In the summer of 2022, my husband and I visited the famous Porto’s Bakery in Los Angeles to try their Milk and Berries Cake after seeing it featured on Worth It. And, if you have ever tried the iconic cake, you know that it is truly a thing of beauty. I can definitely say it was well worth the trip and we left knowing that that we had to recreate it one day.
This is how our Porto’s Inspired Milk and Berries Cake was born! Now, if you don’t know what the Milk and Berries cake is, it is essentially a layered tres leches cake that is topped and filled with fresh summer berries. The berry combination is blackberries, blueberries, and strawberries.
However, Porto’s takes this delicious creation one step further and adds brandy as the “secret ingredient.” And while you wouldn’t think that the small inclusion of brandy would make that much of a difference, I can assure you it does!
Porto’s Milk and Berries Cake Copycat Recipe Walkthrough
While I was excited to try to recreate such an iconic cake, I was definitely nervous to create our Porto’s inspired Milk and Berries cake. First of all, I didn’t know the first thing about making a tres leches cake, let alone a really good one. So I turned to my tried and true bake-off method, where I make 5 popular recipes to see what I can learn from the internets most popular recipes. You can read about my other bake-off experiments here:
Our Other Bake-Offs
- Brownies
- Gingerbread Cookies
- Sugar Cookies
- Internet Famous Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipes
- Oatmeal Cream Pie
- Pecan Pie
- Pumpkin Pie
- Traeger Desserts
- Buttermilk Biscuits
After testing five of YouTube’s most popular Tres Leches Cake recipes, I knew I was ready to take a stab at recreating the iconic Milk and Berries Cake. And so, this copycat inspired recipe was born.
After testing the most popular recipes, I created the ultimate tres leches cake using my favorite elements that I learned from the other recipes. For the sponge, I used the sponge recipe from Preppy Kitchen and split the batter across three 8″ round cake pans.
For the tres leches syrup I used a mixture of condensed milk, evaporated milk, heavy cream, and brandy. Using heavy cream as the third milk creates a slightly thicker and richer syrup, in my opinion. Unfortunately, I was unable to use the full cans of evaporated and condensed milk to avoid over saturating the sponges.
And, of course, the brandy was included to replicate the flavor of the Porto’s cake. After trying so many other tres leches cakes, I can assure you that the inclusion of brandy in the syrup makes a huge difference in the flavor profile of the cake.
For the whipped cream element, I decided to make a stabilized whipped cream. A stabilized whipped cream lasts longer and will hold a shape better than a traditional whipped cream. And, I needed this to achieve the pretty piping that you can see in the photos. I was able to do this by adding a tablespoon of cornstarch to the mix. Don’t worry, it does not affect the flavor or mouthfeel at all!
What’s So Special About A Milk & Berries Cake?
While this cake make look simple, it is the simplicity that makes it so delicious! All of these fairly simple elements come together to create one of the best cakes I have ever had. After her first bite, my sweet mom declared this her birthday cake request. It is that good!
Now, you actually can order this fabulous cake directly from Porto’s for about $65 with shipping. And as you can see in the photo below, we did just that. I know you’re thinking a cake shipped from across the country can’t be very good, right? Wrong! It is actually quite good and a really fun option to try sometime.
We ordered two cakes, in the middle of summer, to test how good they hold up and to ensure we got our inspired version as close as possible. One cake held up perfectly and the other melted and fell apart when thawed for some reason. Both tasted great though!
While our inspired version is pretty close, it is not the original by any means. However, we think it is a pretty good option if you want to challenge yourself to a new bake. Would you try to make this cake? Let us know down in the comments below!
Our Porto's Milk & Berries Cake Copycat
A moist sponge cake that's been soaked with a rich tres leches syrup and layered with berries and whipped cream.
Ingredients
For the Cake:
- 2 C (240g) All-Purpose Flour
- 3/4 tsp Baking Powder
- 1 tsp Kosher Salt*
- 5 Egg Yolks, room temperature
- 5 Egg Whites, room temperature
- 1 1/4 C (250g) Sugar, divided
- 1/2 C (120ml) Milk, room temperature
- 2 tsp Mexican Vanilla*
For the Milk Syrup:
- 1 C (226ml) Condensed Milk
- 1 C (236ml) Evaporated Milk
- 1/2 C (120ml) Heavy Cream
- 1/4 C (60ml) Brandy
For the Toppings:
- 1 1/2 C (360ml) Heavy Cream, cold
- 2 Tbsp Powdered Sugar
- 1 Tbsp Cornstarch
- 1 lb Mixed Summer Berries (we used strawberries, blueberries, and blackberries)
Instructions
Making the Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Prepare three 8"x3" round cake pans by fully greasing with butter or baking spray and lining the bottom of the pans with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, add the all-purpose flour, baking powder, and kosher salt. Whisk together and set aside.
- In a medium size bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and 1 cup of sugar until pale and fluffy. Set aside.
- In another large bowl, whisk together the egg whites and 1/4 cup of sugar on high speed until stiff peaks begin to form. Set aside.
- Add the egg yolk mixture into the flour mixture and mix until just combined.
- Gently fold in half of the egg whites into the batter until mostly combined before adding the second half of the egg whites. Gently fold the remaining egg whites into the batter until no white streaks remain.
- Pour the cake batter evenly into the three prepared cake pans.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
Making the Syrup:
- While the cakes are cooling, make the tres leches syrup. In a medium bowl, mix together the condensed milk, evaporated milk, heavy cream, and brandy.
- After the cakes have cooled for 10-15 minutes (they will shrink as they cool), poke holes all over each cake. Pour 1 cup of syrup mixture over each cake.
- Cover the cakes and let chill in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours, ideally overnight.
Making the Toppings:
- In a stand mixer, using the whisk attachment, whisk together heavy cream, powdered sugar, and cornstarch on high speed until stiff peaks being to form. This will take about 2-3 minutes.
- While the whipped cream is coming together, thinly slice the strawberries. The other berries will be added whole.
Assembly:
- Remove the cakes from the refrigerator and uncover.
- Remove the first cake from the cake pan, it will be delicate from soaking overnight, and place it onto your cake stand or serving dish of choice.
- Add a third of the whipped cream on top of the cake before adding a half of the summer fruit mix.
- Repeat steps 2 & three for the next layer.
- For the last layer, add the third sponge on top. Using your piping tip of choice, pipe the remaining whipped cream on top. I like to use an Open Star (4B) tip and pipe swirly dollops across the top. You can also just spread the whipped cream on top if you don't want to fuss too much.
- Let the cake chill again for a few hours before serving. The fruit will soften a little, settle into the cream, and allows the layers to bind together.
- Enjoy!
Notes
- If you are using table salt, use half of the amount of kosher salt required.
- If you don't have Mexican vanilla, regular vanilla is fine.
- The longer you allow the cake to soak, the better the flavor.
- Allowing the final cake to rest in the fridge for a few hours, prevents the layers from separating and it all falling apart. It is worth the wait, we promise!
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 12 Serving Size: 1 sliceAmount Per Serving: Calories: 389Total Fat: 19gCarbohydrates: 48gProtein: 6g