Trillice

Trillice is Turkey's adaptation of the Latin American "tres leches" cake — a sponge soaked in three types of milk — that arrived in Turkey in the late 20th century and was immediately embraced and given a Turkish identity. The word "trillice" is a Turkification of "tres leches" (three milks in Spanish), reflecting the global flow of food culture that characterises modern Turkish cuisine.

The Turkish version typically uses cow's milk, goat's milk, and condensed milk — a combination that gives the cake a slightly more complex, tangy flavour than the Latin American original, which typically uses evaporated milk, condensed milk, and cream. Turkish cafés and pastane (pastry shops) quickly made the dish their own, adding local cream or kaymak (clotted cream) toppings.

Our trillice is a soft, spongy cake soaked in three milks until it becomes extraordinarily moist and tender, then topped with a cream sauce. It is light despite its richness — the saturation of the sponge distributes the milk throughout in a way that feels airy rather than dense. It is one of those desserts that consistently surprises people who expect it to be heavier than it is.