I’ve been asked for years to convert my popular Tres Leches Cake recipe into cupcakes and I finally made it happen, with the end result becoming a new favorite dessert recipe! I’ve also converted my German Chocolate Cake into German Chocolate Cupcakes.
What I LOVE about this recipe:
Individual servings: These tres leches cupcakes make the perfect individually portioned dessert that’s lower calorie and people go crazy for! No butter or oil: I get asked all the time if this is a mistake (“where is the butter?”), but it’s not! This recipe is not made with butter or oil. The light and airy texture comes from whipped egg whites, and the three milk mixture poured over the cupcakes adds the perfect sweetness.
How To Make Tres Leches Cupcakes:
Combine dry ingredients: In a medium bowl combine flour, baking powder, and salt.
Separate the eggs placing the yolks and whites in two separate bowls. Add ¾ cup sugar to the bowl with the egg yolks and mix on high speed until the yolks are pale yellow. Add the ⅓ cup milk and vanilla and stir to combine. Use electric beaters to beat the egg whites on high speed, gradually adding the remaining ¼ cup of sugar as you mix, beating until stiff peaks.
Combine and pour in muffin tins: Pour the egg yolk mixture over the flour mixture and mix just until combined. Fold egg whites into the batter gently until combined. Divide batter evenly among muffin liners.
Bake at 350F for 12-16 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely.
Poke holes in cupcakes. Use a long toothpick or thin skewers to prick holes deeply all over each cupcake (but be careful not to poke through the cupcake liners).
Add Tres leches (three milks): Combine the evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk, and whole milk in a small bowl. Slowly spoon 2 Tablespoons of the milk mixture over each cupcake.
Refrigerate the cupcakes for at least 1 hour or overnight, to allow them to soak up the milk.
Top with cream and serve. In the meantime, whip the heavy cream, sugar and vanilla until stiff peaks. Spoon a little over the top of each cupcake. Sprinkle with cinnamon and add fresh strawberry slices, if desired. Enjoy!
Make Ahead And Freezing Instructions:
To make ahead: Make the cupcakes 1-2 days in advance (making them up to step 8 of the recipe) and store them, covered, in the refrigerator. (Do not poke holes in them yet). To freeze: Make cupcakes up to step 8 and allow them to cool completely. Do not poke holes in them yet. Store them in a freezer safe bag for 2-3 months. Allow them to thaw completely, then poke holes and pour milk mixture over them. You can also FOLLOW ME on FACEBOOK, TWITTER, INSTAGRAM and PINTEREST for more great recipes! RATE and COMMENT below! I would love to hear your experience. This post contains affiliate links.
title: “Tres Leches Cupcakes” ShowToc: true date: “2024-10-13” author: “Jeannie Bennett”
Best Tres Leches Cupcakes Recipe
One of my favorite cakes in the whole world is Tres Leches Cake. I prefer it to almost any other kind of cake because it’s so moist, tender, and practically juicy without being heavy. These homemade vanilla tres leches cupcakes are exactly the same. Whether you are looking for a fabulous cupcake recipe for an upcoming event, birthday or graduation party, or want to make the most out of your Cinco de Mayo fiesta, these easy three milks cupcakes are absolutely irresistible. The cupcakes themselves have a three milk mixture made with evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk, and heavy cream soaked right in. As you can imagine, this keeps them scrumptiously moist. They’re not overly sweet at all. In fact, more of the sweetness comes from the homemade buttercream frosting. Although it’s not uncommon for homemade whipped cream or store-bought whipped topping to be used in tres leches cake or tres leches cupcakes. You just can’t pipe it on and need to spread it instead. Whatever frosting route you go, everyone is going to go crazy for these very authentic tasting individual tres leches cupcakes!
Ingredients in Tres Leches Cupcakes
For these ultra moist tres leches cupcakes, you’ll need the following easy-to-find and very common fridge and pantry ingredients. Cupcake Batter:
Unsalted butter Granulated sugar Light brown sugar Eggs, separated 2% or whole milk Vanilla extract All-purpose flour Baking powder Salt Baking soda
Three Milks Mixture:
Evaporated milk Sweetened condensed milk Heavy cream
Buttercream Frosting:
Unsalted butter Confectioners’s sugar Vanilla extract Salt Heavy cream Strawberries or other fruit for garnishing, optional
How to Make Tres Leches Cupcakes
To make tres leches cupcakes that everyone will swoon over at your next event, summer barbecue, Cinco de Mayo party, or birthday party, follow these basic steps: Step 1: Beat together the butter, sugars, and egg yolks until whipped and yellow. Step 2: Add the milk, vanilla, and beat until combined. Step 3: Combine the dry ingredients and then gently beat them in. Step 4: In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Step 5: Gently fold the egg whites into the batter. Step 6: Fill your lined cupcake pan with the batter and bake. Step 7: Stir together the three milks mixture. Step 8: Poke holes in the cupcakes after they have baked and slowly pour the three milk mixture over the top. Step 9: Beat together the frosting ingredients and then pipe, dollop, or spread on the frosting. Step 10: Optionally garnish with strawberries and serve!
How to Store Tres Leches Cupcakes
Individual tres leches cupcakes will keep airtight for about a day at room temp. After that, make sure to store them in the fridge where they will keep airtight for up to 5 days. Note: Some people are more fanatical about not storing anything with butter or milk at room temp, but I am fine with it. If you’re not fine with it, then store your cupcakes in the fridge from the outset to avoid any worry.
Tips for Separating Egg Whites and Yolks for Tres Leches Cupcakes
When you’re mixing up the cake batter for the tres leches cupcakes, you will need to separate the eggs and white the whites separately. However, make sure that you don’t get any egg yolks in the egg whites. Egg whites won’t beat well or whip up into stiff peaks if there is yolk in them. To guard against this, I always crack eggs when I need to separate them into a small bowl. I then pluck the yolk out with my fingers and set it aside where it needs to be. In this case, the main mixing bowl. Then I repeat the process with the remaining eggs, always cracking into a small separate bowl and not the main mixing bowl in case you get a yolk that breaks. I find it easier to just grab the yolk with my fingers and pull it out than try to be fancy and “pass” back and forth the yolk between two neatly broken eggshells like you would see on a cooking show. Because I am never that lucky! That way, you won’t accidentally get whites or yolks where they shouldn’t be.
Tips for the Best Tres Leches Cupcakes
Making the best tres leches cupcakes of your life isn’t hard at all! I have a few extra tips and tricks to set you up for extra success though.
Make sure you whip the egg whites to stiff peaks, but not so so beaten that they are dry. Folding in means gently incorporating the egg whites into the cupcake batter. That doesn’t mean stirring like crazy or over-mixing. That would just deflate all your hard work and will make the cupcakes denser and less apt to rise. Poke the holes into the top of the tres leches cupcakes when they are still warm and fresh from the oven. The three milks mixture will soak in better if they are warm.
Use a toothpick to poke the holes and poke about halfway down, and make about 10 holes per cupcake. As I mentioned before when talking about frosting these fabulous moist cupcakes, you don’t have to frost them with a piping bag and tip. I used a Wilton 1M tip but use whatever you like. Or conversely, just spoon or spread on the frosting and skip the piping bag! Cool Whip works too for anyone who needs a shortcut! I garnished with strawberries but any type of fresh berry like raspberries, blackberries, or blueberries are a nice touch although optional.
More Favorite Vanilla Cake and Cupcake Recipes:
Tres Leches Cake Recipe — This easy tres leches cake melts in your mouth and requires just 15 minutes of hands-on prep!! This is an authentic three milk cake your family will love! Perfect for Cinco de Mayo!! Tried this recipe? Leave a review! Consider leaving a 5 star rating if you’ve made and loved one of my recipes! Sweet Cream Vanilla Coffee Cake – You’ll never guess what special ingredient keeps this fast and easy cake so soft and moist! Vanilla Cake with Vanilla Bean Browned Butter Glaze – You won’t miss chocolate at all after trying this cake! The glaze is just heavenly! Easy Yellow Cake with Buttercream Frosting – If you’ve never made a scratch cake, try this one!! Fast, easy, foolproof, one bowl, and tastes so good! It’s a keeper! Easy Homemade Funfetti Cake – Move over, store-bought cake mix!! This easy cake only takes minutes to make and tastes wayyyy better!! Lemon Buttermilk Cake with Lemon Glaze – An easy little cake with big lemon flavor! Soft, fluffy, and foolproof if you like puckering up! The Best Pineapple Upside-Down Cake – So soft, moist and really is The Best! A cheery, happy cake that’s sure to put a smile on anyone’s face! Pineapple Poke Cake with Pineapple Glaze — Fast, easy, one-bowl, no mixer, from-scratch cake that’s easier than a mix! The glaze soaks into every inch and you’ll be in juicy pineapple heaven! Yellow Cupcakes with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting — These from-scratch yellow cupcakes with chocolate buttercream frosting taste just like the kind you grew up eating at childhood birthday parties!
