all the recipes i see seem to say that it should be served in the baking dish, giving me the idea that this cake is very fragile once covered in all that liquid.

i want to do an 8" or 10" round tres leches cake with either flavored whipped cream or IMBC ....AND a chocolate wrap.

it will be about 4" high and i'm hoping that the chocolate wrap adds stability. but will i even be able to stack 2 layers on top of each other? torte it?

another question. does it HAVE to sit overnight before serving (to allow the milks to absorb?)

help ?

I would like to know the answer to this also . . . I have heard this cake is really good

NO! It's so moist, all the milk will make it unsturdy and to crumble.
The cake does need the 24 hours for the milk to absorb too.
I don't recommend trying to stack the cakes, I've heard too many horror stories about people who have.

so when you stack, even two 2" cake pans, one on top of the other is a no no?

what about when they do that for tiered quincineras and weddings?

can i put less milk?

sorry, I don't know the answer for those questions since I've never tried--I've only done it in the pan out of fear.

Someone on her mentioned she was at a wedding where the MILs friend made a 3 tiered stacked tres leche cake and it collapsed in on itself horribly, just to wear a pile of mushy goodness was left. After reading that I have been to scared to try it. hopefully, someone on here can help with this one.

Here is a recipe I have in my recipe file for tres leches to stack. I have no idea where I got this recipe, so I cannot give proper credit. I have never tried a tres leches yet, it is on my to do list. I don't know if this has less milk than the traditional recipe. Maybe it would work. I have heard that a local mexican bakery does tres leches wedding cakes and they make quite a mess after they are cut. I wish I could be of more help!

Pastel (Cake) de Tres Leches for stacking

1-½ cups All-purpose flour
1 teaspoon Baking powder
½ cup Unsalted butter
2 cups White sugar (divided)
5 Eggs
1-½ teaspoon Vanilla extract (divided)
1 cup Milk
½ of a 14-ounce can Sweetened condensed milk
½ of a 12-ounce can Evaporated milk
1/3 cup Liqueur, Frangelico, Brandy or Chambord, for example (optional)
1-½ cups Heavy (whipping) cream

Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Grease and flour a 9x13-inch baking pan.
Sift flour and baking powder together and set aside. Cream the butter and 1 cup of the sugar together until fluffy. Add the eggs and 1/2 teaspoon of the vanilla. Beat well. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture, 2 tablespoons at a time, mixing well until blended. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake for 30 minutes.

When cake has finished baking, pierce it in 8 or 10 places with a fork or skewer, and let it cool. Combine the whole milk, evaporated milk, condensed milk and liqueur and pour over the top of the cooled cake. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving.

Whipped Cream Topping: When ready to serve, combine the whipping cream and the remaining 1 teaspoon of vanilla and 1 cup of sugar, whipping until thick. Spread over top of cake.

Because of the milk in the cake, it is very important that you keep the cake refrigerated until ready to serve. Serve chilled

I think with the proper support you are going to be able to stack a tres leches cake.
I always made tres leches cakes(you can see my pic) and if you let the milk set overnigth the cake will taste better and is not going to be to soft to stack, if you need more help pm me.

thank you everybody for your helpful advice and recipes.

just to clarify, i dont need to STACK stack the cakes (as in a tiered cake). what i meant by that was that all the recipes i had seen were smaller recipes for only one pan, and the instructions said to cool , pour milk on top and serve IN the pan. so my concern was that in making an 8" round tres leches cake to my normal height of 4" by stacking two layers of cake...would that be do-able. i also usually torte both cake layers so that there are four layers of cake total. i was hoping i could chill the cakes overnight (out of the pans? or line the pans with parchment and remove them when i assemble the cake?) , torte and ice the cakes, then put a chocolate collar/wrap around the sides, i figured that would add stability so the sides wouldnt give out. (example: http://www.cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=gallery&file=displayimage&pid=474003 )

do you think this would work? also, lilytexas, since you make this all the time, do you have a tried and true recipe that you'd mind sharing with me? i've seen several but am cautious about trying one without high recommendations since this cake is for someone else. thanks so much, i really appreciate it!

I know this thread is pretty old, but with proper supports, you CAN stack a tres leches cake without it imploding in on itself.

Here's one I did recently for a bridal shower.  The cake was soaked in plenty of the milk mixture (over 1.5 cups per 9" round layer) and had a vanilla custard filling.  The frosting was a traditional whipped style.

I have made several of these cakes and each time I have stacked them. The first was a 9 inch round with two layers, covered in the traditional whipped frosting. I did not torte these. The second was a quarer sheet cake, two layers, and the whipped frosting. For each cake I let them rest over night to absorb the tres leche. I was very careful when assembling them and I had no problems. All others were done the same way and no issues. I do not recommend trying to adjust the placement too much when stacking as they can be fragile but none of mine fell apart or collapsed. If they aren't placed as you would like, don't try to move them. Instead, trim any overages and fill with frosting as needed. This should take care of any unevenness in placement without destroying your cake.

Tres leche cake is delicious.

I will note that the last survivor of the once-mighty Clifton's Cafeteria chain, at the time it closed for a renovation that has already gone on for many months longer than planned, offered an excellent tres leches cake, and (if I remember right) it appeared to be baked as a 2-layer sheet cake, and served as pre-cut pieces.

(I hope it's still on the menu when Clifton's reopens. Then again, I hope Clifton's reopens.)