cake is done, remove it from the oven and let it cool for one hour.
While it's cooling, you can make the tres leches mixture. Simply add 1 cup of milk, 1 can of shaken evaporated milk, and 1 can of sweetened condensed milk to a bowl and stir it up. You can set this mixture in the fridge while the cake cools.
Once it's cooled, simply take a straw or a skewer and poke holes all over the cake. These holes will be how the tres leches mixture soaks and absorbs into the cake. Don't worry about it being ugly - you will cover it next!
Now that the holes are poked, add the tres leches mixture to the top of the cake - pour it all over so it evenly distributes to the whole cake.
As the liquid is soaking into the cake, it's time to make the whipped cream. I recommend making it yourself but you could always use store-bought.
However, since the base of this cake is super sweet, you want the whipped cream to be not as sweet.
To make homemade whipped cream, simply pour heavy cream and sugar into a big bowl with tall sides (I always use my metal kitchenaid mixing bowl) and use a hand blender on high speed to whip it until stiff peaks form. This process usually takes about 5 minutes.
Once the whipped cream is ready, smear it evenly on top of the milk-soaked cake.
I recommend topping this cake mix tres leches with fresh strawberries and rainbow sprinkles.
But if you want something more classic, try maraschino cherries, a dusting of cinnamon, or a drizzle of dulce de leche.
After you add the toppings, it's time to put this bad boy in the fridge for at least 3 hours up to 24 hours. It's super delicious after a night in the fridge but to be honest, it hasn't lasted more than two nights in our house!
What to serve it with
For appetizers, I'd start with these chicken bacon ranch quesadillas or these sweet potato empanadas. For the main, I'd make my easy chicken tinga recipe and serve it with Epcot's Famous Avocado margarita!
If you're like me and are not good at baking but love doing it, I've got ya covered! Try these easy cake-mixed desserts like my strawberry dump cake or this cake mix banana bread!
If you'd like something from scratch, then this banana foster dutch baby, this vegan flourless chocolate cake, or these easy puff pastry cinnamon rolls.
Want to save this recipe for later?
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I love when you save my recipes on Pinterest! Not only does it help my recipes reach more people but it also means that you'll remember to make it when the time is right for you!
Recipe:
Recipe
Strawberry Tres Leches Cake
Ingredients
- 1 box vanilla cake mix prepared according to directions
- 1 cup milk
- 1 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
- 1 12 oz can evaporated milk shaken well
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 cup strawberries diced
- rainbow sprinkles
Instructions
- Prepare cake mix according to the directions on the box and let it cool for 1 hour.
- While it’s cooling, mix together milk, sweetened condensed milk and evaporated milk and stir. Cover and set in the fridge.
- Prepare the whipped cream. Pour heavy cream and sugar into a tall bowl and use a hand mixer on high speed to whip for 5-7 minutes until stiff peaks form. You can do this by hand with a whisk but it will take much longer.
- Once the cake has cooled, use a straw or skewer to poke holes all over the cake. Pour the refrigerated tres leches (3 milk mixture) all over the cake so it soaks in evenly.
- Cover the top of the cake with the whipped topping.
- Add chopped strawberries and rainbow sprinkles (or whatever topping you choose)
- Wrap the cake in plastic wrap and place in the fridge for at least 3 hours and up to 24 hours.
Kathy
Made a cake like this for a baby sprinkle shower was perfect with blue sprinkles on top