Tres Leche Cake

A beautiful, very easy to make cake, that can be eaten warm or cold...

I first stumbled across this cake last year whilst searching for a Mexican dessert. Literally translating as Three Milk cake, all the recipes I came across initially were definitely not Vegan! A little more research online did show a few Vegan versions, but I decided to have a go at creating my own from the original recipe. It's an extremely simple all in one cake which is then smothered in a mixture of three milks and left to soak. The result is a sticky, sweet cake that improves after a day or two. 

Ingredients for the cake

2 cups plain flour
1 cup self raising flour
1 1/2 cups caster sugar
1 cup shredded coconut
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt
2 tsp baking  powder
2 cups milk of choice
1 cup melted butter
3 tbsp apple cider vinegar
2 tsp vanilla extact

Ingredients for the three milk soaking mixture

200ml coconut cream
150ml condensed coconut milk
1 cup milk of choice​

Preheat your oven to 200C and then line a 9" square deep sided baking tin (or equivalent) with baking paper.

Place all your dry cake ingredients into a large bowl and stir to combine. Add in your wet ingredients and whisk together until all the lumps of flour have been incorporated. The batter will be quite loose. Pour into your lined tin and place in the oven on the middle shelf for 45 to 50 minutes. Keep an eye on it and if the top starts to colour too much, just lay a sheet of foil over. The top will crack slightly but don't worry - this helps to absorb the soaking liquid. Check after the cooking time by inserting a wooden skewer into the centre of the cake. If it comes out relatively clean, and the top of the cake is quite firm and springy to the touch, then it's done. If you feel it needs more time, return it to the oven and check every 5 minutes. Remove and set aside to cool slightly in the tin. 

Now we need to prepare the soaking liquid. Into a bowl place your coconut cream and condensed coconut milk. Place the remaining cup of milk into a small pan and heat until it comes to a simmer. Allow it to simmer gently until its roughly reduced by half. Once this is achieved, add to the other milks and stir to combine. 

Now take your still warm cake and pierce the top with a wooden skewer randomly. Slowly spoon over your milk mixture, allowing each spoon to sink in before you add another. You'll start to think that its never all going to go in, but it will. It'll be very wet around the edges where the milk mixture pools, but that's exactly how it should be. Leave for several hours (overnight if possible) to allow all the milk mixture to soak in. ​

Then its just a question of deciding how to serve it. I like to serve it as a dessert with either whipped coconut cream and fruit or a chilli chocolate sauce. Even though it has a lot of coconut based ingredients, the flavour doesn't overpower at all. The shredded coconut in the cake just adds a bit of texture, but you can leave it out if you prefer. 

As this cake is very rich, you'll get at least 12 serves from it so its great to feed a crowd. I hope you'll give this a go as its a great example of how even the most impossible sounding recipes can be veganised.