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Cream Cheese Swirled Coconut Tres Leches Cake.
Ending the week with a sweet cake just seemed like a really good idea, because man oh man was it a week. A great one, but a busy one. Somehow we are already into the last full week of April, and next week we’ll be moving into May. This means three things.
One, Cinco de Mayo is a week from Saturday. Which I am very excited about this, as if you couldn’t tell by all the tacos, queso, and margaritas I’ve been sharing over the last week. Oh, and the churros…
Two, Mother’s Day is just two weeks from Sunday. I need to start plotting out what I’m going to do for my mom. I already pre-gifted her this fun basket, so I need some new ideas. Help! What are you all doing for your mom?
Three, summer is only about a month and half away. I hate to wish time away, but I am so ready for summer. Bring on warm days, long nights, heirloom tomatoes, and plenty of ice cream. Please.
With so much to look forward to and celebrate in the next few weeks I figured a cake was in order.
And in comes this fun, yet different, bundt cake.
With Cinco de Mayo next week, and Mother’s Day immediately following, I wanted to share a cake that could work for both holidays. Enter this pretty Tres Leches Cake. It may be very Mexican, but it’s also perfect as a Mother’s Day brunch cake or dessert.
If you’re unfamiliar with tres leches cake, it’s a Mexican sponge cake that is soaked in a three milk glaze. I’m sharing my own updated version that includes coconut for an added flavor boost.
Here is how this cake works.
The base of the cake is very similar to that of a really good vanilla cake, but it’s infused with some coconut flavor as well. What makes this cake special is the cream cheese and coconut swirl running through the center of the bundt cake, it’s unexpected and delicious.
The cake itself is super simple, not too sweet, and honestly nothing too fancy. This is a cake that truly needs a glaze, the glaze is what a tres leches cake is all about. Traditionally, a tres leches cake is made with a three milk glaze that consists of sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk, and heavy cream. In my version, I am only using two milks, sweetened condensed milk and coconut milk. I’m also including a touch of cinnamon and rum, you know for good measure.
Here’s what you might find odd about a tres leches cake. In order to allow the cake to soak up all that delicious glaze, you will need to poke holes in it. Yes, you are going to poke holes in your cake, and I promise all with be OK. The holes allow for the cake to evenly absorb all of the glaze.
Trust me, it’s the right thing to do. Soaking the cake in the glaze makes for an incredibly soft, and incredibly flavorful cake.
It. Is. SO. GOOD!
Especially when paired with the coconutty creamy cheese center. Again, so delicious.
As I mentioned above, this cake is perfect for Cinco de Mayo or Mother’s Day, but it’s equally perfect for just about any other occasion as well. I’m planning to make this over the weekend for a family Saturday night dinner as my oldest brother, Creighton and my youngest brother, Red will both be in town. It will be the perfect time do an early Mother’s Day dinner, since we can’t all be together in two weeks for Mother’s Day.
Got to make the time while we have a good amount of the crew together. This should be the perfect cake to end dinner with. Already excited about it.
If you make this Tres Leches cake and love it, please be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! I love, love, love hearing from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every one of you. Oh, and of course, if you do make this Tres Leches cake, don’t forget to also tag me on Instagram so I can see! I love looking at the photos of recipes you all have made. So fun!
Cream Cheese Swirled Coconut Tres Leches Cake
Servings: 16 servings
Calories Per Serving: 383 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 2 sticks unsalted butter, melted
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4 eggs
- 1 cup full fat canned coconut milk
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups shredded coconut
Coconut Glaze
- 1/2 cup canned full fat coconut milk, plus more if needed
- 1 can (15 ounces) sweetened condensed milk
- 1 pinch cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon coconut rum (optional) (optional)
Instructions
- 1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 10 inch bundt pan.2. In a large bowl, beat together the butter, sugar, vanilla, eggs, and milk until fully incorporated. Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and mix on low-speed until just combined, being sure the batter is completely mixed.3. Spoon half the batter into the prepared pan. Gently dollop the softened cream cheese over the batter and spread in an even layer. Sprinkle the shredded coconut over top the cream cheese. Spoon the remaining batter over the cream cheese, carefully spreading in an even layer. Transfer to the oven and bake for 50-55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cool 15 minutes. 4. Meanwhile, make the glaze. In a medium bowl, whisk together the coconut milk, sweetened condensed milk, cinnamon, and coconut rum, if using. If the glaze seems thick, add coconut milk to thin.5. Pierce holes in the top of the cake with a skewer, inserting about halfway through the cake. Slowly drizzle 1/4 of the glaze evenly over cake. Let stand 15 minutes. Invert onto a cake plate with edges and poke holes around the top of the cake. Drizzle with the remaining glaze. Cover and place in the fridge for a couple of hours or up to overnight. Before serving, drizzle any glaze sitting on the plate over the cake. Slice and serve.
See you all tomorrow for a special Saturday Nine Favorite Things.
Toucans wait to make this cake! It looks so yummy!
It was nice meeting you today at the event honoring Your brother and the other Olympic athletes!
Keep up the beautiful work!
Michelle
Hi Michelle! It was so nice to meet you! Thank you so much and I hope you love this cake!
Thanks for the measurements Tieghan.
No problem! I hope you love this cake Tania!
Looks delicious & I love some good tres leches cake, but the title is deceiving only because you are using two types of milk instead of three. Maybe you can add a fun twist to your recipe’s name 🙂 Looking forward to baking it!
Thank you Karen! I hope you love this cake!
Such a beautiful cake, this is perfect for Mother’s Day!
Thank you Laura!
OMGoodness! Love coconut. Can’t wait to try this!! Sounds so yummy!!
Thank you Mary Lynn!
This is my first time reading your blog. I have a question about the cream cheese coconut tres Leche cake before I try baking it.
Does the soaking liquid soak the entire cake when it is a thicker cake like a bundt?
Normally a tres leche is a flat style cake so the soaking liquid is completely absorbed in the cake which is what makes it so wonderful.
The combination of favoring in your recipe does sound delicious but I did not know if it would hold up if it is that thick?
Thanks.
HI! So glad to have a new reader! For the cake, you will poke holes in both the bottom and top of the cake, so yes, It will soak the whole cake. As for the structure, I found it held up really well to the milk. Please let me know if you have other questions. Hope you love this recipe! Thanks! 🙂
Shouldn’t this be a Dos Leches cake? ?
Technically, yes it should, but I felt that since it was inspired by tres leches and resembles a trech leches cake so much that it was ok to call it that. Please let me know if you have other questions. Hope you love this recipe! Thanks! 🙂
This looks insanely delicious!
I think I will make this for a party I have coming up in the summer!
Today I am making your banana coconut cake with chocolate frosting (sorry cant remember the exact name!) for my in-laws anniversary and I am pumped!
Hi Tiegan
This cake looks amazing and I would love to make it. Do you by any chance have measurements other than cups? Cups are different sizes all over the world . Can I have it at least in ouzes or grams if you have that please?.
Hi Tania! I actually do not know the exact calculations into ounces and grams for this recipe, but I did use an online converter to try to calculate it for you. I am not sure if these are completely accurate, so I would check them! Also, these are all in US conversions! I hope you love this cake and please let me know if you have any other questions!
CAKE
8 fl ounces unsalted butter (2 sticks)
225 grams of granulated sugar
.33 fluid ounces of vanilla extract
4 egs
8 fl ounces of full fat canned coconut milk
360 grams all-purpose flour
4 grams baking powder
2 grams baking soda
2 grams salt
8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
510 grams shredded coconut
COCONUT GLAZE
4 fluid ounces full fat coconut milk
15 ounces sweetened condensed milk
1 pinch cinnamon
.5 fluid ounces of coconut run (optional)
Why are you celebrating Cinco de maya, it isn’t t even a holiday in Mexico. Most Mexicans don’t even know what it is. If it was a Mexican holiday, why would celebrate it anyway. Therefore, this would be great for Mothers Day. In any case, sounds delicious.
Hi Pat! I am so glad you like this cake and I hope you enjoy it for Mother’s Day!
Wonderful cake for Mother’s Day
Thank you André!
I’m lactose intolerant but this has peaked my taste buds to want to make and try this. You have such a way with words that I can imagine all the delectable deliciousness of this cake. I will tag you for sure.
Thank you
On a side note what happened to your app?
Thank you so much, Kae! I hope you are able to make this and adapt to your needs.
I haven’t had an app for a while. I am so sorry if you where using it, but it wasn’t working properly and we never looked into re-launching it. Please let me know if you have other questions. Hope you love this recipe! Thanks! 🙂
Hi, I was wondering is the shredded coconut in the cake sweeten coconut or not. Thanks Kati
You can use either sweetened or unsweetened, but I used shredded, sweetened coconut. Please let me know if you have other questions. Hope you love this recipe! Thanks! 🙂
yum! looks like cake for breakfast today!
Thank you Aimee!
OH, yes, I can almost taste this cake, so yum, it must really be a treat
So glad you like this! I hope you make it! Thanks Ruth!