Pumpkin Tres Leches Cake With Cake Mix

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Easy pumpkin tres leches cake with boxed cake mix and canned pumpkin. It's so moist with a warm spiced flavor. Perfect for the Fall or Thanksgiving season. 

Jump to:

• What is Pumpkin Tres Leches Cake?
• How To Make Pumpkin Tres Leches Cake With Cake Mix?
• Tips & Additions 
• Storage and Leftovers 
• Step by Step Instructions
• Pumpkin Tres Leches Cake With Cake Mix

What is Pumpkin Tres Leches Cake?

A pumpkin cake soaked in a spiced “three milks” or tres leches. The milks used are sweetened condensed, evaporated, and whole milk with a touch of warm spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and ginger. 

Then topped with a homemade whipped cream and a sprinkle of pumpkin pie spice.

Check out this delicious cake recipes- Strawberry Crunch Tres Leches, Easy Pound Cake With Cake Mix, and TikTok Honey Bun Cake. 

How To Make Pumpkin Tres Leches Cake With Cake Mix?

Shortcut or “lazy” pumpkin tres leches cake uses a boxed cake mix, canned pumpkin, whipped topping and pumpkin spice flavored leches milk mixture.

Boxed Cake Mix

For this recipe, we are using a time-saving shortcut, boxed yellow, butter or white cake mix and adding canned pumpkin.

Choose your favorite cake mix brand and 100% pure canned pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling). To the cake batter add butter, eggs, milk, and pumpkin pie spice. 

Pumpkin Spice Milk Mixture

You cannot make a tres leches cake without that delicious creamy leche milk mixture. The spanish word “tres leche” means “three milks”. We are using the traditional sweetened condensed milk, evaporated, and whole milk plus a dash of pumpkin pie spice. 

The mixture has horchata or eggnog vibes without the egg, it’s so good. 

Homemade Whipped Cream Topping

Just two ingredients for sweetened homemade whipped cream, cold heavy cream and powdered sugar. Mix the ingredients together with a hand or stand mixer until stiff peaks are formed. 

Try not to overmix the cream or you’ll have sweet butter. Keep it refrigerated until ready to top the cake. Don't forget a sprinkle of pumpkin pie spice.

Tips & Additions 

To save time use whipped topping instead of making homemade whipped cream. You’ll find it in the freezer section of the grocery store. 

Swap the pumpkin for 2 cups cooked mashed sweet potato to make a delicious sweet potato tres leches cake. 

Don’t forget to save some of the spiced tres leches milk mixture for serving.

Drizzle caramel sauce for an extra boost in flavor. Try these easy 2 ingredients condensed milk dessert toppings!!

During the fall and holiday season, you’ll see seasonal pumpkin flavored cake mixes, which is a great substitute. 

Storage and Leftovers 

Leftover tres leches cake can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 3-4 days. The longer the cake sits it will become soggy over time. Alternatively, you can pour ⅔ of the milk mixture into the cake and keep the other ⅓ to use when serving, will prevent it from becoming too soggy.

How To Make Ahead Pumpkin Tres Leches Cake?

You can bake the pumpkin cake ahead of time up to three days before and keep it in the refrigerator. Or freezethe cake up to a month in advance and defrost it on the counter in less than 2 hours. 

The spiced milk mixture can be made up to three days before. Just be sure the fresh whole milk is not close to its use-by date.

Homemade whipped cream using just heavy cream and sugar has a tendency to melt or deflate a bit. I would not recommend making it more than one day in advance. Add fully dissolved unflavored gelatin to the mixture if you want a stabilized whipped cream that can last up to 4 days. 

Step by Step Instructions

1. In a mixing bowl add the yellow cake mix, pumpkin, butter, water or milk, eggs and pumpkin spice or cinnamon. Mix as directed on the cake mix box.

2. Pour cake batter into a greased 9x13 baking dish. Bake at 350 ° F for 40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

3. Remove from the oven and let the cake fully cool.

4. With a fork poke holes throughout the cooled cake.

5. Grab the ingredient for the spiced leches milk mixture and prep them.

6. In mixing bowl add condensed milk, evaporated milk, whole milk and pumpkin spice or cinnamon. Mix Well. Keep refrigerated.

Optional: Reserve about ½ cup for serving the cake slices.

7. Pour half leches "milk" mixture and wait till it absorbs about 5-8 minutes. Pour the remaining half.

8. Cover with plastic wrap, and place in the refrigerator for a minimum of 4 hours or overnight.

9. Grab the ingredients for the homemade whipped topping and prep them.

10. Place the heavy whipping cream and powdered sugar in a mixing bowl.

11. With hand or stand mixer whip the cold heavy cream and powdered sugar until stiff peaks form. Keep refrigerated until ready to use.

12. Grab the moist pumpkin cake from the refrigerator.

13. Spread the whipped topping evenly and sprinkle extra pumpkin pie spice or mixed spice.

14. With a toothpick swirl the topping and warm spices to make a it extra special for serving.

15. Serve with extra spiced leches mixture, if desired. Enjoy.