REVIEW: Tres Leches Toast Crunch Cereal

During my decades of dessert dining, I’m unsure if I’ve had tres leches cake. But how could I not have had something that sounds delicious — a pound cake that’s soaked in a mixture of whole, evaporated, and condensed milks and then topped with whipped cream. As complex as that sounds, the folks at General Mills have developed a new Toast Crunch variety based on that dessert that I may or may not have had.

The company says that the cereal brings the cake’s flavor to the cereal bowl and is packed with cinnamon and extra indulgent Cinnamilk with the same crunchy texture as Cinnamon Toast Crunch.

If I’ve never had tres leches cake, I’m going to want some tres leches cake très vite because I’m going to assume the dessert is as delicious as this cereal. Yeah, I know. One is Spanish, and the other is French, but it looks cool in text.

First, I’d love to spend a lot of time with an open bag of this stuff in a phone booth, pod in a Japanese capsule hotel, or coffin because its delightful aroma reminds me of a cinnamon roll’s cream cheese frosting. That aromatic introduction leads to a unique and complex cereal flavor that gives me as much joy as eating the original Cinnamon Toast Crunch, dry or with milk. Actually, maybe even more.

There’s definitely a cake taste that’s somewhat similar to what I’ve experienced with the vast number of birthday cake products I’ve crammed into my mouth over the years, but not over-the-top sweet like most of those. Beyond that, there’s a butteriness that makes my tongue wonder if that’s from the cake flavoring or the cereal trying to present a milkiness. Whatever it is, it adds a bit of sweet complexity that goes exceptionally well with a not-quite-as-intense-as-Cinnamon-Toast-Crunch cinnamon flavor.

With its strong cake and cinnamon flavors, I really want to call this Cinnamon Cake Crunch, but Tres Leches Toast Crunch is more fun to say. Also, and this might be my imagination, there’s a little something something in the taste that could be interpreted as whipped topping.

Overall, Tres Leches Toast Crunch is très bien. Yeah, I know Spanish and French again. It’s so wonderful that, like my beloved Apple Pie Toast Crunch, I want this to exist forever year round.

FOREVER, General Mills! FOREVER!

DISCLOSURE: I received a free product sample from General Mills. Doing so did not influence my review.

Size: 12 oz box
Rating: 9 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (1 cup w/o milk) 170 calories, 4 grams of fat, 0 grams of saturated fat, 1 gram of polyunsaturated fat, 2.5 grams of monounsaturated fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 230 milligrams of sodium, 33 grams of carbohydrates, 2 grams of fiber, 12 grams of sugar (including 12 grams of added sugar), and 2 grams of protein.

9 thoughts to “REVIEW: Tres Leches Toast Crunch Cereal”

  1. You must get yourself some Tres Leches cake soon, for science. I discovered this week that Trader Joe’s has it in their frozen section. I haven’t tried it yet, but it is nice to know it’s there waiting in the freezer for cake emergencies.

    1. She may have had it already… or not. (What a strange and aimless opening for a review, btw!)

  2. Marvo, try the real deal in Coquito’s Latin Cuisine Restaurant or any other Latin American restaurant.

    1. I’ve found that on the mainland, Chuy’s Tex-Mex restaurant has about the best restaurant chain Tres Leches.

  3. I’ve only ever had lukewarm feelings about CTC and don’t eat much cereal now (dry, no milk when I do), and the rest of my household doesn’t usually like this kind of brand extension…. But after reading this review, I might buy a box, even if it’s not on super sale!

    Now, to be an internet person: Tres leches cake is made with a light sponge cake, not a pound cake. A sponge cake has the air bubbles and structure to absorb the three milks that a pound cake doesn’t.

    1. I am addmittedly not a Tres Leches afficianado but I’ve never had it with cinnamon, either. Imagine my surprise when I looked up recipes online and a healthy amount of them do have a sprinkle of cinnamon on top!

  4. i’ve never had tres leche cake, but i’ve had the Haagen Dazs Tres Leche original flavor (not the newer rum version) and i loooooved it.
    can’t wait to find this cereal..

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