This is not your ordinary tres leches cake. Cereal milk tres leches cake is infused with the sweet flavors of your favorite breakfast cereal!
Multiple birthday cakes are the norm when you are married to a baker.
We have been celebrating my husband’s birthday this weekend. So far we have enjoyed strawberry lemon olive oil cake, this buttermilk chocolate cake, and now we’re working on this cereal milk tres leches cake.
Christina Tosi of Momofuku Milk Bar is the mastermind behind the popularization of “cereal milk.” Her unique and creative desserts allow you to remember the joys of being a kid even when you’ve become a full fledged adult.
This cereal milk tres leches cake is an ode to childhood!
Cereal Tres Leches Cake
Tres leches translates to “three milks.” There is debate whether the cake originated from Mexico or another country in Central America. This version uses these three milks: evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk, and cereal milk.
Since we’re celebrating a birthday, I figure I should go with the most colorful and festive of the cereal family.
This would make a fun birthday cake for a kid (or adult) of any age!
You get all the tasty qualities of a tres leches cake plus all the memorable and familiar tastes associated with your favorite childhood breakfast cereals. It’s a win-win.
Ingredients
For best results, measure ingredients by weight using a kitchen scale. If you prefer volume measurements, use the spoon and level method to properly measure flour.
The sponge cake uses staple cake ingredients: flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, eggs, sugar and milk.
The tres leches component is comprised of the following three liquids:
- Sweetened Condensed Milk: Canned or bottled condensed milk has two ingredients- milk and sugar. The milk is cooked down to evaporate water. Then sugar is added to sweeten and thicken the mixture.
- Evaporated Milk: Another canned product. This is a shelf-stable milk that has cooked down to remove about 60% of the water. Resulting milk is sweeter and thicker than fresh milk.
- Cereal Milk: To make cereal milk, steep one cup cereal in one cup of whole milk for about 30 minutes. Strain out cereal. Resulting cereal milk is infused with the sweet flavors of the cereal.
Recipe Variations
Breakfast Cereal Options: : Any breakfast cereal works for this recipe. I opted to use Trix for its fun colorful appearance. Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Cookie Crisp, Fruit Loops, and Fruity Pebbles are equally delicious substitutes. Even Honey Nut Cherrios would taste great in this recipe!
Toasted Tres Leches Cake: Traditional tres leches cake with an added twist! Toasted meringue topping adds a pop of color and a nice contrasting flavor to the otherwise rich sweet cake.
Vietnamese Coffee Poke Cake: Sheet sponge cake soaked in a sweetened condensed milk coffee mixture. It’s a coffee tres leches cake!
Assembly Instructions
Expert Tips
EGGS: Room temperature egg whites will whip faster and stronger than cold egg whites. However, it is much easier to separate egg yolk from egg whites while cold.
DRY CAKE: The key to making a great tres leches cake is starting with a dry cake. The cake needs to be dry in order to absorb all the liquid. Think of bread pudding, breakfast strata, and French toast, they all benefit from day old bread.
If you use a recipe for a moist cake, it won’t be able to hold it’s structure while also absorbing the soaking liquids. A dry cake will suck up all that moisture giving you the most delicious results.
MAKE AHEAD: Sponge cake component may be made two days before serving. Soaked cake may be stored in the fridge for up to 2 days before serving. Be sure to keep the cake in an airtight container to prevent any unwanted flavors for soaking into the cake. Frost the cake with whipped cream right before serving.
Fun Birthday Cake Recipes
Cereal Milk Tres Leches Cake
Ingredients
Sponge Cake:
- 1 cup all-purpose flour, (130 g)
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 4 large eggs, , separated
- 1 cup granulated sugar, (200 g)
- ¼ cup whole milk
Tres Leches:
- 1 cup mini Trix cereal, , or sweet breakfast cereal of choice
- 1 cup whole milk
- 12 oz can evaporated milk
- 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
Topping:
- 1 ½ cup heavy cream, , chilled
- ⅓ cup powdered sugar
- 1 ¼ cup mini Trix cereal, , or sweet breakfast cereal of choice
Instructions
Sponge Cake:
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9×13-inch baking pan and line with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- Using a stand mixer or hand held mixer, whip together egg yolks and sugar on medium speed until the mixture has thickened and is pale in color. Add milk and mix until incorporated.
- Add flour mixture and mix until combined.
- In another bowl, using an hand held mixer, whip egg whites to medium peaks. Gently fold egg whites into batter in three additions. Fold until there are no longer any white streaks of egg whites. Be careful not to overmix.
- Pour cake batter into prepared baking pan. Spread into an even layer. Bake for 35 minutes until the top of the cake is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean. Leave cake in pan and let cool to room temperature.
Tres Leches:
- While the cake is cooling, combine 1 cup cereal with 1 cup whole milk. Steep for 30 minutes. Strain out soaked cereal and save cereal milk. Add evaporated milk and sweetened condensed milk to cereal milk. Stir to combine.
- Using a fork (docker or skewers), poke holes throughout the cooled cake.
- Pour combined milk over poked cake. Once all the milk has been added, let cake stand for about 30 minutes until all the liquids have been absorbed. *
Topping:
- In a chilled bowl, whip together cold heavy cream and powdered sugar. Whip to medium stiff peaks. Spoon over milk soaked cake. Use an offset spatula or the back of a spoon to evenly distribute whipped cream. Top with cereal. Slice and serve immediately.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like this recipe? Rate & comment below!
I love this idea!! Using cereal milk is pure genius. Plus it’s so fun! My kids would obsess over this.
This is the best way to enjoy sweet and fruit-flavored cereals!
I love cereal milk, sometimes I’ll have a bowl of cereal just so i can drink the milk :) What a clever idea to use it in tres leches cake! You’ve reminded me that I’ve been meaning to make cereal milk ice cream for ages, I should get on that!
Thanks so much! I have a cereal milk ice cream coming up next month! Hmm… I think a cereal milk milkshake would also be a great idea :)
Happy birthday to Alex!! I love cereal milk and think it needs to be used more often! This cake looks amazing. I never had a ton of Trix as a kid, but I did love the Trix yogurts. I was seriously obsessed with it. I think I need to make this cake asap because my daughter would go crazy over it!
Thank you! Whoa, trix yogurt? I’ve never tried that! Yes, I’m sure your daughter would LOVE it! :)