Healthier Three Milk Cake (Gluten-Free)

August 10, 2020 By Anjali Shah on

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This Three Milk Cake is a must-try, heavenly dessert! It will please your taste buds and leave you wanting more. Sweet, delicious, and melts in your mouth: this cake is topped with homemade whipped cream and fresh fruit. As an added bonus – it’s gluten-free too!

If you’ve never eaten tres leches, or three milk cake before, you have missed out and it’s time to change that!

The cake itself is fluffy and filled with classic flavors. Back in the day, milk cakes were known for being made with whole milk, sweetened condensed milk, and evaporated milk. They were AMAZING, but as you can imagine, they were completely packed with gluten and lots of refined sugar.

I wanted to develop a healthier option so we could still enjoy the cake, but without as much guilt. One taste and I am sure you will be in love with this incredible dessert!

Tools and Equipment You’ll Need

Recipe Ingredients and Notes

Milk: This recipe uses a combination of whole milk, condensed milk and coconut milk. If you wanted to reduce the fat but keep the same flavor, you can use 1% milk, fat free condensed milk, and light coconut milk!

This recipe uses a combination of whole milk, condensed milk and coconut milk. If you wanted to reduce the fat but keep the same flavor, you can use 1% milk, fat free condensed milk, and light coconut milk! Flour: A combination of almond, coconut and tapioca flour ensures a light and fluffy consistency while still keeping this cake gluten free.

A combination of almond, coconut and tapioca flour ensures a light and fluffy consistency while still keeping this cake gluten free. Sugar: This recipe uses 1/2 cup of cane sugar, but you can always cut it down to 1/4 cup to reduce the sugar further if you are ok with a less-sweet cake!

Step by Step Instructions

For The Milk Cake

Step 1: In a bowl, take all the dry ingredients except sugar and whisk until everything is well combined. In a separate bowl, crack the eggs and add the sugar. Whisk it until the egg starts to get frothy.

Step 2: Add the melted butter, milk and vanilla extract to the egg mixture. Whisk until combined. Add in the dry ingredients into the wet mixture and whisk it gently until everything is evenly mixed.

Step 3: Pour this batter into a greased and lined 8×8 baking pan and bake the cake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees F for about 20-30 minutes until a skewer inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean.

Step 4: Let the cake cool slightly (about 10-15 minutes). While the cake is cooling, make the topping mixture (see steps below).

For The Milk Topping

Step 1: Add the coconut milk and condensed milk into a small pot and place it over medium heat. Warm it through, stirring continuously, for about 3-4 minutes. Turn off the heat.

Step 2: Now, to the slightly cooled cake, poke a lot of holes using a skewer or a fork. Pour the warm milk mixture all over the cake as evenly as you can. Refrigerate the cake for about 4-6 hours before serving.

Step 3: Before serving, whip up the whipping cream and spread it evenly on top of the cake and top it with slices of fresh fruit.

What Makes This Cake Healthy?

This cake is much healthier than traditional milk cakes, but it should still be eaten in moderation. There is still some refined sugar, just not as much as regular recipes. Let’s take a look at what it has to offer:

Healthy Fats: There are many healthy fats in this three milk cake, like whole milk, coconut milk, condensed milk, and whipping cream. In moderation, they are all good for you, and they taste great too.

There are many healthy fats in this three milk cake, like whole milk, coconut milk, condensed milk, and whipping cream. In moderation, they are all good for you, and they taste great too. Gluten Free: If you eat gluten free, then you will love being able to eat a cake, that is this amazing. The combination of tapioca flour, coconut flour, and almond flour is perfection.

If you eat gluten free, then you will love being able to eat a cake, that is this amazing. The combination of tapioca flour, coconut flour, and almond flour is perfection. Vitamins and Minerals: Coconut flour and almond flour offer some fantastic nutrients. Fiber, protein, iron, manganese, and vitamin E can all be found between the two flours.

Will Kids Enjoy This Three Milk Cake?

Of course, kids will devour every crumb of this easy milk cake recipe. It’s fluffy, topped with cream and berries, so they are thrilled to have the opportunity to eat it. Not only will it taste great, but they will also get some nutrients whatever fruit you add to the top.

Recipe FAQs

Can I Freeze Three Milk Cake? Yes, you can freeze milk cake, but you can only freeze the cake portion of the recipe (before soaking it in milk and frosting it).

To Freeze: After the cake has cooled and before you add the hot milk + frosting to it, put it in an airtight container and freeze it. It will last up to 2 months in the freezer.

To Serve: The day before you want to serve it, thaw it overnight in the fridge, and make the hot milk mixture + whipped topping and add it to the cake. Store the cake in the fridge overnight and serve the next day. How Long Does Milk Cake Last? After the cake has cooled and is frosted, store it in an airtight container in the fridge for 3 days. The frosting might deflate slightly in the fridge, but it will still taste great. In fact, the longer the milk has to soak into the cake, the better it will be, so sometimes it even tastes better the next day! Does Gluten Free Cake Taste Different? If you don’t normally eat gluten free, you may think it tastes slightly different, but probably won’t be able to figure out why. This milk cake is just as delicious as a regular milk cake and is still fluffy and light. Gluten free cakes, in general, will have a combination of multiple kinds of flour to achieve the same texture as a traditional cake. We tested this recipe using different proportions of flours so you can be sure the almond, coconut, tapioca flour mixture will give you a remarkable dessert that is similar to regular cake!

Top Tips For Making The Best Three Milk Cake

Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. It’s best to slowly and gently combine and be sure not to overmix.

Don’t skip chilling the cake for 4-6 hours – the longer the better. I know it’s a long time, but the cake is so amazing when it’s served cold. Plus, this gives the milk mixture time to really soak into the cake. You can even make it the day before and chill it overnight for even more moistness to make its way into the cake!

Use any kind of fruit that you like on top. We used strawberries, but you could add blueberries, raspberries, or anything else you enjoy.

Wait until right before serving to add the whipped cream to the cake so it’s nice and fluffy!

Make sure you use room temperature eggs and butter so that the wet ingredients mix well.

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If you have tried this Three Milk Cake or any other recipe on my blog, then please rate it and let me know how it turned out in the comments below! You can also FOLLOW ME on FACEBOOK, TWITTER, INSTAGRAM, and PINTEREST to see more delicious, healthy, family friendly food!