Strawberry Malted Milk Tres Leches Cake

A recipe from Tanya Bush’s "Will This Make You Happy"

3 Jun 2026 — 6 min read

Photo by Vanessa Granda

Last month saw the release of my friend Tanya Bush's Will This Make You Happy, a "narrative" cookbook that tells the story of Tanya's pandemic-year transformation from somewhat hapless apartment-kitchen baking experimenter to full-fledged pastry chef. Each of the four novelistic sections is followed by a collection of seasonal recipes, most of which appear in one way or another in the preceding text. Tanya and I did an event for WTMYH here in Boston last month, for which Sofra's Maura Kilpatrick made recipes from the book, and all of them were incredible. (I'm making the Dark Chocolate & Toasted Coconut Birthday Cake for a friend's birthday soon just to experience it again.)

It remains one of my favorite baking books in a long time, and one that any baker will want to have in their collection. Not only is Tanya's story a wonderful read, but the 50+ recipes it contains are incredible.

Dark Chocolate & Toasted Coconut Birthday Cake, Cardamom Crullers with Plum Drizzle, and Brown Butter Buckwheat Madeleines, from Tanya's book (baked by Sofra Bakery for our event).

Best of all, the book is a secret guide to creative flavor and textural pairings in baked goods. Though there are plenty of simple, straightforward recipes in it, many are built from multiple, stacked elements, variations of which often reappear in other recipes. As such, it's an excellent manual to the modular, mix-and-match approach to baking used by many professionals—a relatively limited toolkit of favorite elements, combined and recombined in infinite ways.

Tanya offered to let me share a recipe from the book with you today—Strawberry Malted Milk Tres Leches Cake—one that contains an ingredient that appears often in WTMYH: malted milk powder. Like Tanya, I too am a big fan of malted milk powder as a flavoring/flavor booster, and will be discussing it here soon in an upcoming post about malted grains. Here it is used to flavor both the tres leches soak (as a secret "fourth milk") and the whipped cream used to frost the cake. It also includes a "strawberry crunch" made from freeze-dried strawberries, strawberry Jell-O powder, and ground up golden Oreos that would make a nice topping for any number of things (even just ice cream).

—Andrew

Strawberry Malted Milk Tres Leches Cake

Makes One 9-By-13-Inch (23 By 33 Cm) Cake

One of the greatest pleasures I have found in restaurant work is collaboration. At Little Egg, we often run a special created in concert with another baker or chef from around the city. This recipe was developed with Alexandria Atencio, the owner and chef of Salty Lunch Lady, one of the best restaurants in New York. The dessert is a nostalgic cake that enlists powdered Jell-O and strawberry Nesquik to transform a diner strawberry milkshake into a tender soaked tres leches. The secret fourth milk—malted milk powder—is incorporated into both the soak and the salty malt cream to balance the saccharine strawberry flavor from the Jell-O powder and Nesquik.

Cake
120 g (1 cup) all-purpose flour
1 ½ tsps baking powder
¾ tsp kosher salt
175g egg whites (from about 6 large eggs), at room temperature
200g (1 cup) granulated sugar, divided
90g egg yolks (from about 4 large eggs), at room temperature
76g (scant ⅓ cup) whole milk
1 tsp vanilla extract

Soak
340g (one 12-ounce can) evaporated milk
200g (7 ounces) condensed milk
227g (¾ cup plus 3 tbsps) whole milk
45g (scant ½ cup) strawberry Nesquik powder
2 tbsps malted milk powder
2 tsps vanilla extract
½ tsp kosher salt

Strawberry Crunch
2 tsps sliced or whole freeze-dried strawberries
142g (12) golden Oreos
3 tbsps strawberry Jell-O powder
2 tbsps unsalted butter, melted
¼ tsp kosher salt

Whipped Cream
454g (2 cups) heavy cream
60g (6 Tbsps) malted milk powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
¼ tsp kosher salt

Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Lightly spritz the bottom and sides of a 9-by-13-inch (23 by 33 cm) glass or metal baking dish with cooking spray and set aside.
To make the cake: In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt and set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment (or in a large bowl with a handheld mixer), whisk the egg whites on medium speed until soft peaks form, 3 to 4 minutes. With the mixer still on, slowly stream in 50 grams (¼ cup) of the sugar. Whisk until stiff, glossy peaks form, about 5 minutes. Transfer the mixture to a medium bowl, cover, and refrigerate until ready to use.
In the same bowl of the stand mixer (no need to clean) fitted with the whisk attachment (with a whisk if doing this by hand), whisk together the remaining 150 grams (¾ cup) sugar, the egg yolks, whole milk, and vanilla until thick and pale, about 5 minutes.
Using a rubber spatula and working in three additions, fold the egg white mixture into the egg yolk mixture. Fold in the flour mixture until just incorporated and the batter is smooth. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing the top with an offset spatula.
Bake until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 20 to 30 minutes. Let the cake cool completely in the pan.
Meanwhile, to make the soak: In a medium bowl, whisk together the evaporated milk, condensed milk, whole milk, Nesquik, malted milk powder, vanilla, and salt until smooth. If the mixture isn’t completely smooth, strain it through a fine-mesh sieve set over a large bowl.
Using a fork or a skewer, poke holes all over the cake, making sure the holes reach all the way to the bottom.
Slowly pour the soak all over the cake, waiting for it to be completely absorbed before pouring more. Cover the cake with plastic and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or up to 24 hours.
Preheat the oven to 325°F (165°C) and line a half-sheet pan with parchment paper.
To make the strawberry crunch: In a resealable plastic bag, crush the freeze-dried strawberries until broken down into small pieces. Set aside.
In a food processor, pulse the Oreos until broken into crumbles with some pea-size pieces. Transfer the Oreos to a medium bowl. Add the Jell-O powder, melted butter, and salt and toss to combine. Spread the Oreo mixture evenly onto the prepared sheet pan and bake until pale golden brown, 7 to 10 minutes. Let cool completely on the sheet pan. Add the freeze-dried strawberries and toss to combine. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
To make the whipped cream: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment (or in a large bowl with a whisk or handheld mixer), whisk together the cream, malted milk powder, vanilla, and salt on medium speed until medium peaks form, about 4 minutes. Spread in an even layer over the cake.
Generously sprinkle the top of the cake with the strawberry crunch. Cut into slices and eat immediately. Store leftovers wrapped tightly in plastic in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.