Tiramisu Tres Leches Cake (Vegan + Easy to make)
Tiramisu Tres Leches Cake is the combination of two incredibly delicious and luscious cakes. It’s sweet and creamy and full of delicious chocolate, vanilla, and coffee flavours! And this is also a vegan recipe so that means it’s egg free and dairy free, and best of all, cruelty-free. 🙂 What’s not to love?? So let’s get into it!
Would you look at that gorgeous marble effect!! That’s from the delicious chocolate milk soak working its magic in the cake!
So what is Tiramisu?
Tiramisu is an iconic Italian dessert that is both elegant and delicious. The name “tiramisu” translates to “pick me up” or “cheer me up” in Italian, which is fitting given its indulgent flavour and creamy texture. The traditional tiramisu recipe typically involves layers of coffee-soaked ladyfingers (sponge biscuits), mascarpone cheese (an Italian cream cheese), and cocoa powder. Sometimes, a splash of liquor like rum, brandy, or coffee liqueur is added to the coffee to enhance the flavour. The result is a dessert that is rich, creamy, and bursting with coffee flavour. Tiramisu is often served chilled and is a perfect ending to an Italian meal or any special occasion. Tiramisu can even be served in pancake form…. like in one of my all time favourite recipes here on my website, Fluffy Tiramisu Pancakes!! 😉
Next let’s dive into the second half of this Tiramisu Tres Leches Cake!
What is Tres Leches Cake?
The other half of this Tiramisu Tres Leches Cake is of course Tres Leches Cake, also known as “Three Milk Cake.” It is a traditional Latin American dessert with origins in Mexico and Nicaragua. It is a simple vanilla sponge cake soaked in three different types of milk: evaporated milk, condensed milk, and heavy cream (hence the name “tres leches,” which means “three milks” in Spanish).
How is Tres Leches Cake Made?
Variations of the vanilla sponge cake may include flavours like chocolate or coconut. After baking, the cake is poked all over with a fork or toothpick to allow the milk mixture to soak into the cake. The three types of milk are then poured over the cake, saturating it with their creamy goodness.
Once the cake has absorbed the milk mixture, it is often topped with whipped cream or meringue and sometimes garnished with fresh fruit, chocolate shavings, or a sprinkle of cinnamon. The result is a moist and decadent dessert that is sweet and creamy, with a hint of tanginess from the milk. Tres Leches Cake is popular at celebrations and special occasions throughout Latin America and beyond.
This Tiramisu Tres Leches Cake is absolutely perfect to make for a dinner party! Or whatever occasion you’re serving a dessert for guests. It’s got delicious flavours and textures so it’s a major crowd pleaser, but it’s also perfect to make the day before! This cake is the most delicious if you bake it the day before and let it soak in the milk soak overnight. Then it will be so incredibly tender and delicious the next day with even more flavour! Also you won’t have to stress as much the same day as you need to serve it which is always a plus. Just leave the whipped topping and the cacao powder dusting until the day you’re serving it. So simple and easy. How dreamy!!
This Tiramisu Tres Leches Cake is an absolutely delicious dessert. It’s a perfect mashup of two different classic desserts! So try it out and let me know what you think! 🙂
More recipes like Tiramisu Tres Leches Cake on the blog:
Tiramisu Tres Leches Cake (Vegan and Easy to Make!)
Ingredients
Vanilla Vegan Cake
- 1 ½ cup oat milk room temperature
- 2 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 250 g all purpose flour
- 2 tbsp corn starch 19 g
- 2 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp sea salt
- 150 g granulated sugar
- ½ cup canola oil
- 1 tbsp pure vanilla extract
Chocolate Milk Soak*
- 125 ml oat cream
- 1 ½ tbsp raw cacao powder
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
Milky Coffee Soak
- ½ can sweetened condensed oat milk
- 1 cup oat milk
- 1 ½ – 2 tbsp coffee powder
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
Whipped Topping
- 3 tbsp cream cheese, room temperature vegan
- 1 ¼ cup whipping cream, room temperature
- pinch vanilla powder or splash of vanilla extract
- a few tbsp powdered sugar optional
- splash lemon juice, optional. I find this adds great tang if the vegan cream cheese isn't very tangy. But if the cream cheese you have chosen already has great tang then omit the lemon juice OPTIONAL
Raw Cacao Powder Dusting
- use however much you wish for the raw cacao powder dusting
Instructions
The Vanilla Cake
- Start by preheating the oven to 175℃.
- Mix the oat milk and the apple cider vinegar together in a bowl. Set aside for about 10 minutes and allow the mixture to thicken and curdle.
- In a medium sized mixing bowl, sift in all the dry ingredients and whisk together. Then whisk in the sugar.
- When the oat milk mixture has thickened a bit, mix in the vanilla and oil.
- Then add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix until just combined. Don't overmix otherwise your cake can become more dense.
- Pour the cake batter into a 7 inch square baking pan.
- Bake the cake for about 35-40 minutes in the middle of the oven until a toothpick comes out basically clean.
The Milk Soaks
- As the cake cools, make the milk soaks.
- Mix together all of the ingredients for the chocolate milk soak in a bowl. Mix until combined. Taste and adjust as necessary. Set aside.
- Mix together all the ingredients for the milky coffee soak. Mix until combined. Taste and adjust as necessary.
- Poke the cake with many holes using a fork or a similar tool. Poke many holes and evenly spaced out. These holes you're creating now will allow the milk soaks to soak through the cake easily, and evenly.
- Start by covering the whole cake with the milky coffee soak, go slowly and allow it to evenly soak in.
- Then take the chocolate milk soak and either pour it over the whole cake, or do what I chose and make sort of a swirly pattern over the whole cake so it makes a fun marble effect.
- When you've completed the milk soak steps, cover the cake with some sort of cover, and place the cake in the fridge to allow the cake to soak for several hours. I found that until next day was most delicious! But it's up to you.
Next Day – Before Serving
- Remove the cake from the fridge.
- Now it's time to make the whipped topping!
- Start by mixing the cream cheese in a mixing bowl with an electric hand mixer. Mix until smooth.
- Add the whipping cream and mix slowly and gently. Be patient, because when you whip the cream slowly it makes smoother and silkier whipped cream!
- When you've just about reached the desired consistency, add the last ingredients and gently mix until you've reached the desired consistency. Taste test and add more sweetener if you wish.
Assembling
- Spread the whipped topping over the cake so it covers it evenly.
- Then, using a sifter or a metal tea leaf strainer, sprinkle as much cacao powder over the entire cake as your heart desires! I like quite a lot so there's a good chocolate flavour that contrasts sooo deliciously with the creamy cake!
- Serve and enjoy!! 🙂
- Keep any leftovers stored in the fridge.