Banana Tres Leches Cake – an unbelievably moist banana cake topped with toasted coconut and sliced bananas. You’ll love the warm caramel drizzled over everything! Make this cake today—you won’t regret it!
I absolutely love this cake. From the first bite, it had everything a cake should have.
The thing that made it the most memorable was that it was moist. I know some don’t enjoy that word, but for this easy Tres Leches cake, it’s necessary. It was bathed in milk, milk, and more milk.
If that doesn’t interest you, consider the toppings. OHH… those TOPPINGS! Toasted coconuts, banana slices, and a warm caramel sauce dripped over everything. Sounds like heaven, right? I can’t say anything bad about this cake.
This Banana Tres Leches cake should be on the top of your baking list. No matter what time of year it is, you need to bake this as soon as possible.
SAVE THIS BANANA TRES LECHES CAKE TO YOUR FAVORITE PINTEREST BOARD!
What is Tres Leches?
Tres Leches literally means “three milks” and this Hispanic-influenced dessert recipe indeed uses three sweet milks: regular dairy milk, evaporated milk, and sweetened condensed milk. This is what adds moistness to the cake. The consistency is similar to an airy angel food cake or sponge cake.
What ingredients do I need for this delicious cake?
Here is a list of the things you’ll need for the cake itself:
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 5 large eggs, separated
- 1 cup sugar, divided
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 ripe bananas, mashed
- 1/3 cup milk
- 1 can evaporated milk
- 1 can sweetened condensed milk
- 2 cups heavy cream, divided
Frosting Ingredients
You’ll use the rest of the heavy cream and 1 tablespoon of sugar for the frosting. You also need toasted coconut, banana slices, and caramel sauce to finish off the dessert.
How to make Banana Tres Leches Cake
Prepare: Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Generously spray a 9×13 cake pan with nonstick cooking spray or use a nonstick pan.
Make the Batter: Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Then, in a separate mixing bowl, combine egg yolks and ¾ cup sugar and beat with an electric mixer on high speed until the yolks turn a pale yellow. Stir in milk and vanilla on low speed, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary, then add the bananas.
Pour the egg mixture over the dry ingredients and stir gently until combined.
Beat egg whites in a large mixing bowl on medium speed until soft peaks form. With the mixer on, pour in ¼ cup of sugar and beat until the egg whites are stiff but not dry. Gently fold the egg white mixture into the batter with a rubber spatula until combined.
Bake: Pour the batter into the prepared pan and spread it evenly. Bake for 35-45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let the cake cool for about ten minutes, then turn it out onto a rimmed platter and allow it to cool completely.
Add “tres leches”: After cooling, poke top of the cake with a long-tined fork. Combine condensed milk, evaporated milk, and 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream and mix thoroughly. Drizzle all but one cup of the milk mixture over the cake and let it absorb into the cake for at least 30 minutes (it’s even better if you refrigerate it overnight!)
How to make the frosting
Whip the remaining 1 3/4 cups heavy cream with 1 tablespoon of sugar until it is thick and spreadable. Before frosting the cake, drizzle the remaining cup of milk mixture over the cake after giving it a good stir. Spread the whipped cream over the top and sides of the cake.
Garnish with toasted coconut, caramel sauce, and banana slices.
How to store Tres Leches cake leftovers
Place this cake in the refrigerator for storage. Use a cake keeper or place slices in an airtight container. It should last for 4-5 days.
Can you freeze this Banana cake?
This cake is perfect for freezing! I recommend that you bake it and freeze it before adding the whipped topping and garnish. Cover it tightly with plastic wrap or place it in another airtight container. Thaw to room temperature before you finish the cake!
Banana lovers, you’re going to love this creamy, decadent Banana Tres Leches cake!
More Cake Recipes
- Coconut lovers will adore this easy Coconut Cake. Soft and topped with a flavorful coconut buttercream, it’s going to be hard to not go for a second piece.
- This cake is hard to top, but my Caramel Apple Pound Cake does make people go nuts over it. I’m not bragging, but when you have apples and pound cake in the same phrase, you know it’s awesome.
- If you’ve never tried my Citrus Layer Cake, then you are really missing out. Having vanilla, lemon, and orange flavors shows it’s not your average cake. You’ll score points on someone’s birthday if you give them this.
- Don’t forget to make your homemade Stabilized Whipped Cream instead of going to the store like I did so many times before. This fresh whipped cream is super easy, and you can top it off on any dessert to make it ten times better.
I adapted this recipe from The Pioneer Woman. Thanks, Ree!
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Banana Tres Leches Cake
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 5 eggs separated into yolks and whites.
- 1 cup sugar divided
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 ripe bananas mashed
- ⅓ cup milk
- 12 ounces evaporated milk
- 14 ounces sweetened, condensed milk
- 2 cups heavy cream divided, need 1/4 cup for the tres leches cake and remaining 1 3/4 cups for frosting
Frosting
- 1 ¾ cups heavy cream remaining from above.
- 1 cup toasted coconut
- caramel sauce if desired
- banana slices
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and generously spray a 9 x 13-inch baking pan with cooking spray.
- In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt.
- In a mixing bowl, beat egg yolks with 3/4 cup sugar on high until yolks are pale yellow.
- Stir in regular milk and vanilla, and add the mashed bananas. Pour egg yolk mixture over the flour mixture and stir gently until combined.
- Beat egg whites on high speed until soft peaks form. With the mixer on, pour in remaining 1/4 cup of sugar and beat until egg whites are stiff but not dry.
- Fold egg white mixture into the batter carefully until combined.
- Pour into prepared baking pan and spread evenly.
- Bake for 30-40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Turn cake out onto a rimmed platter and allow to cool.
- After cooling, prick the top of the cake with a fork. In a large measuring cup, combine condensed milk, evaporated milk, and 1/4 cup heavy cream. Mix thoroughly.
- Drizzle all but 1 cup of milk mixture. Allow cake to absorb milk for at least 30 minutes.
Frosting cake
- After giving it a good stir, drizzle the remaining cup of milk mixture over the top of the cake. Whip the remaining 1 3/4 cups heavy cream with 1 tablespoon of sugar until thick and spreadable. Spread the whipped cream over surface and sides of the cake.
- Garnish with toasted coconut, caramel sauce, and banana slices.
Nutrition
This post was originally published 7/15/2011. It has been updated in format and with pictures on 3/17/23/
Comments & Reviews
This sounds so sweet, sticky, and delicious!! I love the addition of banana for a twits on the traditional!
Oh good heavens, this looks so delicious. Good thing I can’t figure out what to make for lunch. My brain is clogged with visions of cake.
Looks like a winner, for sure! Yummy… Bookmarking this recipe! Thanks for sharing!
Where is your print button?
Can this be made exactly the same way without the banana? I am allergic to them. Does anything else need to be added or taken away to have it come out right?
How would you store this? In the fridge?
Precisely Brittany, store it in the fridge.
Because it has the milk, you definitely don’t want it left out on the counter.
Hi, the recipe states to drizzle all but 1 cup of the milk mixture on the tres leches cake, what do I do with the reserved 1 cup of milk mixture? Thanks!
Cleopatra, thank you for bringing that to my attention. I have edited the recipe to show that that remaining cup of milk mixture is to be added before being frosted after it’s been sitting for 30 minutes. I hope you enjoy it!