When it comes to sweet treats in Latin America, tres leches takes the cake. It translates to “three milks”, and it’s simply a light sponge cake soaked in three different types of milk– condensed milk, evaporated milk, and whole milk– then topped with whipped cream or merengue.
It’s sinfully moist and sweet with a conniving lightness that dupes you into eating four times the amount you probably should.
Tres leches is mega popular in Latin America, North America, and beyond. But how did this sweet treat come to be?
Let’s dive into the history of tres leches!
There’s heated debate over who can claim tres leches as theirs. But most seem to agree that the story begins in 16th century Europe. No plastic wrap and no handy dandy refrigerators meant that cakes and breads went stale fast. People found that soaking the crusty, crunchy baked goods in loads of booze made them soft and delectable (or at least edible) once more. The trifle was the prototype. But the technique can be seen in many types of desserts like figgy pudding and tiramisu.
Like so many food origin stories, the history of tres leches continues with European colonization.
While many countries claim tres leches as their own, I’ve narrowed it down to two major competing theories.
Theory 1: We can thank Nicaragua for tres leches!
Some say the history of tres leches continues with European colonialism in Nicaragua. The Spanish occupied Western Nicaragua from 1512-1821 and the British occupied the east from 1633-1860. Amidst the fighting, there were many intercultural exchanges. Soaked cake being one of them.
Local people put their own spin on the concept using local ingredients to create sopa borracha—a type of cake soaked with honey and moonshine.
The story of tres leches continues with the invention of condensed milk in the 1850s and evaporated milk in 1856. Both products were popular in the US military, and troops introduced them throughout Latin America and specifically to Nicaragua in 1909. Nicaraguan elite began using the delicacies for indulgent sweet treats. But those dos leches became accessible to everyone during the Great Depression.
The US government signed a trade agreement with Nicaragua in the 1930s that reduced taxes on American dairy products. US vendors could now sell more products in Nicaragua for lower prices. Nothing beats a sweet treat, especially during hard times. People experimented with the new abundance of milk products and voila! Tres leches was born!
Fast forward to the 1970s. Civil war broke out in Nicaragua, causing thousands of people to flee. Many left for South Florida, and they brought tres leches with them. People loved the dessert, and it continued to capture the hearts and taste buds of Americans from there.
But why three milks?!
Perhaps the trifecta of evaporated, condensed, and whole milk just work together perfectly. But perhaps the choice to use 3 milks can be credited to Catholicism in Nicaragua. Some say the 3 milks were chosen to represent the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Theory 2: Not so fast…. Mexico is the home of tres leches!
Some say that the concept of soaked cake in Mexico is credited to the colonizers. Other says the concept popped up on it’s own in Oaxaca and Sinaloa.
Either way, a wine soaked cake topped with custard became quite popular in Mexico in the 19th century. Similar cakes popped up across the country such as “Torta de Leche” in Tabasco as well as Sopa Borracha in Oaxaca and Sinaloa.
(Get the scoop on one of my favorite tres leches in Mexico City here!)
Tres Leches as we know it today took off when a Nestles factory opened in Mexico in the 1930s.
Nestles printed recipes on the back of their condensed milk cans, and one such recipe was for tres leches. (So the every allusive “they” say…. I scoured the internet and found no such proof). Suddenly, everyone was whipping up tres leches and it boomed in popularity from there.
So who really invented tres leches?
The concept of soaking cake for preservation is an intuitive idea, and I don’t think it’s outrageous to think that numerous cultures across the world came up with the idea on their own. However, sweet treats, particularly ones drenched in sugars and booze, were costly delicacies that not just anyone could squander money on.
While I don’t doubt that many different cultures served up soaked dessert concoctions, it makes sense to me that they would be more common in wealthy European nations. It also makes sense that said Europeans would introduce the idea to countries in Latin America.
The piece of the puzzle that we can be certain of is that tres leches as we know and love today simply wan’t possible until the invention of condensed and evaporated milk. But who was the first to use these ingredients with cake… Mexico or Nicaragua?!
I have my thoughts…. but I’ll let you decide for yourself!
