Pillowy and super-moist, this gluten-free tres leches cake is easy to make in about an hour and can be chilled for up to 1 or 2 days before serving. Soak it with coconut milk mixture for a dairy-free option! Your guests will never, ever believe this light and tender cake is gluten-free and dairy-free. See the recipe notes for more allergy-friendly variations!
Prep Time: 20 minutesminutes
Cook Time: 40 minutesminutes
Total: 1 hourhour10 minutesminutes
Servings: 16
Ingredients
GF Sponge Cake
1teaspoonroom temperature coconut oil, for the pan (bottom only)
6cupsseasonal fruit of your choice such as berries, stone fruit, or mango
Instructions
Cake
Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 325ºF. Rub coconut oil over the *bottom only* of a 9x12-inch or 9x13-inch cake pan. The cake batter will crawl up the ungreased sides of the pan, making for a taller, lighter cake that will better absorb the milk mixture.
In a very large bowl, whisk together ¼ cup water with the oil, egg yolks and vanilla, then whisk in the 1⁄2 cup sugar. Place a strainer over the bowl and sift the millet, sweet rice, and oat flours with the baking powder and salt directly into the yolk mixture, adding back any bits left behind in the strainer. Whisk until very smooth and the consistency of pancake batter.
In the clean, dry bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whip attachment, whip the egg whites with the cream of tartar on medium-high speed until soft peaks form. Slowly add the remaining 2 tablespoons sugar and whip until the whites are glossy and just hold a firm peak when lifted from the bowl, 1 to 3 more minutes.
Use a flexible silicone spatula to fold one-third of the whites into the batter, then gently fold in the remaining whites until just combined and no streaks remain. Immediately pour the batter into the prepared pan and quickly but gently spread the batter into a thin, even layer.
Transfer to the oven and bake until the cake is golden, springs back to the touch and a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean, 30 to 40 minutes. Let cool until warm, about 30 minutes.
Milk Mixture
Combine the coconut milk, sweetened condensed coconut milk, vanilla, and salt in a medium saucepan. Warm over medium heat, stirring until combined and warm to the touch. Keep warm; this will help the mixture absorb into the cake.
When the cake has cooled slightly, poke it all over with a slender chopstick or skewer. Slowly pour the warm milk mixture over the cake 1 cup at a time, letting it absorb into the cake, until the cake stops absorbing liquid. Tilt and swirl the cake to help the liquid absorb. Cover and chill the cake until ready to serve, at least 1 hour and up to 2 days.
To serve, top the cake with the whipped cream (or coconut cream or coconut yogurt) and fruit. To make the fruit extra juicy as shown here, toss it with a little sugar and lime juice and let sit for 10 minutes to draw out the juices.
Cut the cake into squares or wedges and enjoy!
Notes
*Flour Substitutions (best to sub by weight if possible):
All flours can be subbed out for 145 grams of GF AP flour (such as Bob's Red Mill 1 to 1)
Millet can be subbed for sorghum flour or teff flour
Sweet rice can be subbed for GF AP flour (such as Bob's Red Mill 1 to 1) or cassava flour
Oat can be subbed for sorghum flour or teff flour
For a more traditional tres leches cake with dairy, make the milk mixture with 3/4 cup each evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk, and whole milk (or half and half or heavy cream). Omit the vanilla and salt. Top the cake with whipped cream and dust it with a fine layer of ground cinnamon. Serve plain or with fresh strawberries. For refined sugar-free tres leches cake, make the maple-sweetened gluten-free sponge cake batter using 6 egg whites instead of 5, and bake as directed here. Make the milk mixture using 1 1/2 cans of full-fat coconut milk, omitting the sweetened condensed coconut milk, and sweeten to taste with 2-3 tablespoons coconut sugar or other sweetener. For paleo-friendly tres leches cake, make the grain-free / paleo-friendly variation of the GF sponge cake and use the milk mixture above. For a boozy GF tres leches cake, add 2-4 tablespoons dark rum, spiced rum, or other flavorful spirit to the milk mixture. For a chocolate tres leches cake, make the GF cocoa sponge cake batter using 6 egg whites instead of 5 and bake as directed here. Make-Ahead:
The cake can be baked ahead and refrigerated for a day or two (or frozen for up to 1 month) until ready to use. Warm the cake in a low oven before adding the milk mixture to help it absorb.
The milk mixture can be made up to 2 days ahead and refrigerated until ready to use. Warm before pouring over the cake to help it absorb.
The cake can be baked, soaked, covered and refrigerated for up to 2 days before serving. Leftovers will keep for another 2 days or so.