My word. If you have never tried ‘tres leches’ cake, then you are in for a real treat.
When I first heard of this cake experience, I thought, there is no way! How can you soak a cake with THREE types of milk, and then be able to slice and serve it?
Well, you can. With this recipe, the cake remains structured, but absorbs all that lovely moisture and flavor. It turns into a soft sponge cake.
My next thought was, this cake will be very rich. And yes, that is also true. It is sweet. It is decadent. It is not a diet-food.
But for a special occasion, enjoy. Just adjust your serving to your personal tolerance of high fat, high sugar foods.
In a blog post like this, I like to spend time reviewing the concept of dairy and the low-FODMAP diet:
The low-FODMAP diet is NOT a dairy free diet. It does restrict lactose, which is the carbohydrate that people with IBS often have trouble digesting. However, not everyone has issues with lactose, and it is a FODMAP that is commonly reintroduced in the second phase of the FODMAP diet.
The other good news is, you can make many dairy products LACTOSE-FREE by the addition of lactase enzyme. That is how we will be making the Tres Leches Cake suitable for the FODMAP diet.
For those of you expecting a ‘non dairy’ dessert recipe, this is NOT that. It is challenging to find low-FODMAP servings of non-dairy sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk, and similar. Portion sizes for coconut cream and canned coconut milk are not generous enough to make this substitution, and I wanted the same flavor for my Tres Leches cake. Therefore, if you are intolerant to milk products, vegan, or otherwise, you will probably want to skip this recipe.
I am going to make this cake using lactase enzyme additive, while keeping the same dairy ingredients.
Am I cheating? I don’t think so. Many of you will be grateful to be introduced to these enzymes, and the recipe for a low-FODMAP and gluten-free cake that works with this recipe is also something that is valuable to have.
The FODMAP diet works because we have ways to adapt to our lifestyle, and enzymes may be a helpful part of that!
You will need to purchase a product like Lacteez, Intoleran, Milkaid, or other lactase drops to ‘pre-treat’ your dairy for the recipe. Allow 24 hours for those products to do their job!
See my Low-FODMAP Recipe Swap and Substitutions blog and Low-FODMAP Grocery Shopping blog for other ingredient ideas!
You may also love:
- Low-FODMAP Perfect Coconut Cake
- Low-FODMAP Sour Cream Vanilla Pound Cake
- Low-FODMAP Olive Oil Cake with Citrus and Almond; Gluten-free, Dairy-free
- Low-FODMAP Vanilla Cupcakes
- Low-FODMAP ‘Copycat’ The Cheesecake Factory Original Cheesecake; Gluten-free, Lactose-free
- Low-FODMAP Chocolate ‘Poke’ Cake; Gluten-free, Dairy-free
Or check out over 600 more low-FODMAP recipes on the blog. IBS-friendly!
Be healthy and happy,
Rachel Pauls, MD
Low-FODMAP & Gluten-free Tres Leches Cake
Rich, creamy, and so decadent. A Tres Leches Cake made gluten-free, lactose-free, and tolerable for IBS!
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Chilling: 30 hours
- Cook Time: 35 minutes
- Total Time: 65 minutes; plus chill time (about 30 hours)
- Yield: 15 servings 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: Mexican
- Diet: Gluten Free
Ingredients
*PLEASE READ ALL INSTRUCTIONS & INGREDIENTS TO ALLOW TIME TO TREAT YOUR DAIRY PRODUCTS BEFORE USE, CAKE IS ALSO BEST WITH REFRIGERATION FOR 6 HOURS OR OVERNIGHT BEFORE SERVING*
For the Cake:
- 1 cup (140 g) low-FODMAP, gluten-free flour*
- 1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum, if not added to your flour choice
- 1 & 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 5 large eggs, room temperature, separated
- 1 cup granulated sugar; divided
- 1/2 cup lactose-free whole milk*
- 3 teaspoons pure vanilla extract; divided
- Commercially available lactase enzyme drops (amount based on your product, see note)*
- One 12-oz (354 ml) can evaporated milk
- One 14-oz (396 g) can sweetened condensed milk
- 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
- Baking spray, or shortening, for greasing pan
For the Topping:
- 2 cups heavy whipping cream
- 1/4–1/3 cup confectioner’s sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Fresh strawberries, raspberries, or blueberries for garnish
Instructions
- Pretreat your dairy:
- Open the 2 cans of milks, and assemble the heavy cream required. Add the appropriate number of lactase drops (This will depend on the lactase product you purchase and the canned item you are using. For example: 5 drops for the carton of heavy cream, 7 drops for the evaporated milk, and 10 drops for the sweetened condensed milk)
- Stir, and allow the product to sit in the refrigerator for 24 hours prior to use. You may bake the cake at this time, provided you store it for 24 hours before soaking in the milk products
- When ready to bake cake, preheat oven to 350° F and place rack in the center of the oven. Grease a 9 by 13-inch pan and set aside for now
- In a medium bowl combine LF flour, xanthan gum (if using), baking powder, and salt
- Place the egg yolks into a large mixing bowl that can fit your electric mixer
- Using your whisk paddle attachment, beat the egg yolks on medium-high until pale and thickened, adding 3/4 cup of the sugar gradually (about 3-4 minutes)
- Once egg yolks have finished beating, stir in the 1/2 cup LF milk, and 2 teaspoons vanilla by hand
- Gently mix the egg yolks into the flour mixture until combined
- In a separate large bowl (or wipe out the one from the yolks well), use your electric mixer to beat the egg whites on high speed, with a clean whisk attachment
- Once they reach very stiff peaks (about 2 minutes), add the remaining 1/4 cup sugar slowly by hand. The whites should be thick enough to scoop
- Next, gently fold the whites into the flour mixture, scraping the bottom and sides of the bowl, until combined. Fold them in with a light touch, a bit at a time
- Pour the batter into your prepared pan, smooth out the top gently, and bake for 30-40 minutes, or until cake springs back when lightly touched, and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean (my cake was 1 & 5/8 inches high at this point)
- Cool cake completely on a wire rack. As it cools, it will shrink and pull away from the sides of the pan. That is normal
- Once cake is cool, using the blunt end of a wooden skewer, chopstick, or any implement that will poke small holes, poke several holes into the cake
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the 2 pre-treated cans of milk(sweetened condensed and evaporated milks), and the 1/4 cup heavy cream for the cake with 1 teaspoon vanilla
- Pour the milk mixture over the cake (it will seem like a lot, that is correct)
- Cover the cake, and refrigerate for at least six hours, or overnight
- Before serving, prepare the whipped cream topping:
- In a large bowl using whisk attachment, whip heavy cream until thickened
- Add confectioner’s sugar and vanilla, a little at a time, and continue whipping until stiff peaks form
- Spread whipped cream over the soaked cake, and garnish with fruit, if desired
Notes
- Although this recipe has not been lab tested, a single serving should be low-FODMAP based on the ingredients (using available FODMAP data at time of posting). However, it is very rich, so adjust serving based on your tolerance to high-fat foods
- This cake will not be a very ‘tall’ cake, but it is super rich, so a smaller slice is best 🙂
- NOTE YOU WILL HAVE TO USE A COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE LACTASE PRODUCT TO PRE-TREAT YOUR DAIRY USING PACKAGE DIRECTIONS. See notes above regarding dairy and the low-FODMAP diet. Products such as Lacteeze, Milkaid, Intoleran, etc are available
- Coconut cream and canned coconut milk are low-FODMAP in 1/4 cup servings, due to sorbitol
- Heavy whipping cream is low-FODMAP in 1/4 cup servings (without using lactase enzyme)
