Pumpkin Tres Leches Cake is similar to traditional tres leches, but with pumpkin flavors! Made with three milks, it’s incredibly moist and an excellent dessert to bring to your next holiday gathering. 

In continuing with the fall recipes, I’m sharing this delicious pumpkin tres leches cake recipe. If you’re a fan of tres leches and all things pumpkin, this cake is for you. 

“Tres leches” quite literally translates to “three milks”. The milks help to make this cake light, airy and spongey. It’s quite delicious! 

Now that I think about it, this cake would make an excellent dessert to add to your Thanksgiving day line-up, alongside sweet potato pie and pear pie. 

Recipe features

• A fall version of your favorite tres leches cake!
• Can easily be made gluten free by using gluten free all purpose flour.
• An incredibly moist, flavorful and light cake recipe!

Ingredients

Flour – All purpose flour or gluten free all purpose flour is the way to go! I wouldn’t use any other kind of gluten free flour, though I do imagine white whole wheat flour would work ok as a substitution (not gluten free of course). 

Sugar – Granulated sugar AND light brown sugar. 

Spices – A mixture of pumpkin pie spice and cinnamon create the perfect fall flavor. 

Oil – Make sure to use a neutral-tasting oil, like avocado oil or canola oil. 

Pumpkin – Use canned pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie mix. 

Eggs – I haven’t tested it using flax eggs so I’d say stick to regular large eggs. 

Milk – A combination of evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk and then your milk of choice (I used oat milk) makes up the “tres leches” (three milks) in this cake recipe. 

Heavy whipping cream – 100 percent necessary for creating a homemade whipped cream; no substitutions. 

Instructions

Step 1: Mix ingredients. In a medium bowl, stir the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, and salt together. In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs, pumpkin, avocado oil, cane sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla together. Pour the dry ingredients into the wet and mix until just combined. 

Step 2: Bake the cake. Pour the batter into a parchment-lined 9×13 baking dish, then bake the cake in the oven for 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let the cake cool for at least 15 minutes at room temperature. 

Step 3: Whisk the milks. In a medium bowl, whisk the evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk and oat milk (or milk of choice) together. Then, use a wooden skewer or something similar to poke holes all over the baked cake. 

Step 4: Pour the milks. Next, slowly pour the three milk mixture overtop of the cake, allowing the milks to soak into the holes in the cake. Cover the cake and transfer to the refrigerator for at least 4 hours, but preferably overnight. 

Step 5: Make the whipped cream. Before serving, pour the heavy cream, sugar, pumpkin pie spice, and vanilla into a large bowl and whisk with a hand mixer or stand mixer until stiff peaks form. Dollop the whipped cream over the cake and spread it out. Slice the cake and enjoy! 

Tips and tricks

• Make ahead: Since this cake needs to be refrigerated, you should plan on making it at least one day in advance. I would not make the whipped cream ahead of time though.
• Line your pan: I always recommending lining your baking pan with parchment paper to ensure the cake doesn’t stick, and then spraying the sides with nonstick spray.
• No wooden skewers? Try using a large fork instead.

Storage

Refrigerator: Cover the cake and store it in the fridge for up to 4 days. 

Freezer: I don’t recommend freezing the cake once the three milks have been added. However, you can absolutely bake the cake ahead of time and freeze it with the holes poked it it. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight, and then add the milks if you’d like. 

More fall-inspired desserts

• ​Pumpkin Bread
• Apple Blondies
• Chocolate Chip Pecan Pie

If you made this recipe, be sure to leave a comment and star rating below. Thanks!