Coconut Rum Lime Tres Leches Cake (Edit recipe)

Tres Leches Cake is my favorite dessert to make and the traditional version just got a Tropical makeover! The combination of Coconut + Rum + Lime works so beautifully together without any of the ingredients overpowering one another. The soft, airy Sponge cake recipe is the same as in my Traditional Tres Leches Cake, but what is different is the 3-milk syrup & the frosting. Instead of the evaporated milk, I use coconut milk in the syrup and add Dark Rum + Lime Zest. Likewise, the frosting has Dark Rum + Lime zest as well. Give this version a try, you are going to love it!

30 minutes

Difficulty:

Intermediate

Show nutritional information

This is our estimate based on online research.
Calories:	284
Fat:	17 g
Carbohydrates:	43 g
Protein:	4 g
Cholesterol:	44 g
Sodium:	167 mg
Fiber:	0 g
Sugars:	18 g
Calculated per serving.

by Priyanka Nadkarni

Serves: 12

Ingredients

For the Sponge Cake

1 cup All Purpose Flour
1.5 tsp Baking Powder
0.25 tsp Salt
5 whole Eggs
1 cup Granulated White Sugar, divided into 3/4 and 1/4
1 tsp Primal Palate Vanilla Extract
0.333 cup Whole Milk

For the 3-Milk Syrup

12 fl oz Coconut Milk, or Evaporated Coconut Milk
9 fl oz Sweetened Condensed Milk, or Sweetened Condensed Coconut Milk
0.333 cup Heavy Cream (Whipping Cream)
1 Tbsp Dark Rum
1 tsp Lime Zest

For the Frosting

For Garnish

0.25 cup unsweetened Coconut Flakes, toasted
2 pieces Lime, peeled, twisted

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Process

Cook Mode

Note, these instructions are written assuming the standard serving size, since you have modified the number of servings, these steps may need to be modified for best results

For the Sponge Cake:

Preheat the oven to 350°F and butter a 9x13 casserole pan.
Set up 3 mixing bowls - one for the dry ingredients, one for the egg yolks and one for the egg whites.
In the dry ingredients bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and salt.
Separate the egg yolks and egg whites in the other two bowls.
Beat egg yolks with 3/4 cup sugar using an electric hand mixer on high speed until they turn pale yellow in color (approximately 2 minutes). Stir in milk, vanilla, dark rum and lime zest.
Beat egg whites using an electric hand mixer on high speed until soft peaks form (approximately 1 minute). Pour in the remaining 1/4 cup sugar and beat on high speed again until egg whites are stiff but not dry (approximately 1 minute).
Fold in the sifted dry ingredients into the egg yolks, combining gently with a spatula.
Then gently fold in the egg whites until just combined.
Pour this in the greased pan, even out the surface and bake at 350°F for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
When the cake has slightly cooled down, pierce the surface all over using a fork.

For the 3-milk Syrup:

Combine coconut milk, sweetened condensed milk, heavy cream, dark rum and lime zest in a measuring cup with a lip.
Then slowly drizzle this syrup all over the pierced cake making sure the cake is covered from all sides.
Allow the cake to chill overnight, letting the cake absorb that delicious syrup.

For the Frosting:

Beat together heavy whipping cream with sugar in a cold bowl on high speed for 1.5 - 2 minutes.
Add in the dark rum and lime zest. Gently fold it in and spread it over the cake.

For Garnish:

Toast some coconut flakes in a dry pan over medium heat, stirring frequently (or use store-bought toasted coconut flakes).
Decorate the cake with those toasted coconut flakes and a twisted lime peel.

Notes

If you prefer the cake to be more coconut-y, you could swap the Whole milk in the sponge cake with Coconut Milk and Sweetened Condensed Milk with Sweetened Condensed Coconut Milk. If you really love Coconut, you could also do Coconut Rum instead of Dark Rum. I don't prefer the Coconut flavor to be overpowering, so I only use Coconut Milk in the Syrup. Likewise, depending on how much you enjoy the Rum & Lime flavors, feel free to add them in all 3 steps - Sponge Cake, Syrup and Frosting or in just 1 or 2 of them. I keep the Sponge cake basic and like playing with the flavors in the Syrup & Frosting.