Coconut Tres Leches Cake Trifle

Gloria's birthday was Saturday and it went beautifully. I drove over Friday evening to set up what I could ahead of time and we sat up late talking at her kitchen table with decaf coffee, which she does not love but which she tolerates after nine o'clock. She told me stories about her own mother's cooking and I wrote some of them down in my phone, small details I did not want to lose.

Saturday I made the full birthday dinner and I will say without false modesty that the coconut cake was the best thing I have made to date. The layers were even, the coconut cream between them was thick and sweet without being cloying, and the cream cheese frosting with the toasted coconut on the outside looked exactly how I had pictured it. Gloria looked at it for a long time before she said anything. Then she said my grandmother's cake looked like that. I had to take a breath before I could say anything back.

James brought his sweet potato soup and the flowers and we had a table with too much food and exactly the right amount of people, which is three. We sang to her off-key and she pretended to be embarrassed and was not. She blew out the candles and did not tell us what she wished for.

Later she showed me an old photo album I had never seen before, pictures from when she was young, from her first apartment, from her wedding, from years and decades before I came into her life. There is a photo of her at twenty-three in a kitchen that looks nothing like her kitchen now and she is laughing at something outside the frame and she looks so much like someone I would have wanted to know. I told her that. She said you do know me. I said I know. I meant something more than that.

The coconut cake I made for Gloria’s birthday was built from memory and hope — layers and cream and toasted coconut piled together until it looked the way I had imagined it for weeks. If you want to bring that same spirit to your own table without the hours of stacking and frosting, this Coconut Tres Leches Cake Trifle gives you everything that matters: the coconut, the sweetened cream, the soft cake soaked through until it’s almost impossible to describe as anything but tender. It is the kind of dessert that earns a long look before anyone says a word, and on a birthday, that silence is its own kind of gift.

Prep Time: 30 minutes | Cook Time: 30 minutes | Total Time: 1 hour plus chilling | Servings: 12

Ingredients

1 box (15.25 oz) white or yellow cake mix, plus ingredients called for on box
1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk
1 can (13.5 oz) coconut milk
1/2 cup whole milk
2 cups heavy whipping cream
3 tablespoons powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup sweetened shredded coconut, toasted
1/2 cup coconut cream (from the top of a chilled can of full-fat coconut milk)

Instructions

Bake the cake. Prepare the cake mix according to package directions and bake in a 9x13-inch pan. Allow to cool completely, about 30 minutes.
Make the tres leches soak. Whisk together the sweetened condensed milk, coconut milk, and whole milk in a bowl until fully combined.
Soak the cake. Using a fork or skewer, poke holes all over the top of the cooled cake. Pour the tres leches mixture evenly over the top. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight, until the liquid is fully absorbed.
Toast the coconut. Spread shredded coconut in a dry skillet over medium heat. Stir frequently for 3—5 minutes until golden and fragrant. Remove from heat and let cool.
Whip the cream. In a chilled bowl, beat the heavy whipping cream with powdered sugar and vanilla extract until soft peaks form. Gently fold in the coconut cream until just combined.
Assemble the trifle. Cut or crumble the soaked cake into large chunks. In a trifle dish or large glass bowl, layer half the cake pieces, followed by half the whipped cream mixture, and half the toasted coconut. Repeat with the remaining cake, cream, and coconut.
Chill and serve. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving to allow the layers to set. Serve cold, scooping down through all the layers into each bowl.

Nutrition (per serving)

Coconut Tres Leches Cake Trifle — The Cake That Made Gloria Think of Her Grandmother