Dessert

Pumpkin Spice Tres Leches Cake

This delicious pumpkin spice tres leches cake is easy to make and makes the perfect dessert for fall or even Thanksgiving!

To recipe
pumpkin spice tres leches cake

Love this recipe?

Make meal planning easier with our new meal planner.

Save hours on meal planning
Smart grocery lists
500+ curated recipes
Print to PDF
Recipe insights & TIPS

A light pumpkin spice sponge cake saturated with three kinds of milk and topped with whipped cream! This is a fall twist on a classic dessert, and you'll love it.

A square of pumpkin spice Tres Leches cake on a plate

Tres leches cake is one of my favorite desserts,  but it can be tricky to get just right. Too much milk and you have a soggy sponge cake and too little milk ends up being dry.

This pumpkin spice tres leches took a few times to get just right and it's worth it. The actual cake part is a vanilla box cake mix but it's the spices that take it to another level.

Cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice and cloves will take you straight to fall when you take the first bite. The cinnamon sugar and candied pecans sprinkled on the whipped cream is also the perfect finish. And if spice cake isn't your thing, try my chocolate tres leches cake!

Tips for making a good tres leches cake

  • The cake must be cool before you add the milk, or it could turn into a soggy mess.
  • Make sure the cake is baked fully, adding another 3-4 minutes over the bake time is a good idea.
  • Tres Leches cake must be made a day ahead to let the cake absorb the liquid.
  • This pumpkin spice cake is best served at room temperature and not straight from the fridge.

FAQ's about making pumpkin spice tres leches cake

What does tres leches mean? It translates to "three milks". In this case that would be evaporated milk, condensed milk and whole milk.

It looks like a lot of milk to pour over the cake. The cake will absorb the liquid over time, that's why it needs to be made a day ahead of when you need to serve it.

How do I store my cake? Keep it in the fridge but try and let it sit out at room temperature for about 30 minutes before serving. This will loosen up the liquid.  

pumpkin spice Tres Leches cake on a plate
A white, fluffy chef's hat with an orange band, logo of Foodness Gracious.

Recipe

A deliciously light spiced sponge cake with three kinds of milk and topped with whipped cream.

Course:
Dessert
COOKing TIME:
35 minutes
Total TIME:
65 minutes
CUISINE:
American
PREP TIME:
30 minutes
SERVINGS:
12

Ingredients

  • 1 vanilla box cake mix
  • 3 ½ tsp cinnamon, divided
  • ½ tsp cloves
  • 2 tbsp pumpkin pie spice
  • ¼ cup canned pumpkin puree
  • 12 ounce can condensed milk
  • 14 ounce can evaporated milk
  • 1 cup whole milk
  • 2 cups heavy cream
  • 4 tbsp sugar, divided
  • ½ cup candied pecans, chopped

Ingredient Swaps

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F and lightly grease a 9×13 baking pan.
  2. In a large bowl, whisk together the cake mix ingredients following the directions on the box.
  3. Add 2 tsp cinnamon, cloves, pie spice and pumpkin to the cake batter and mix.
  4. Transfer the batter to the prepared dish and bake in the oven for about 35 minutes.
  5. Let the sponge cool completely.
  6. Whisk together the condensed milk, evaporated milk and whole milk together then add 1 tsp cinnamon.
  7. Pour the milk mixture over the cold sponge cake, letting some of it soak into the sponge before adding the remaining milks.
  8. Cover and store in the fridge until all of the milk has been completely absorbed into the sponge.
  9. Whisk the heavy cream with 2 tbsp of sugar until soft peaks form.
  10. Spread the whipped cream over the cake.
  11. Mix together the remaining 2 tbsp sugar and ½ tsp cinnamon together.
  12. Sprinkle some of the sugar over the whipped cream and garnish with chopped candied pecans .

Try Foodness Gracious
Meal Planner

1 month free
Access to all features
500+ recipes
A white, fluffy chef's hat with an orange band, logo of Foodness Gracious.

Did you make this recipe?

Tag @foodnessgracious on Instagram and hashtag it #foodnessgracious so we can see all the deliciousness!