Berry Cake

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Simple white cake layers filled with a whipped cream and fresh berry filling and soaked in a tres leches syrup.

I have been on a cake kick lately, which has been great for all of you, extra great for all of my neighbors, and totally filling my cake cup since my last cake kick in 2017 (feel free to revisit my Cake of The Month series).

This particular very berry cake recipe comes to you from a winter TV binge we had this year. We found a show called Worth It, hosted by two folks who choose one food at three different price points and decide which one is the most worth it at its price.

On the cake episode, they got a slice of cake that, on the surface, was a basic mixed berry cake, but upon dissection, turned out to be more of a milk and berries cake.

Lucky for me (and you!), they described the cake in detail, characterizing it as a tres leches berry cake. I distinctly remember Matt and me turning to each other and saying “oh my gosh,” and right then and there, I made a note in my phone “fresh berry cake with tres leches syrup.”

My mouth watered every time I saw this note, and I was chomping at the bit to get this berry cake all up in the blog, for myself, my taste testers, and you.

I thought long and hard about the execution of this cake and decided to keep it as simple as I could while also incorporating all of the components I wanted to include.

I will preface this fresh berry cake recipe with this: this is not a cake for beginners, but a beginner can make it happen with care and patience. Does that make sense? Probably not, but I don’t want to mislead you.

Separately, the components to this cake are quite simple. The execution can seem complicated, but let’s break it down so you know what you’re getting yourself into.

THE CAKE

This cake is my favorite white cake recipe. I have used it to make champagne layer cake, funfetti bundt cake, red, white and blue swirl bundt cake, and simple white sheet cake. It is a very simple recipe that goes really well with fruit or chocolate flavors.

The hows and whys of this white cake base, adapted from Cook’s Illustrated, are fully explained over there in that post, if you’re interested in any of that.

Like I said, any vanilla, white, or yellow cake recipe you love works well here. Don’t feel obligated to use my recipe if you have another that works well for you!

You’ll be using heavy whipping cream in the cake batter as well as the tres leches syrup, so it gets all up in lots of elements of this milk and berries cake recipe.

Once made, you’ll use 1 cup of the homemade whipped cream in the berry filling. The rest you’ll use to cover the cake. I opted for this light whipped cream rather than a heavy, super sweet buttercream.

The lightly sweet and airy textured whipped cream is the perfect complement to this very heavy (in a good way!) fruit tres leches cake.

You’ll have enough of the whipped cream to pipe pretty swirls on top if you’d like, or to serve as a little extra with each slice.

As mentioned, you’ll mix these berries with some whipped cream, and they’ll become your filling. Of course, save some extra for topping the cake!

This is a traditional tres leches syrup, made up of evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk, and heavy whipping cream.

You’ll combine the three milks, which, when sufficiently mixed, make a deliciously sweet and smooth soaking syrup that I think is the star of the show in this milk and berry cake.

You’ll start by placing your bottom layer on a plate. Do not use a cake stand.

You’ll want to put this plate on another larger plate or large baking sheet, because some of the tres leches syrup will seep out (your cake will only be able to take on so much liquid).

Poke holes in the cake, then slowly pour about ¾ cup of the tres leches syrup (which will be about 2 cups total) evenly onto the cake.

Allow about 10 minutes for it to fully soak in, then add your whipped cream and berries filling.

Yes, this filling is lumpy, but you’ll be able to shape it with a spatula to be as flat as you can make it.

You’ll also want to keep about ½” border around the filling so that there are no berries sticking out, which will make it easier to cover the cake with the whipped cream.

After you have your berry filling in, top with the second cake layer.

And yep, you guessed it, poke more holes.

At this point, your cake is ready to take on the bulk of the tres leches syrup, but remember, practice patience.

Pour a little on, wait a couple minutes, pour on some more, then repeat. It will be fairly apparent when your cake is unable to take on more syrup, and that’s when you’ll want to stop.

I used almost all of my tres leches syrup before my cake told me enough was enough.

Things to look for when you’re deciding whether or not to soak it more: excessive pooling of syrup at the bottom of the cake, syrup running off the top of the cake rather than soaking into the cake, or any part of your cake completely falling apart.

Once you’re happy with the amount of liquid you’ve added, allow the cake to sit for about 15 minutes, then remove any excess liquid at the base of the cake.

It’s totally fine if there’s a little tres leches syrup leftover, but you’ll want to remove the bulk of the syrup before coating it in the rest of the whipped cream.

I used a liquid dropper to remove the excess liquid. It worked perfectly. You can also carefully tip the plate and sort of “squeegee” the liquid off onto the plate or baking sheet under the cake.

It is much easier to cut, serve, and eat after the rest. I know, it’s hard to wait… But I promise it will be worth it.

We loved this cake so much. I was pleasantly surprised that it was exactly the end result I was looking for and even sounds exactly like a similar cake I found that has a serious following: Porto’s milk and berries cake.

Because of the tres leches syrup, this cake becomes very heavy and dense, but in a really lovely way. The filling is light and airy, full of all of those flavorful fresh berries, and complemented by the light and airy whipped cream.

The soaking syrup gives an enjoyable mouthfeel to every bite, providing each bite of cake a little something extra, and acting almost as a built in fruit dip for the berries.

All of my taste testers were blown away by this cake, and I had a number of DMs on Insta when I shared a photo from the photoshoot.

I have a feeling many of you will be chomping at the bit to make this much like I was.

I hope those of you who do decide to put in the effort to create this delectable summer berry cake are not only proud of yourselves for conquering a slightly-more-challenging-than-easy cake but can’t wait for your next bite.

This one is a show stopper, visually and taste-wise. I truly can’t wait for you to try it. And I’m going to put in a request right now to invite me over, mmkay?

I need way more of this cake in my life. And I think you’ll agree once you polish off your first slice!