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. 

🥘 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!

👪 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 a airtight container for up to 4 days and freeze this cake for up to 3 months in a sealed container.

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

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Happy Cinco de Mayo!

📋 Coconut Lime Tres Leches Cake Recipe

This Coconut Lime Tres Leches Cake is a unique take on the traditional Mexican cake. It's a sweet, moist cake with a velvety texture, a delicious milky syrup and coconut lime twist. Garnished with coconut and festive rainbow sprinkles, it's perfect for your Cinco de Mayo celebration!

5 from 8 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: Latin, Mexican, spanish

Keyword: cake, milk cake, tres leches

Servings: 9 servings

Calories: 229kcal

Author: Terri Gilson

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

cooling and chilling: 2 hours

Total Time: 2 hours 40 minutes

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Ingredients

Cake

• ▢ 1 cup all-purpose flour
• ▢ 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ▢ 5 eggs separated
• ▢ ¾ cup white granulated sugar divided
• ▢ ⅓ cup milk * I use 1%
• ▢ ½ teaspoon vanilla
• ▢ 1 teaspoon lime zest
• ▢ 1 tablespoon rum * or 1 teaspoon rum extract

Coconut Milk Syrup

• ▢ 200 ml coconut milk (½ a 400 ml can of coconut milk) * I use light
• ▢ 150 ml sweetened condensed milk (½ of a 300 ml can )
• ▢ 1 teaspoon vanilla
• ▢ 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

Garnish

• ▢ unsweetened coconut flakes * Can use toasted coconut, if desired
• ▢ rainbow sprinkles * I use rainbow jimmies- jimmies are bigger sprinkles
• ▢ lime twist

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Cake

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 8 x 8-inch can pan with non-stick cooking spray or use Wilton Cake Release (see post)
• Stir flour with baking powder in a medium bowl.
• In a separate medium mixing bowl, beat egg whites, using an electric mixer on high, until foamy.
• 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 directions in post Videos)
• Using same beaters (no need to wash), in another separate large mixing bowl, beat yolks with remaining sugar until pale yellow, 1 to 2 minutes. Reduce mixer speed to low.
• Gradually beat in flour mixture, then milk and ½ teaspoon vanilla, until smooth. Blend in lime zest and rum.
• Stir a third of egg whites into yolk mixture, using a rubber spatula, then carefully fold in remaining egg whites until no streaks remain. 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. Cool completely on a rack, about 1 hour.
  

Coconut Milk Syrup

• Whisk coconut milk with condensed milk, 1 teaspoon vanilla and lime juice in a small bowl until combined. Poke top of cake all over with a skewer.
  
• Pour half of coconut syrup over cake and let stand 5 minutes.
  
• Run a knife around edges of cake and invert onto a rimmed serving platter. Poke bottom of cake all over with skewer.
  
• Pour remaining syrup 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.

Garnish

• Sprinkle unsweetened shredded coconut on cake, then rainbow sprinkles/jimmies.
• Cut cake into 9 pieces, then add a twist of lime to each piece when served. (See post video on how to make a lime twist garnish)

Notes

*See post contents for important recipe information and tips!

Nutrition Facts

📋 Coconut Lime Tres Leches Cake Recipe

Amount Per Serving (1 piece)

Calories 229 Calories from Fat 45

% Daily Value*

Fat 5g8%

Saturated Fat 3g19%

Cholesterol 93mg31%

Sodium 75mg3%

Potassium 146mg4%

Carbohydrates 39g13%

Fiber 1g4%

Sugar 27g30%

Protein 6g12%

Vitamin A 191IU4%

Vitamin C 1mg1%

Calcium 104mg10%

Iron 1mg6%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Nutrition

Serving: 1piece | Calories: 229kcal (11%) | Carbohydrates: 39g (13%) | Protein: 6g (12%) | Fat: 5g (8%) | Saturated Fat: 3g (19%) | Cholesterol: 93mg (31%) | Sodium: 75mg (3%) | Potassium: 146mg (4%) | Fiber: 1g (4%) | Sugar: 27g (30%) | Vitamin A: 191IU (4%) | Vitamin C: 1mg (1%) | Calcium: 104mg (10%) | Iron: 1mg (6%)

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• New Mexican Chile Con Queso
• Healthy Mexican Picadillo
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• Easy Chicken Quesadillas (with leftover rotissarie chicken)
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