Coconut Tres Leches Cake

Yes, me who does not make desserts, decided to make this for my son.  It is one of his favorite dishes and it didn't look too hard by this recipe.  I was also having company for dinner the next day, so decided it would be good for them too since it is Mexican and that was the theme of our meal.  I followed all the directions exactly.  I changed the whip cream a little as described below, but even that was just a minor thing.  I don't know how to bake so don't want to mess with being "creative" and I know you're not supposed to be in baking anyway.


I was trying to be as "ahead of the game" as I could be for making this.  I decided to start with the prep of all the things I could do first.  I buttered the cake pan first.

For the whipping cream I doubled the recipe.  I also used confectioner's sugar instead of granulated and I also added a smidgen of Mexican vanilla.  I grated the lime zest with a microplane.

I had to ask my son while I was whipping with my hand mixer to google how long it takes to make it, and he said 5 - 7 minutes for soft peaks.  I felt like I was at that time and then it started making peaks, so all good.

I was just impatient.  It tasted delicious with a wonderful taste of lime.  I covered it in saran and put it in the fridge.

I melted the butter and the honey next.

I put a sheet of parchment on a baking sheet and the spread the coconut over, ready to toast.

I made the cake next.  The batter seemed barely enough to fit the pan, I had to tilt to all sides to get it to spread, but it did.  I put it in the oven.

I mixed the 3 milks together and then it was time to turn the cake around in the oven.

I waited for it to finish.  It was done in 25 minutes.

I toasted the coconut as soon as the cake came out.

I poked holes with a fork all over the cake and then slowly poured the milk over top.  Below is about half of the milk, but I decided not wait and just poured the whole bowl over it.

It went through various levels of absorption from totally submerged to below, the way it ended up.  I left it sit for about an hour.

I proceeded to put the whip cream on.  I didn't really want to do that with the milk on top and wished the milk had settled at the bottom instead, but I did it anyway.

And lastly, I sprinkled the toasted coconut over it all.

I served my son a piece.  He really liked it and devoured it pretty quickly.  I had a bite and thought it was really rich and really sweet.   He assured me it was "restaurant quality" and said he would order it out, and recommend it.  😇