

After my plea for birthday cake recipes, I received a lot of replies. I’ve never had Tres Leche cake before, but after Alta from Tasty Eats At Home posted this recipe in response to my plea, I knew I wanted to try it. I can’t compare it to regular gluten-filled Tres Leche cake, but I can tell you, this cake does not suck (her words, and now mine as well). This moist cake is fantastic topped with the sweetened whipped cream & some fresh berries. Perfect recipe, Alta, thank you so much for sharing it with me!

Gluten Free Tres Leches Cake
Ingredients
For the Cake
- 5 large eggs, separated
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 3 tablespoons butter, softened
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon orange zest (I used lemon zest)
- pinch of cinnamon
- 1/2 cup sorghum flour
- 1/2 cup masa harina
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 tsp xanthan gum
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
- pinch of salt
For the milks:
- 1/2 cup half-and-half
- 12 oz can evaporated milk
- 14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk
For the topping:
- 1 cup whipping cream
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- sliced strawberries
Instructions
For the Cake:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Generously grease a 9x13-inch baking pan.
- In a large bowl, beat 3/4 cup sugar, egg yolks and butter until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Fold in the vanilla, extract, orange zest, cinnamon, sorghum flour, masa harina, baking powder, xanthan gum, and milk.
- In another large bowl, beat egg whites to soft peaks, adding cream of tartar after about 20 seconds. Gradually add the remaining 1/4 cup sugar and continue beating until egg whites are glossy and firm, but not dry.
- Scoop about 1 cup of egg whites into the egg yolk mixture. Stir to lighten batter mixture. Then gently fold in the remaining egg whites into the cake mixture. Pour batter into the baking pan, spreading out evenly.
- Bake in preheated oven until cake the cake is golden, and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Pierce cake all over with a toothpick.
For the milks:
- Whisk together the milks and pour evenly over cake. Allow to cool for 10 minutes, and cover and refrigerate for 4 hours, up to overnight.
For the topping:
- Before serving, place the whipping cream, sugar and vanilla in a mixer bowl and whisk to stiff peaks. Spread over cake and top with strawberries.
- Allow to chill in refrigerator until ready to serve.
Notes
Source: Tasty Eats At Home

The Not So Perfect Housewife says
Happy Birthday!!
This cake looks DELICIOUS!!!
Hope you have a wonderful day!
tallmisto says
Happy Birthday. This cakes looks amazing. Masa harina in a cake, I'm so intrigued. Thanks for sharing this.
Jeanine says
Thanks, gals! The cake was really, really good. Looking forward to having another piece today. 🙂 I thought the flours used were interesting too, but it worked out really, really well!
kathryn says
Happy 33rd 😉 to you!! Here in Wisc. we had the most beautiful day for my daughter's 2nd Bday. Hope yours was as well. The cake looks so moist and delish. Strawberries and cream are much preferred over frosting here.
~kathryn
Sophie @ yumventures says
That looks amazing, especially with those strawberries!
Jeanine says
Kathryn, that's so great that you guys had good weather for your little girl's birthday! So…what was her favorite present? 2 is such a fun age! We've had very unseasonably warm temps here, even had some rain yesterday. Very often, we still have snowbanks on my birthday. Beautiful weather lately!
Thanks, Sophie! Don't strawberries make almost anything better? 🙂
betty r says
Oh dear I am a day late..Happy Birthday Jeanine..your day of celebration sounds fun!
Now that's what you call a birthday cake!!
Tasty Eats At Home says
Happy Birthday! I'm so excited that you tried this cake, and even more excited that you liked it. I need to make it again when strawberries are in full swing! I hope your birthday is the happiest!
margaret says
Thank you for the gluten-free kulich recipe, my priest has coeliac disease so it was a great find.
And I hope you had a wonderful birthday!
Zuzu Petals says
Gluten-free tres leches cake?! I could hug you right now.
Happy Birthday!
kathryn says
She looooves her new tea set. She is so adorable trying to eat off the little spoons and drink out of the cups. Every meal for the last 3 days has been eaten on that set! She's my only girl (+3 boys!) and after 15 years I finally get to do all the girly things 😀 .
Rhonda D. says
I just stumbled across this,it looks wonderful! Tres Leches GF? I'm so excited. Thanks for sharing the recipe… and happy birthday either two months early, or 10 months late 🙂
Ariel Marin says
Made this the other day and it tastes wonderful! My gluten-free husband loved it! I was really lazy about it though and just mixed all the wet ingredients in one bowl (aside from the “three milks”) and all the dry ingredients in another bowl and then combined the two. The consistency was just right for tres leches and the milk mixture still soaked in perfectly. It made the recipe a lot easier! haha
Patrizia says
Lovely! Is the masa harina Maseca?
Jeanine Friesen says
Yes, Patrizia, that’s the exact flour I used for this cake! 🙂
Jill Anderson says
I could not find anything called masa harina. So I bought a corn tortilla mix – it says “instant corn masa flour”. The ingredient is white corn treated with slaked lime. Is that the right thing?
Jeanine says
Yes, that sounds like the same thing, Jill! From bob’s red mill site: Masa, the Spanish word for “dough,” is the traditional dough used to make corn tortillas. It is made with hominy, or dried corn kernels that have been cooked and soaked in limewater, which is ground into masa. Masa harina (“dough flour”) is flour made from dried masa.
Jill Anderson says
Oh wonderful! I look forward to making this cake for church. Thanks so much for the speedy reply! I recommend your website to everyone!
Jeanine says
That’s very kind. Thank you, Jill! 🙂
Julie Holt says
Can this be made with Swerve instead of regular sugar? I’ve been looking for a good gluten free tres leches cake recipe as it is my favorite cake. I don’t care for cake, in general, except for tres leches.