If you’re one of those people that think that Tres Leches is way too sweet, you will love this version. Passion Fruit Tres Leches has the perfect mix of the sweetness from the milk mix and the acidity from the passion fruit, making it the best dessert. It’s easy to make and surprises anyone who eats it.
How to make passion fruit tres leches
The difference between traditional tres leches and passion fruit tres leches is that for the latter, we soak the cake in passion fruit juice in addition to the milk mix. In both cases, we prepare a sponge case for the base that is baked before soaking it with these liquids as soon as it comes out of the oven. It’s a classic recipe, extra moist and many people’s favourite dessert. You guys loved my tres leches recipe on Instagram, so I’m excited to share this version.
The key to passion fruit tres leches
Passion fruit, like lemon, has the capacity due to its acidity, to thicken dairy products. Hence we don’t mix the passion fruit juice with the milk mix. First, the cake is soaked in the passion fruit juice and we let it absorb completely. I usually don’t poke holes into the cake but I noticed that the juice does need a bit of a nudge to increase the speed of absorption. Once the juice is completely absorbed, we go ahead and add the tres leches mixture. If you don’t wait for the juice to absorb and they mix on the surface, it will thicken and the cake won’t absorb it.
Toppings for the passion fruit tres leches
To finish my passion fruit tres leches, I always like to use whipped cream. I know that other people prefer to use meringue, like on a meringue pie, and that’s valid as well if you prefer it. Apart from the whipped cream, I also made a quick passion fruit sauce and marbled it with the whipped cream. The result is a stunning top of white marbled with yellow. It’s very impressive to see and immediately lights up a table.
The passion fruit sauce
For the passion fruit sauce, I cooked the passion fruit pulp with sugar until it thickened. It’s easy to make and takes only a few minutes. I like using a sauce rather than just adding raw passion purée to the cream because in this case it just pours into crevices and cuts the texture of the whipped cream. Once the sauce is cold, I add dots of it scattered around the whipped cream and use a skewer to marble it for the final look.
More recipes using passion fruit
If you’re a passion fruit lover like me, here are a few other recipes using passion fruit that I think you might like. Still, do try this passion fruit tres leches first, it’s just too good to ignore.
Passion Fruit Tres Leches Recipe
Ingredients
For the cake
- 3 eggs at room temperature
- 190 g sugar
- 130 g all purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 50 g evaporated milk
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract or essence
For the passion fruit soak
- 250 g passion fruit pulp or 150g passion fruit juice
For the 3 milks
- 255 g evaporated milk
- 280 g condensed milk
- 210 g whipping cream
To garnish
- 200 ml whipping cream, cold
- 1 tbsp icing sugar
For the passion fruit sauce
- 130 g passion fruit pulp
- 1 tbsp sugar
Instructions
For the cake
- Whip up the eggs with the sugar until you reach the ribbon stage. This happens when you can make a drawing with the batter on top of the surface and it doesn't sink back in immediately.
- Mix the flour, salt and baking powder. Add half to the batter through a sieve or colander and mix it in using folding motions. Repeat with the other half. Always be careful not to leave flour at the bottom of the bowl where it tends to sink.
- Mix in the evaporated milk and vanilla essence using folding motions with a spatula.
- Pour the batter into a 20x30cm/8x12in baking dish or pan bake in a preheated oven at 180°C/350℉ for 20-30min or until you can insert a stick at the centre and it comes out clean.
For the passion fruit soak
- Pulse the passion fruit pulp in a blender or processor to break the seeds and separate them from the juice. Pass through a sieve/colander and reserve the juice.
- As soon as the cake comes out of the oven, pour the passion fruit juice on top. Help it absorb by making holes in the cake using a skewer. Let it absorb completely before adding the milk mixture.
For the 3 milks
- Mix them and pour them onto the cake. Poke more holes if necessary and tilt the dish so it reaches every corner.
- Let cool to room temperature and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or ideally overnight to give the flavours time to develop.
To garnish (right before serving)
- Whip the cream with the icing sugar until fluffy. Spread it using a spatula.
For the passion fruit sauce
- Cook the passion fruit and sugar in a small pan until it thickens slightly. Let it cool down completely and dot the whipped cream with it. Use a skewer to marble the cream and sauce together.
