This pistachio tres leches is absolutely delectable and so festive! Soaked in a pistachio flavoured milk and topped off with a luscious whipped cream, it's amazing.
Tips to Make the Best Pistachio Tres Leches Cake
- Sugar and orange zest – Make sure to massage the sugar and orange zest together to get the most flavour out of the zest as possible. Doing this releases the oils in the peel, into the sugar and amplifies the orange flavour—way more than if you only used the zest itself. You can use a food processor to do this OR a silicon spatula to rub the sugar into the zest.
- Beating the egg whites - Make sure the bowl and whisk you use to whip up the egg whites is completely CLEAN. It shouldn't have any grease, especially. This will prevent the egg whites from whipping up properly. When you separate the whites from the yolks, make sure not to get any of the yolk in the whites.
- Mixing the batter - Once you add the whipped egg whites to the yolk/flour mixture, make sure to gently combine it together. Use a spatula to scrape the sides of the bowl inwards and cut through the middle. You want to make sure to not deflate the egg whites because that is what will make the chiffon cake rise.
- Prevent cake from deflating - Only line the bottom of the pan and do NOT line or grease the sides of the pan. As the cake bakes, it needs to cling onto the pan to be able to stay up and remain that way as it cools. If you line/grease the sides, the cake will collapse and sink when it cools down. Place the cake pan upside down on a cooling rack as it cools down so it doesn't deflate.
- Gradually add in the sweetened condensed milk and pistachio cream - It can get too sweet for some so add in less than the stated amount and taste as you go
Pistachio Tres Leches Cake
This pistachio tres leches is absolutely delectable and so festive! Soaked in a pistachio flavoured milk and topped off with a luscious whipped cream, it's amazing.
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Servings: 9 slices
Ingredients
Chiffon Cake
- 3 - large eggs room temp
- ⅔ cup - 133g sugar
- - zest of half an orange
- 51 ml - 3.5 tablespoon milk
- ¼ cup - roasted, unsalted, shelled pistachio - ground & sifted 25g
- 1 teaspoon - baking powder
- 82 g - all purpose flour
- ⅛ teaspoon - salt
3 Milk Mixture
- ½ cup - evaporated milk (125ml)
- ½ cup - sweetened condensed milk (120ml) (start with less than ½ cup)
- ¾ cup - whole milk (177ml)
- ¼ cup - pistachio cream (start with 3 tbsp)
- few drops - green food colouring optional
Whipped Cream & Top
- 1 cup - whipping cream (236ml)
- 2-3 tablespoon - icing sugar, to taste
- - chopped pistachio, for garnish
- - dried roses, for garnish
Instructions
Make the Chiffon Cake
- Separate the egg whites and egg yolks in clean separate bowls. To prevent a yolk from accidentally breaking into the whites, separate the whites into a separate small bowl each time and then transfer it to the one you will beat them in. Make sure the bowl you add the egg whites in is very clean and has no grease marks.
- Add 7 tablespoon of the sugar into a bowl and the zest and rub it together for a few minutes. Add into the yolks and whisk well until pale and light. Whisk in the milk. Then add in the flour, ground pistachios, salt and baking powder. Fold that gently until all mixed together
- Now beat the egg whites in the separate bowl, until soft peaks form. Gradually add in 3.5 tablespoon sugar while beating and continue until you get stiff peaks
- Add that into the flour mixture and fold gently with a spatula by scraping from the sides of the bowl, inwards. Don’t mix too much so you don’t deflate them.
- In a 8x8 pan, with ONLY the bottom lined with parchment paper, pour the batter and bake at 350F for about 40-45 minutes. Don’t open the oven door until the last 10 minutes. Gently poke the cake with your finger and if it springs back, it’s done. If it leaves an indent, then bake for another 5 ish minutes.
- Take the cake out of oven and let it cool. Take the cake out of the pan and take off the parchment paper. Line the pan with new parchment and put the cake back in the pan.
Make the Milk Mixture
- To make the milk mixture, add the condensed milk, whole milk, evaporated milk and pistachio cream and whisk until combined. Make sure to start with less pistachio cream and sweetened condensed milk than stated because it may be too sweet for some. Taste as you go. Add a few drops of green food colouring. Poke holes all over the cake with a fork or a knife. Pour all of the milk mixture over the cake and cover it and let it soak for a couple hours or overnight in the refrigerator (better overnight)
Make the Whipped Cream & Frost
- In a chilled bowl, pour in your whipping cream and beat it until you get soft peaks. Now add in the powdered sugar and beat until you get stiff peaks.
- You can choose to leave the cake in the pan or take it out and remove the paper. Top with the cream and smooth out the top and sides.
- Sprinkle on the chopped pistachios and dried rose petals. Cut and serve. Enjoy!
- If you enjoyed the recipe, please leave a review below!!
Melanie says
What is a Pistachio cream? Do I make it myself or can I get it from the grocery?
Thanks for sharing this recipe!
Nabeah Wahab says
Hi Melanie,
I got mine from Costco! I'm sure you would be able to find it at most grocery stores or Italian stores. If you can't find it, I recommend making or buying pistachio butter (like almond/peanut butter) and add more of the condensed milk to sweeten it!
Naureen says
Do you buy or make pistachio cream for the milk mixture? Recipe?
Nabeah Wahab says
Hi Naureen,
I bought mine from costco! It's the Pisti brand
Huzaifah Sheikh says
I tried this and it was incredibly delicious, the combination of orange and pistachio was simply divine, all loved it and tbh we couldn't have a better dessert than your tres leches pistachio recipe. Thank you for sharing the recipe.
Afrah Khan says
I'm so in love with this one! Loved the way how effortlessly it balanced out the flavour and gave a delicate mouthfeel. Really good efforts and keep up the good work.
Rana says
It doesn’t contain oil or butter?
I’m just afraid that I’m missing something .
Mana says
Looks great! How much is 82g of flour in cups??
A.R. says
This was wonderful!! I made this for my dad's birthday (he loves pistachio) and it was sooo good. Some notes for anyone who might find this helpful:
- I used 2/3 cup flour (which is around 82 g)
- Instead of pistachio cream (I couldn't find it anywhere), I blended 1/4 cup pistachios with milk before mixing in the condensed and evaporated milk
Overall a 10/10! Fantastic recipe, thank you for sharing!
Semira says
I made this tres leche cake for my brother's birthday and it turned out so well!! Everyone loved it and it tasted divine!
Nabeah Wahab says
Hi Semira,
I love that it was a hit with everyone! Thank you for making it for such a special occasion and leaving a kind review
Inaya Ali says
my my entire family loved the recipe!
Loujaine says
I tried this recipe yesterday, and it turned out so good ,my whole family loved it , there's always leftover cakes in our household but not this time, I didn't read the recipe well the first time and added all the sugar into the batter and none to the egg whites , but it still turned our perfect, thank you
Nabeah Wahab says
I'm so glad your family loved it, Loujaine! Thank you for giving it a try
Rubina Naeem says
Which Costco location please?
R says
IT'S AMAZING! Soft, moist, tastes great, and looks fancy; everyone I made this for loved it as well! Thank you for the recipe!
Huzaifah Sheikh says
I tried again and it was brilliant again. The combination of pistachio and orange is just on another level. Everyone loved it. Thank you so much for sharing such a wonderful recipe.
Valerie Barreto says
Tried the recipe and it turned out superb. Thanks for the detailed receipe.