Apologies in advance for the overload of pictures in this post, but I just adore this vegan tres leches cake and had a tough time choosing my favorite shots! This is my dairy-free spin on the classic cake.
I’ll address the elephant in the room first: vegan tres leches cake is a pretty ridiculous sounding name considering that the crucial component of standard tres leches cakes is a mixture of 3 different forms of dairy. But then again, I think it’s also ridiculous to ask me to name this Vegan Sponge Cake With A Sweetened Non-Dairy Beverage Mixture Poured Over The Top. So we’re going with vegan tres leches.
Phew. Now that I’ve preemptively addressed the haters who will urge me to choose a different name for the recipe, I can tell you all about this glorious cake. Traditional tres leches was undoubtedly one of my favorite sweets before I went dairy-free. So I’ve eaten a fair number of these in my day, and I will honestly tell you that I think this vegan version is just as good, if not better.
It starts with a basic vegan vanilla sponge cake. I merged a couple of different recipes that I found online, and then reduced the sugar and liquid to arrive at my final version. That’s because after the cake cools, we poke a bunch of little holes in it and pour a mixture of vegan sweetened condensed milk and coconut milk over the top and let the cake soak up all of that goodness.
You can also whip up the rest of the coconut cream as additional topping if you like. I just like my cake served with some fresh berries. (Or a tiny bit of rice whip, pictured). It’s already super sweet and moist even without frosting or cream on top. Up to you!
SO MOIST. Sorry, I know a lot of people hate that word.
Enjoy this vegan tres leches cake for Cinco de Mayo, or anytime! Personally I’m gonna have to make yet another one, because this entire thing was gone in 36 hours. No clue where it went. I definitely did not skip all of my regular meals that day. Also, this is my official acknowledgement that the amount of sugary cake recipes in general lately has been too damn high. More fresh veggies coming to you very soon 🙂
If you make this vegan tres leches cake, let me know! Leave a comment, or tag me on Instagram with #yupitsvegan and @yupitsvegan. Happy baking!
Vegan Tres Leches Cake
Ingredients
For the sponge cake:
- 1 cup plain, unsweetened soy milk
- 2 tsp apple cider vinegar (or other vinegar)
- 170 g all-purpose flour (1 and 1/2 cups)
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil (coconut oil is not recommended)
- 2/3 cup cane sugar (or use coconut sugar, cake will have a darker color)
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp almond extract
For the soaking syrup:
- 1 cup vegan sweetened condensed milk
- 1 14- oz . can full-fat coconut milk , refrigerated overnight
Instructions
- In a mixing bowl, stir together the soy milk and apple cider vinegar.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, and lightly grease an 8-by-8 or 7-by-11 inch baking dish.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
- To the bowl with the soy milk, add the oil, sugar, vanilla extract, and almond extract. Whisk well to combine. Stir in the dry mixture and mix until no lumps remain.
- Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. (Wait until at least 20 minutes have passed before opening the oven door at all). The 7-by-11 cake size takes around 30 minutes to bake, and the 8-by-8 size takes around 35 minutes.
- Let the cake cool for at least an hour. (You could potentially prepare the sweetened condensed milk while the cake bakes and cools). Using a chopstick, skewer, or a toothpick in a pinch, poke holes throughout the cake, spaced about 1/2 inch apart. The distance isn't very important, just make to poke lots of holes all over.
- Retrieve the coconut milk from the refrigerator and gently scoop out the cream on top. Either turn this into coconut whip to top the cake if you like, or reserve it for another use (curry, etc.). Take the rest of the liquid from the can and mix it together with the sweetened condensed milk. Pour this milk mixture over the top of the cake. You'll need to do it in several stages, waiting in between for the cake to soak up the milk. When the cake is pretty much saturated with the milk, you're done - you may or may not need all of it.
- This cake is best served cold, so if you have time, refrigerate it. However, it still tastes pretty darn good if you eat it right away 🙂 leftovers will keep for up to 3 days in the fridge.
Notes
Nutrition
Adapted from: AllRecipes and The Witchy Kitchen
I'm Shannon, the writer and photographer of Yup, it's Vegan! I'm a morning person based in Baltimore, USA. My mission is to create healthy plant-based recipes that anyone would enjoy, using seasonal produce with inspiration from global flavors.
Sue says
Quick note, when I tripled the recipe it didn’t triple the flour so I just made pudding by mistake 🙂
Wanted to make sure this didn’t happen to someone else. Luckily I made a practice run, using this for a school event so needed enough to fill a sheet pan 🙂
Sue says
Hi there,
Can I use lemon instead of apple cider vinegar?
Thanks so much!
Emm says
Excellent recipe and really easy to follow. First time making tres leches cake, vegan or otherwise, and it tastes amazing. The syrup didn’t soak in properly for me though, any advice on why that could be?
Sheila says
I am eggless but not vegan. I subbed the soy milk for dairy milk, reduced the sugar and omitted the almond extract. Apart from that I followed the recipe exactly.
The taste is amazing but even with using only 350ml of the milk mixture, mine turns out to be more of a pudding than a cake. It’s impossible to cut slices. What am I doing wrong?
Taya says
Another winner from your blog! I baked mine in an 8 by 8 pan at 350 for 35 minutes on the top rack and when I took it out, I was floored at how picturesque it was! I added a touch of cinnamon to the soaking syrup recipe. The cake withstood the soaking syrup and it was so delicious. some sliced strawberries on top really brought it home.
I love your blog because its recipes are consistently crowd pleasers. Thanks for all the time and effort you pour into tit.
Kim says
This was amazing!! I’m a volunteer baker for underserved youth (forgoodnesscakes.org) and we often get tons of Tres Leches, but this time we had a request for vegan! I knew it could be done if I found the right recipe and you killed it!! My test run was so yummy, and yes the milks were so thick that they didn’t completely soak in, but with the mixture being so sweet it was actually nice to have parts of the cake without the soak – and the cake was so moist on it’s own. THANK YOU for this!! It was perfection.
Lucas says
This is AMAZING!!!!! I grew up eating tres leches in Miami and this is exactly how it tastes! Thank you for this. I am very happy right now
Imuri says
I’ve made this cake at least 7 times already. It is an absolute hit with my family and friends and I have incorporated it into birthday traditions. Amazing recipe.
Mary says
Tres leches has been a family favorite so I was excited to find this vegan version – which did not disappoint. Cake was spot on and this is truly a recipe I will be making often for family celebrations. Thank you so much for taking the time to create and share this . 🌸
Taylor says
This recipe is delicious, I’ve made it multiple times now with whatever milk I have on hand, and it’s been great each time. Easy, too.
Mary Chaparro says
Do you use the suggested 1 TABLESPOON of vanilla? Thought it might have been a misprint.
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
It’s not a misprint
Renu says
The sauce and coconut cream on top was so good!
Only thing is the cake turned out too dense, and I was surprised to see it not cakey and light like I expected. Any ideas why ?
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
A few things – This cake is always going to be on the denser side since it literally has coconut cream poured over it haha and it’s designed to be able to absorb that mixture. Overmixing could possibly make it more dense.
If you are looking for the perfect light and fluffy vegan cake then check out the bakery-style white cake on my site. It takes a lot more effort with a vegan cake to make it light, but if you want a standard white cake that’s the one you need. It will not work in this recipe as the cake base however.
ContentEar96 says
It needs to be a strong cake so it doesn’t get soggy and collapse with the liquid that it’s soaked in. 🙂 The non vegan version will be very dence as well because it uses more egg than a typical cake. Make sure it cools all the way before pouring the liquid or it won’t hold its structure and become even more sense.
Casey says
Hello, I was wondering if this tastes like coconut at all?
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
Yes it does taste like coconut.
Robin says
wondering if gluten free flour would work in this recipe?
Yer says
Nope, turned out too dense and didn’t soak up hardly any of the liquid
Taylor says
This recipe is super delicious! I ended up with more soaking syrup than I needed, so I used the extra in my coffee to make a sort of Thai coffee. Delicious all around and pretty simple to make.
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
That’s a great idea to use up the extra syrup, thank you!
Sheila says
How much of the milk mixture did you use for the cake?
Lisa says
Can you use coconut flour?
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
Definitely not, coconut flour does not behave remotely similar to normal flour
Chloe Peterson says
This is a bloody brilliant recipe! We used coconut sugar and didn’t have the almond flavoring but it was insanely delicious. This is going to be a new go to bake for sure.