This Bailey's Tres Leches Cake is a new twist on the classic tres leches cake. Delicious sponge cake is soaked in evaporated milk, condensed milk, heavy cream, and Baileys Irish cream. Perfect for your next party or taco night! Step-by-step photos teach you how to bake this cake.

fork taking a bite of a tres leches cake on a white plate on a blue linen with more cake aand a bottle of baileys in the background on a white marble surface

MMM... Bailey's Tres Leches Cake!! Boy did I love this one. I made it on St. Paddy's day, I just really wanted another excuse to bake with some booze! Let's be honest I don't need an excuse, but I took it anyway! 😉 And this cake... I want it every day of the year!

I have had tres leches cake once before. Only once! I loved it but life got in the way of me and tres leches cake.. until now!!

This cake is soaked in Sweetened Condensed Milk, Evaporated Milk, Heavy Cream & Bailey's. Basically amazing. The milk mixture oozes out of the cake. I just wanted to drink it. I HATE milk but all the "milk" mixed together was spectacular!

I made the cake and served it about 4 hours later, so it had time to soak everything up. It was spectacular and the next day even better! This cake is not the easiest to make but worth the few steps. I will definitely be making this again and I hope you give it a try- it really is fabulous 🙂

slice of baileys tres lecehs cake on a stack of white plates

Ingredients

You are going to make three things for this Baileys tres leches cake recipe; the cake, the milk soak, and the whipped cream topping.

For the cake you'll need:

Large Eggs. I use room temperature eggs when it comes to mixing but I separate them while they are still cold.
All-Purpose Flour. Make sure you measure your flour properly! I always use a digital scale.
Baking Powder. Since there is no acid in this recipe we need to use baking powder which has already been activated. Baking soda would need an acid to activate it.
Salt. Don't skip it!
Sugar. The sugar is divided and used twice. Once with the egg whites to help create stiff egg whites. And secondly in the egg yolks.
Whole Milk. This gives the cake a bit of extra fat and moisture, as there is no butter or oil in this recipe.
Pure Vanilla Extract. Vanilla gives great flavor, use the real stuff!

Now for the milk soak:

You'll need Baileys Irish Cream, heavy whipping cream, sweetened condensed milk, and evaporated milk.

And finally, you'll make a simple whipped cream made with Baileys for extra delicious flavor. Then I like to top my cake with lots of fresh berries!

Check out my Baileys cheesecake recipe, Baileys Hot Chocolate, and Nutty Irishman Pie.

Baking is a science and to really achieve the best results I highly recommend investing in a kitchen scale. This OXO Kitchen Scale is the one I use and is also the number one recommended kitchen scale by Cook's Illustrated. Think about it -what one person scoops into a "cup" is completely different from what someone else scoops!

For ingredient quantities please reference the recipe card below. On the recipe card there is a button for US or M (Metric) measurements.

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350F/180C and grease a 9X13 inch baking pan. Separate your egg whites from the egg yolks and set them aside.

eggs separated into whites and yolks on a white marble surface with a light green linen

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment or a large bowl with a handheld electric mixer beat the egg whites on high, until foamy, then add 50 Grams (¼ Cup) sugar and beat until you have stiff whites.

sugar slowly added to foamy egg whites in a metal mixing bowl on a white marble surface with a light green linen

egg whites and sugar beat to stiff peaks with a whisk in a metal mixing bowl on a white marble surface with a light green linen

Scoop into a clean bowl and set aside.

stiff egg white mixture in a glass bowl with a white spatula on a white marble surface with a light green linen

In the dirty mixing bowl with the whisk attachment combine egg yolks and 150 Grams (¾ Cup) of sugar, mix on medium until very, very light in color.

egg yolks and sugar in a dirty mixing bowl on a white marble surface with a light green linen

Then add in milk and vanilla extract, mix until just combined.

milk and vanilla extract added to egg yolk mixture on a white marble surface with a light green linen

wet ingredients mixed together in a metal mixing bowl on a white marble surface with a light green linen

Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl.

Pour the egg yolk mixture on top of the flour mixture. Gently fold together until no more flour streaks.

wet ingredients folded into the dry ingredients in a glass bowl with a white spatula on a white marble surface with a light green linen

Gently fold stiff egg whites into the cake batter. Fold until just combined, don't over mix.

hand holding a spatula folding stiff egg whites into the cake batter on a white marble surface with a light green linen

tres leches cake batter in a glass bowl on a white marble surface with a light green linen

Pour cake batter into prepared pan. Bake for 32-37 minutes, until golden brown and if you stick a toothpick in it comes out clean. Let the cake cool completely.

tres leches cake before and after baking then stabbed with a fork on a white marble surface with a light green linen

Using a fork poke the cake numerous times, the more holes the better! In a large bowl combine Bailey's Irish Cream, heavy cream, sweetened condensed milk and evaporated milk. Pour the milk mixture all over the cake. Pour slowly, some liquid will pool but most will be absorbed into the cake. Let sit for 30 minutes covered in the refrigerator.

heavy cream, sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk, and baileys mixed together on a white marble surface with a light green linen

bailleys milk soak poured on top of tresh leches cake on a white marble surface with a green linen

Then in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment or a large bowl with a handheld electric whisk beat heavy cream, Bailey's Irish Cream, and sugar until medium-thick stiff peaks are formed.