Horchata Tres Leches Cake

This Horchata Tres Leches Cake is a spin to your favorite Mexican dessert, the original tres leches cake! This cake is made with a homemade horchata glaze then topped off with whipped cream made from scratch! Cinnamon is sprinkled over the horchata cake for a beautiful presentation at the end! This cake is super moist and everyone will beg you to make it over and over again! Although this is one of my favorite desserts, I do occasionally enjoy this Instant Pot RumChata Cheesecake or even these Mexican Sprinkle Sugar Cookies.

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What Is Horchata?

Horchata is a traditional Mexican beverage commonly enjoyed throughout the year and especially on holidays. It’s made by soaking rice, cinnamon and water overnight then blending everything together and adding sugar. You can find horchata at most Mexican restaurants or make it at home if you prefer. For a twist, add in a little bit of rum and you’ll have spiked horchata!

Ingredients For The Horchata Tres Leches Cake

• Flour
• Baking Powder
• Ground Cinnamon
• Salt
• Butter
• White Granulated Sugar
• Eggs
• Milk
• Vanilla Extract

Ingredients For The Horchata Glaze

• White Rice
• Cinnamon Sticks
• Water
• Evaporated Milk
• Sweetened Condensed Milk
• Whole Milk

Ingredients For The Homemade Whipped Cream Topping

• Heavy Cream
• White Granulated Sugar
• Vanilla Extract

How To Make Horchata Tres Leches Cake

1. First, start by separating your egg yolks from the egg whites. Use room temperature eggs and butter for this recipe.
2. Next, cream the butter and sugar in a stand mixer or in a bowl using a hand mixer. This may take about 3 minutes. You want to achieve a very creamy consistency.
3. Add in egg yolks and milk little by little while continuing to mix.
4. Add vanilla extract and continue mixing.
5. In a separate bowl, add flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Whisk together to break up any lumps.
6. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
7. Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients about a 1/4 cup at a time so you don’t end up in a cloud of flour dust. Continue mixing making sure to scrape the sides of the bowl throughout the process. Transfer your cake batter mixture to another bowl and clean the mixing bowl you were using.
8. Add the egg whites to the clean mixing bowl and mix until stiff peaks form.
9. Fold the egg whites gently into the cake batter.
10. Grease a 9×13 baking dish with butter or cooking spray.
11. Pour the horchata cake batter into the baking dish and bake in a preheated 350 degrees F oven for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. It may seem like there isn’t enough batter but trust me it will expand beautifully, after the horchata tres leches glaze is added. After baking, let it cool for about 20 minutes.
12. Use a fork or toothpick to poke holes into the cake. Try not to go all the way to the bottom so that the glaze sits in the cake and doesn’t leak out.
13. Add the horchata glaze and homemade whipped cream. Refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight.

How To Make The Horchata Glaze

1. First, start by making the homemade horchata. Use a strainer to rinse the rice thoroughly.
2. Add the rinsed rice, water and cinnamon sticks to a bowl and let it soak for at least 8 hours.
3. Remove the cinnamon sticks (it’s ok if small pieces remain) and add the rice, water and cinnamon mixture to a blender and blend until very smooth. This should take 2-3 minutes or longer depending on the power of your blender.
4. Use a strainer to strain out all of the liquid and use a spoon to press down against the solids to extract as much liquid as possible.
5. Next, stir together all of the strained horchata liquid with the evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk and whole milk. Check for sweetness at this step. If it’s too sweet for you, add a little bit more milk.
6. Poke holes in the horchata cake and top it off with the prepared glaze then wait about 10-15 minutes for the cake to absorb the mixture then add more on top. Repeat this step 2-3 times as needed until you obtain your desired level of moisture for the cake.
7. Prepare your homemade whipped cream to top the cake with. See the next steps for these instructions.

How To Make Homemade Whipped Cream Topping

• First, add the heavy cream, white granulated sugar and vanilla extract to a stand mixer or a bowl if using a hand mixer.
• Mix on high speed until stiff peaks form and the mixture resembles whipped cream.
• Top the horchata cake with the homemade whipped cream.
• Cover and refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight.
• Finally, sprinkle the top with ground cinnamon, serve your horchata Tres Leches cake and enjoy!

Storing Suggestions

Cover any leftover horchata cake with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for up to 3 days for best results. If you’re going to freeze this cake, it’s best not to add the whipped cream topping. Store it in an air tight container after adding the horchata glaze and freeze for up to 2 months. When you’re ready to enjoy, allow the cake to thaw in the refrigerator overnight. Make the whipped cream and top off with cinnamon before serving.

Tips & Variations

• You can certainly buy store bought horchata if you’re not up to making your own. If you do take the store bought route, simply add the evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk and whole milk to the horchata and follow all the same steps.
• You can also purchase store bought whipped cream topping if you don’t want to make your own. I personally prefer the taste of homemade whipped cream and it’s so easy to make. So try not to skip this step unless you’re in a real pinch!
• If the horchata glaze is too sweet for you, add more milk until you achieve your desired sweetness.
• There should be some leftover horchata glaze. I recommend serving it alongside the cake just in case people want to add more glaze to their slice.

Horchata Tres Leches Cake

This Horchata Tres Leches Cake is a twist to your favorite Mexican dessert, the tres leches cake! It's topped off with homemade horchata glaze, whipped cream made from scratch and ground cinnamon for a perfect ending! You won't be able to have just one slice of this cake!

5 from 1 vote

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Keyword: horchata tres leches cake, horchata cake, mexican horchata cake, mexican tres leches cake

Prep Time: 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes minutes

Chilling Time & Making Horchata: 12 hours hours

Total Time: 12 hours hours 40 minutes minutes

Servings: 12 slices

Calories: 469kcal

Ingredients

INGREDIENTS FOR THE HORCHATA TRES LECHES CAKE

• 1 3/4 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon a little more for the topping
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 6 eggs room temperature and separated
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter room temperature
• 1 cup white granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

INGREDIENTS FOR THE HORCHATA GLAZE

• 1 cup white rice washed and rinsed
• 4 cups water
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 12 oz can of evaporated milk
• 14 oz can of sweetened condensed milk
• 2 cups whole milk

INGREDIENTS FOR THE HOMEMADE WHIPPED CREAM TOPPING

• 2 cups heavy whipping cream
• 3 tbsp white granulated sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions

HOW TO MAKE HORCHATA TRES LECHES CAKE

• First, start by separating all of your egg yolks from the egg whites. Use room temperature eggs and butter for this recipe.
• Next, cream the butter and sugar in a stand mixer or in a bowl using a hand mixer. This may take about 3 minutes. You want to achieve a very creamy consistency.
• Add in your egg yolks one at a time and the milk little by little while continuing to mix.
• Add in the vanilla extract and continue mixing.
• In a separate bowl, add flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Whisk together to break up any lumps from the flour.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Next, add the flour mixture to the butter, sugar and egg yolk mixture about a 1/4 cup at a time so you don’t end up in a cloud of flour dust. Continue mixing until well incorporated. Make sure to scrape the sides of the bowl throughout the process. Transfer your cake batter mixture to another bowl and clean the mixing bowl you were using.
• Add the egg whites to the clean mixing bowl and mix until stiff peaks form.
• Fold the egg whites gently into the cake batter.
• Grease a 9×13 baking dish with butter or cooking spray.
• Next, pour the horchata cake batter into the greased baking dish and bake in a preheated 350 degrees F oven for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. It may seem like there isn’t enough batter but trust me it will expand beautifully, especially after you add in the horchata tres leches glaze. Once it’s finished baking, let it cool for about 20 minutes before moving on to the next step.
• Use a fork or a large toothpick to poke holes into the cake. Try not to go all the way to the bottom so that the glaze sits in the cake and doesn’t leak out.
• Add the horchata glaze and homemade whipped cream (see instructions below) and refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight.

HOW TO MAKE THE HORCHATA GLAZE

• First, start by making the homemade horchata. Use a strainer to rinse the rice thoroughly.
• Add the rinsed rice, water and cinnamon sticks to a bowl and let it soak for at least 8 hours.
• Remove the cinnamon sticks (it’s ok if small pieces remain) and add the rice, water and cinnamon mixture to a blender and blend until very smooth. This should take 2-3 minutes or longer depending on the power of your blender.
• Use a strainer to strain out all of the liquid and use a spoon to press down against the solids to extract as much liquid as possible.
• Next, stir together all of the strained horchata liquid with the evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk and whole milk. Check for sweetness at this step. If it's too sweet for you, add a little bit more milk.
• Poke holes in the horchata cake and top it off with the prepared glaze then wait about 10-15 minutes for the cake to absorb the mixture then add more on top. Repeat this step 2-3 times as needed until you obtain your desired level of moisture for the cake.
• Prepare your homemade whipped cream to top the cake with. See the next steps for these instructions.

HOW TO MAKE HOMEMADE WHIPPED CREAM TOPPING

• First, add the heavy cream, white granulated sugar and vanilla extract to a stand mixer or a bowl if using a hand mixer.
• Mix on high speed until stiff peaks form and the mixture resembles whipped cream.
• Top the horchata cake with the homemade whipped cream.
• Cover and refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight.
• Finally, sprinkle the top with ground cinnamon, serve your horchata Tres Leches cake and enjoy!

Notes

• You can certainly buy store bought horchata if you’re not up to making your own. If you do take the store bought route, simply add the evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk and whole milk to the horchata and follow all the same steps.
• You can also purchase store bought whipped cream topping if you don’t want to make your own. I personally prefer the taste of homemade whipped cream and it’s so easy to make. So try not to skip this step unless you’re in a real pinch!
• If the horchata glaze is too sweet for you, add more milk until you achieve your desired sweetness.
• There should be some leftover horchata glaze. I recommend serving it alongside the cake just in case people want to add more glaze to their slice.

Nutrition

Calories: 469kcal | Carbohydrates: 50g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 26g | Saturated Fat: 16g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 161mg | Sodium: 158mg | Potassium: 170mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 22g | Vitamin A: 1021IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 134mg | Iron: 1mg