Coconut Tres Leches Cake

By southerngrace

Ingredients

• Cake:
• 1 box of yellow cake mix or homemade yellow cake recipe
• Milk Syrup:
• 1 (15-ounce) can cream of coconut
• 1 can (12-ounce) can evaporated milk
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon coconut extract
• Garnishes:
• 1 (12-ounce) container of Cool Whip
• 1-2 cups sweetened flaked coconut, toasted

Preparation

Step 1

Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Lightly spray a 9x13-inch baking dish with cooking spray and aside. Prepare the cake mix according to box or recipe instructions and allow to cool completely.
Meanwhile, make the milk syrup by mixing the cream of coconut, evaporated milk, milk, and extracts until smooth.
Pierce the cooled cake all over the top with the tines of a fork or a thin wooden skewer. Poke it good--the more pokes, the more the syrup will soak into the cake. Using a large spoon or ladle, spoon some of the milk syrup over the cake. Let the syrup soak into the cake, then continue spooning the syrup on top until all of it has been used up. When you have finished, not all of the syrup will be completely absorbed and might be pooling on the top but that’s okay--it'll absorb eventually. Cover the cake loosely with plastic wrap and refrigerate until all of the syrup is absorbed, 2 hours. Before serving, spread the Cool Whip across the top and sprinkle with the toasted coconut, if desired.

Note: This is one of those cakes that just gets better with time--pace yourself.