Coconut Lime Tres Leches Cake

Cinco de Mayo is coming and if you're looking for a delicious Mexican dessert to celebrate with, then this Coconut Lime Tres Leches Cake is for you! Tres Leches literally means "3 milk" and that's what this cake contains- 3 different types of milk. Although it sounds involved, it really is an easy cake to make!

Traditionally, an authentic Tres Leches Cake is made with evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk and whole milk. However, my Coconut Tres Leches cake is a little different in that it uses coconut milk instead of evaporated milk. And it's sort of the original poke cake because you poke holes in the top like you would a typical poke cake. But then you flip it and also perforate the other side before saturating it with a milky syrup. This ensures the cake is evenly soaked in milk, giving it a perfectly moist and velvety texture, without being mushy. When combined, this creamy trio of milks creates just the right balance of sweetness, density and richness. 

Jump to:

• 🥘 Ingredients
• 🔪Instructions
• 🎥 Videos
• 💭 Top Tips
• 👪 Serving Size
• 🍽Equipment
• 🌡️Storage
• ⭐ Reviews
• 📋 Coconut Lime Tres Leches Cake Recipe
• More Cinco de Mayo Recipes

🥘 Ingredients

For this tres leches cake, you'll need:

• all-purpose flour
• baking powder
• eggs
• white granulated sugar
• milk- I use 1%
• vanilla extract
• rum (or substitute rum extract)
• coconut milk (I use light)
• sweetened condensed milk
• limes
• unsweetened coconut
• sprinkles

*See recipe card for quantities

🔪Instructions

How to Make Coconut Tres Leches Cake

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 8 x 8-inch can pan with nonstick cooking spray or use Wilton Cake Release (*I use Cake Release- see Top Tips)
2. Stir flour with baking powder in a medium bowl.
3. In a separate large bowl, beat egg whites, using an electric mixer on high speed, until foamy.
4. Gradually add about a ¼ of the sugar and continue beating whites until stiff peaks form when beaters are lifted, 2 to 3 minutes. (see video below)
5. Using same beaters (no need to wash), in another separate large mixing bowl, beat egg yolks with remaining sugar until pale yellow, 1 to 2 minutes. Reduce mixer speed to low speed.
6. Gradually beat in flour mixture, then milk and ½ teaspoon vanilla, until smooth. Blend in lime zest and rum.
7. Stir a third of egg whites into yolk mixture, using a rubber spatula, then carefully fold in remaining whites until no streaks remain.
8. Pour into prepared pan. Bake in centre of oven until springy and a skewer inserted into the centre of cake comes out clean, 30 to 35 min. Let cake cool completely on a wire rack, about 1 hour.
9. Whisk coconut milk with condensed milk, 1 teaspoon vanilla and lime juice in a small bowl until combined. Set aside. Poke top of the cake all over with a skewer.

10. Pour half of coconut milk mixture over cake and let stand 5 minutes
11. Run a knife around edges of cake and invert onto a rimmed serving platter. Poke bottom of cake all over with skewer.

12. Pour remaining coconut milk mixture all over cake, spooning any excess drippings back onto the cake until it is absorbed, about 5 minutes. Refrigerate until fully chilled before serving, 1 to 2 hours.

*See recipe card for full instructions

🎥 Videos

How to make a lime twist

How to beat egg whites to stiff peaks

Every celebration needs cake and what's a celebration cake without rainbow sprinkles? I sprinkled both coconut and rainbow jimmies on this Mexican Tres Leches cake to make it even more festive! I'll take any opportunity to celebrate, eat Mexican food and cake, but this cake is not the only way I celebrate this holiday. My Authentic Spanish Churros are another delicious Cinco de Mayo dessert that's also ideal for any fiesta!

💭 Top Tips

Leftover Condensed Milk

I am trying really hard to use my leftovers and make recipes around them. I had leftover condensed milk from making my Healthy Butter Chicken and have always wanted to post this Tres Leches cake. It took me a while to get around to making it, so I was a little worried that the leftover condensed milk would go bad. But it's really surprising how long condensed milk lasts in your fridge; up to 3 weeks!

Freezing Leftover Condensed Milk

But did you know you can also freeze it? Condensed milk should be frozen in an airtight container and will not actually freeze solid because of the sugar content. You can thaw frozen condensed milk overnight in the refrigerator. And it can be frozen for up to three months without any noticeable flavor or texture changes, as long as the container is tightly sealed. Whisk the milk if there is any separation, and note that thawed condensed milk should not be re-frozen. You can read more about freezing condensed milk HERE.

Crumb-free Cake

I have always used Wilton Cake Release (affiliate link) because your cakes come out perfect, without sticking and crumb-free!

Wilton Cake Release Pan Non...Shop on Amazon

👪 Serving Size

This coconut milk tres leches cake recipe makes 9 square servings. You can also half, double or triple the recipe by clicking on the blue serving number and selecting the number of servings you'd like. The ingredient quantities will automatically adjust. If you half the recipe, you'll need another 8x8x3 square pan.

🍽Equipment

You'll need an electric hand mixer and a deep 8X8x3 square pan (affiliate link) for this Tres Leches cake.

🌡️Storage

Store this Coconut Tres Leches cake in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 4 days and freeze this cake for up to 3 months in a sealed container.

Looking for more Cinco de Mayo recipes? Check out this Churro recipe!

This Mexican cake is a great choice for your Cinco de Mayo celebration, but because it's easy, delicious and versatile it makes a great cake for any occasion. You can decorate it any way you want or simply serve it topped with whipped cream. But personally, I think sprinkles are the best!

⭐ Reviews

Did you make this recipe? Please RATE THE RECIPE below!

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Happy Cinco de Mayo!

More Cinco de Mayo Recipes

• Healthy Grilled Mexican Street Corn (Elote)
• New Mexican Chile Con Queso
• Healthy Mexican Picadillo
• Two Cheese Mexican Tuna Melts
• Slow Cooker Mexican Chicken - Healthy & WW friendly
• Easy Chicken Quesadillas (with leftover rotissarie chicken)
• Slow Cooker Pork Carnitas Recipe (gluten-free)