Easy Pumpkin Tres Leches Cake with Cake Mix

This recipe for Pumpkin Tres Leches Cake is so easy. It's made with boxed spice cake mix, coffee creamer, sweetened condensed milk, and other simple ingredients to make a perfect fall dessert!

I've got a really easy variation on tres leches cake today. This time, we're making a fall version of this classic Mexican dessert by making it a Pumpkin Tres Leches Cake! The rich, spicy flavors you'll get in this sweet treat are the perfect complement to cooler weather.

What is Tres Leches Cake?

Tres leches means "three milks" in Spanish. With Tres Leches Cake, you'll pour three different kinds of milk (mixed together) over a prepared cake. This results in a dessert with almost a pudding-like consistency. In my opinion, it is so much better than a traditional sheet cake. The moist, rich cake is to die for!

With my classic tres leches cake recipe, I use heavy whipping cream, evaporated milk, and sweetened condensed milk as my milk mixture. The milks are changed up a little bit in this version to give it lots of pumpkin flavor with a few hints of spices (like cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and nutmeg) added in.

While a pumpkin version of this dessert may not be the traditional way to make it, I think the pumpkin flavor plays incredibly well off of the little bit of spice that is present in the original version of Tres Leches Cake.

If you're a fan of yummy and easy cakes, give my Pineapple Dump Cake or Eggnog Magic Cake recipes a try too!

Why You'll Love This Recipe

With this cake recipe, you get a rich pumpkin spice cake base soaked in a sweet cream. I use whipped cream as a topping for a lighter, airy frosting to go with the thick, rich cake. Add a sprinkle of cinnamon for such an amazing recipe for fall.

Ingredients

(See recipe card at the bottom of this post for ingredient measurements.)

Cake Base

• spice cake mix
• whole milk
• butter
• eggs
• pure vanilla extract
• pumpkin puree

Tres Leches Milk Mixture

• heavy cream
• sweetened condensed milk
• pumpkin coffee creamer

Whipped Cream Topping

• heavy cream
• powdered sugar
• cinnamon

Additions & Variations

• Use this basic recipe to make a tres leches cake for any flavor you'd like! You can use chocolate cake mix and chocolate coffee creamer, strawberry cake mix with a little bit of strawberry syrup in the tres leches mixture, etc. Get creative!
• If you're not a big fan of coffee creamer, you can sub in evaporated milk with ½ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice.

How to Make Pumpkin Spice Tres Leches Cake

Step 1: Make the spice cake base.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large mixing bowl, mix together spice cake mix, milk, butter, eggs, and pumpkin puree with an electric mixer until smooth. Pour batter into a 9x13" prepared pan (sprayed with cooking spray).

Bake for the recommended time on the spice cake mix box (usually 30-40 minutes).

Step 2: Prep the cake to soak up the milk.

Allow the cake to cool in the baking pan. Once cool, use a fork or toothpick to poke holes all over the surface of the cake.

Step 3: Add milk mixture.

In a large bowl, whisk together 8oz heavy cream, sweetened condensed milk, and coffee creamer. Pour tres leches mixture over top of cooled cake. Allow mixture to soak in for 30 minutes to an hour.

Step 4: Top with whipped cream.

Whip the remaining heavy cream with a hand mixer or stand mixer until soft peaks form. Gently fold in powdered sugar. Spread prepared whipped cream over the cake.

Sprinkle cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice on top.

Step-by-Step Recipe Video

Leftovers & Storage

This cake should be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator. It is good for up to 4 days after preparation.

This cake shouldn't be frozen. The texture just doesn't thaw correctly and you'll end up with a soggy mess. It's best to make this one fresh!

More Expert Tips & Tricks

• This is a great cake to make the night before you're planning on serving. It really is best if you let the cake chill out in the fridge overnight, soaking up all of that yummy sweet milk mixture. Just hold off on adding whipped cream to the top until you're ready to serve.
• Don't use anything bigger than a fork to poke the holes in your spice cake. If you use something like a wooden spoon handle, you'll end up with huge holes in the cake that the milk mixture can't fill.
• Yield: This cake makes approximately 16 servings.

Pumpkin Tres Leches Cake FAQs