Begin by preheating your oven to 350 degrees. Butter up your 9×13 casserole dish to prepare it for baking!

Set out three mixing bowls. In the largest one, take your sifter and sift your flour, baking powder, and salt. Sifting will ensure there are no clumps in your flour, helping create the best sponge cake consistency.

After sifting the dry ingredients, take the other two mixing bowls and separate the egg yolks and egg whites.

Carefully crack the egg and carefully pour the egg yolk from one eggshell to the other. As you focus on pouring the egg yolk from one egg shelf to the other, naturally, gravity will help gently pull the egg white off the egg yolk.

Place the egg yolk in the 3rd mixing bowl by itself. Go nice and slow with this process. Repeat this step with all 5 eggs.

Once the egg yolks and egg whites are separated, pour the yolks and ¾ cups of sugar into your stand mixing bowl.

Beat the yolks and sugar on high for 2 minutes. You want the yolks to turn a pale yellow color. I find it best to set a 2-minute timer on your phone to stay accurate and avoid overbeating the yolks.

After 2 minutes, stir in the milk and vanilla until well incorporated. Pour the yolk batter over the dry ingredients. With a rubber spatula, gently fold the yolks into the flour until well incorporated. Set the bowl aside.

Wash and dry your stand mixer bowl. Place it back on your mixer and pour in your egg whites.

Beat the egg whites on high for 1 minute. You want your egg whites to have soft peaks. If you hold the bowl right side up, they will look loose and droop off the whisk (see picture). Add the remaining ¼ cups of sugar and beat on high again until stiff peaks form. Again, I use my phone timer to ensure the best results!

Your stiff egg whites will stand firm off of the stand mixer whisk. Look at the photo above to see how your stiff peaks should look like.

Regardless, if you’re nervous about telling the difference, follow the guide on using your timer. I’ve done this several times, and setting a timer can produce excellent results without the stress.

Take your egg whites and gently fold them into the rest of the cake batter. It is important not to overmix this step. The cake relies heavily on the air whipped up in the egg whites to set up properly while baking.

Pour the batter into the prepared casserole dish. Use a spatula to distribute the batter evenly throughout the pan. Bake for 30-35 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.

While baking your cake, you can begin preparing the tres leches. Combine heavy cream, evaporated, and sweetened condensed milk in a medium-sized mixing bowl.

Once the cake is out of the oven and slightly cooled, take a fork and begin to pierce the top of the cake with the fork. This will help the Tres Leches to soak into the cake evenly.

Slowly pour the Tres Leches over the cake, allowing it to soak in every inch. Let your cake sit for at least 30 minutes to soak up the Tres Leches properly. Pop your cake into the fridge while you start to make the whipped topping.

In your stand mixer, add heavy whipping cream, pure maple syrup, and vanilla. Beat on high for 2 minutes or until the cream thickens and has the perfect texture. Be sure to taste-test your whipped cream if you need to add more maple syrup for sweetness!

Pull your cake out of the fridge and top it with the delicious whipped cream! Garnish with berries and return to the refrigerator for a few more hours before serving.

**If you are making this the night before, cover your cake with whipped cream, then place it back into the fridge. Garnish your cake just before leaving for your event due to some berries bleeding into the whipped cream.**

If you try this recipe, let me know by leaving a comment! Love it? Feel free to give it a 5-star rating!