Coconut Tres Leches Cake Trifle
Coconut Tres Leches Cake Trifle is like a little bit of dessert heaven in each bite. It is luxurious and pretty and completely, sinfully delicious.
This might be one of the most stunning desserts to ever come out of my kitchen.
I mean look at it. Layers of tender white coconut cake infused with a silky tres leches mixture, rich and creamy coconut pastry cream, fluffy whipped cream and a generous helping of toasted coconut.
Be still my coconut tres leches cake loving heart.
And if you think I like this type of cake, you should have seen Brian when I unveiled Sunday’s dessert. Coconut tres leches cake is one of his favorite cakes of all time and I pretty much knew in that moment that I didn’t even have to worry about getting him anything for our anniversary a few days later.
This basically completed his life.
It’s a show-stopper that’s for sure. And although the recipe might look long and intimidating, it’s all done in steps and several of them can be prepared days (days!) ahead of time.
In fact, the entire trifle should be assembled at least 12, but more like 24, hours in advance which makes it a perfect dessert for company so you aren’t slaving in the kitchen the day of.
The end result of this made-from-scratch labor of love is unbelievably delicious.
I hope you can find a reason to make it very, very soon.
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Coconut Tres Leches Cake Trifle
Ingredients
Coconut Pastry Cream:
- 1 (14-ounce) can coconut milk
- ¾ cup (159 g) granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoons vanilla extract
- pinch salt
- 3 large egg yolks
- 2 tablespoons corn starch
- 2 tablespoons (28 g) butter
- ½ teaspoon coconut extract
- ½ cup heavy whipping cream
Cake:
- 1 cup (212 g) white sugar, divided
- 5 egg yolks
- 5 egg whites
- ⅓ cup coconut milk
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon coconut extract
- 1 cup (142 g) all-purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
Whipped Cream Ingredients & Extras:
- 2 cups heavy whipping cream
- 6 tablespoons powdered sugar
- 1 ½ cups (128 g) toasted coconut for assembly and topping
Tres Leches Mixture:
- 1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
- 1 cup evaporated milk
- ¾ cup coconut milk
Instructions
- First up, make the pastry cream so it can chill in the refrigerator. In a medium saucepan combine the coconut milk, sugar, salt and vanilla. Heat the mixture over medium heat. In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and cornstarch. When the coconut milk mixture comes to a simmer, slowly ladle about 1/2 a cup of the hot mixture into the egg yolk mixture, whisking vigorously and constantly so the eggs don’t scramble and form hard, cooked bits. Add the entire egg yolk mixture back into the saucepan and whisk constantly while the mixture cooks over medium heat for 3-4 minutes; it will thicken considerably. Off the heat, whisk in the butter and coconut extract. Pour the pastry cream into a bowl, cover with plastic wrap directly on the surface, and refrigerate until completely chilled, 3-4 hours (you can speed up this process by placing the bottom of the bowl in an ice water bath and stirring the pastry cream constantly until cool). Once the pastry cream has cooled completely, beat the 1/2 cup whipping cream until thick and creamy. Fold it gently into the pastry cream until combined. Refrigerate the pastry cream until ready to assemble the trifle.
- While the pastry cream is chilling (before folding in the whipped cream), make the cake. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and grease two round cake pans. Measure your trifle dish to determine what size is needed. My trifle dish would only fit an 8-inch round cake layer so I baked mine in 8-inch layers but some trifle dishes are larger and could work with 9-inch cake layers.
- In a medium bowl, beat the egg yolks with the 3/4 cup granulated sugar until they are light and thick, about 2-3 minutes. Mix in the coconut milk, vanilla extract, coconut extract, flour, salt and baking powder. In a separate bowl whip the egg whites until foamy. While beating, add the remaining 1/4 cup sugar and beat until stiff peaks form. Gently fold the egg whites into the cake batter. Divide the batter evenly between the two pans. Bake for 12-14 minutes (watch closely!) until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Turn the cakes onto a cooling rack to cool completely.
- For the whipped cream, combine the cream and sugar together in a medium bowl and beat until stiff peaks form.
- To assemble, whisk together the condensed milk, evaporated milk and coconut milk (or be like me and shake it all up in a canning jar with a lid). Place one cake layer in the bottom of the trifle dish, flattest side up. Poke holes all over the cake with a fork. Pour 3/4 cup of the milk mixture over the cake gradually, swirling the trifle dish back and forth to cover the cake with the milk mixture and adding the rest of the milk as the first layer soaks in. You can refrigerate for 30 minutes to let the milk soak in or just keep swirling and poking the cake until the mixture settles in. Top with 1/2 of the coconut pastry cream, 1/3 of the toasted coconut and 1/2 of the whipped cream.
- Poke holes all over the flattest side of the 2nd cake layer (before you put it in the trifle dish). Set the cake layer over the whipped cream layer (with the flattest side up; the side you poked all over) and pour 3/4 cup of the milk mixture over the cake, again, pouring it on gradually and swirling to distribute the milk mixture. Let it sit for 5-10 minutes if needed to help the milk mixture absorb into the cake. Top with the rest of the coconut pastry cream, 1/3 of the toasted coconut, the remainder of the whipped cream and sprinkle with the last of the coconut.
- Refrigerate for at least 12 hours (or up to 24 hours) before serving. Serve chilled.
Notes
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Recipe Source: adapted from Willow Bird Baking found via Pinterest repinned from my cousin Merianne who tasted it at a potluck (and pinned the recipe)
I made this for a potluck and everyone raved about it – so did I! It was a bit daunting to look at the many steps for the recipe but they were very doable. My cake was soft on the top and I guess I should have baked it longer but I didn’t want to over bake it. I’ll definitely make it again. Thanks, Mel!
Yay, Gwen!! You are a rock star for making this! Glad it was a hit.
I halved the powdered sugar in the whipped cream and did a tad bit less sugar in the cake and pastry cream parts and used unsweetened coconut…and couldn’t tell when eating. I love coconut and have always wanted to try making trifle but I think I prefer a trifle with berries. Just my opinion.
This looks time consuming, but I’ll be saving this for sure as i dearly love coconut
My cake identifies as a soufflé. Any recommendation on how to keep it inflated?
I don’t have a trifle bowl, and no intentions of buying one. So I made the cake in a cookie sheet pan. I cut it into cubes and layered it. My family crushed it. I love that it wasn’t super sweet. This is definitely a remake.
Thanks for sharing.
Can I replace coconut extract with vanilla extract? I’m nervous coconut extract might taste too artificial. Has anyone had an issue with the coconut extract?
Yes, you can use vanilla extract.
Great! Will it still have a decent coconut taste u think? Also, for the tres leches mixture do you mean canned coconut milk or the more diluted type in other containers? Thank you so much!! I’m so excited to make this
In the tres leches mixture should I use canned coconut milk or regular coconut milk? Thanks! Making it this weekend for a family bbq
I use canned coconut milk. 🙂
This is incredible! Despite being a coconut recipe, it’s not overpowering. Not a quick recipe to make, but SO worth it!!
VERY VERY WELL DONE RECIPE. EVERYTHING WAS PERFECTION. THE PASTRY CREAM WAS SUPER EASY TO FOLLOW. THIS WAS A HUGE HIT WITH MY GUESTS.
I followed the recipe exactly and made this in a trifle dish, and it was so fantastic! I also made it the other day in a 9×9 casserole dish and just cut the hole recipe in half, and it worked beautifully. So I only had one cake layer, then the milk mixture, then one layer of cream, one layer of whipped cream, and toasted coconuts on top. Just in case anyone was wondering if it worked well without a trifle dish!
Edit: 9×13 dish, not 9×9
Super yum!
I made it in a 9×9 casserole dish the other day, and just cut the entire recipe in half and it worked beautifully. Had to bake the cake for 20 ish minutes though. So I had just one layer of cake, milk mixture, cream, whipped cream, and toasted coconut on top. Just in case anyone wondered if it also worked well without a trifle dish! SUPER AWESOME DESSERT!
I followed the recipe exactly and made it in a trifle dish, and it was much easier to put together than expected! It turned out great. I just recommend reading the directions a whole bunch of times first and picture each step in your head before starting so you feel more comfortable with it. But it all comes together easily even though the directions look like there’s a lot of steps. I also made it a second time in a 9×9 casserole dish, and just cut the entire recipe in half. Worked beautifully! I had to bake the cake for 20 ish minutes though. So I just had one layer of cake, then the milk mixture, then a layer of the cream, then whipped cream, then toasted coconuts on top. Just in case anyone was wondering how it worked if they didn’t want to use a trifle dish! Best dessert ever
My phone wasn’t adding my comment so I kept trying, and it suddenly added all of them at once! Excuse the repeat comments from me 🙂
Hi Mel! Can I ommit the coconut flavor from this recipe? This is by far the best Tres Leches recipe I found here in Pinterest. However, I am not a fan of coconut. I am also an amateur “baker” & just trying out recipes. But I don’t know how to modify this. I really want to try this Tres Leches recipe of yours. Hope you can help.
Yes, you definitely can!
So you mean, just omit entirely the coconut milk from the Coconut Pastry Cream, Cake & Tres Leches mixture without any substitute??
Thanks for your help…
When you said flavor, I thought you just meant the coconut extract. If you’d rather not use the coconut milk, yes, you’d need to substitute it with probably half-and-half or a mixture of half-and-half and cream.
So instead of using Coconut milk, substitute it with the following…
For the Pastry Cream
1 can (14oz) half-half
For the Cake
1/3 cup half-half
For Tres Leches Mixture
3/4 cup half-half
Correct? I’m sorry I just need an expert advice. I really want to make this for the Holidays.
I haven’t tried any of the substitutions so it’s really just suggestions and you’ll have to experiment, but for the pastry cream, I’d just use 14 ounces half and half (that’s about 1 3/4 cups) and use 1/3 cup half and half for the cake and 3/4 cup half and half for the tres leches. Good luck!
Thanks so much Mel! 🙂
This was awesome, and even though the directions seem pretty intense it goes together fairly quickly. I also didn’t chill the whole thing for as long as called for and it was still tasty. I added a layer of crushed pineapple on top of the cake and before the pudding, which gave it more of a pina colada vibe. Might try it as a 9×13 tres leches without the pudding sometime. Thanks for the recipe!
I’m going to make this for my daughters birthday and I live in the UK. Is heavy whipping cream the same as double cream? Double cream in the UK is 48% fat and our whipping cream around 30 or so percent. If you could let me know as soon as you can Id really appreciate it – need to do my supermarket run soon!
I don’t know for sure, but a quick google search told me that it can be used interchangeably (heavy cream and double cream).
I make this every Christmas and everyone loves it! it has become a Christmas tradition in our house