Last weekend marked a family member’s birthday party, and for the occasion I offered to make a cake for the party. A cake I’ve never attempted before, the tres leches cake. Well, to be precise, a coconut tres leches cake.

Here you can see that the final result actually looks pretty tasty. But as Meri-Goes-Round adventures go, this one threatened to turn into a disaster… here’s what happened.

You might recall that I’m not the fanciest of bakers. I believe the last time I checked in about a baking adventure may have been the burnt angel food cupcakes of December 2010. I make approximately one cake a year, and this time I was determined that it be edible.

So, my solution? Don’t follow a recipe. Ha. You might be thinking, “but Meri… if you’re not confident in your baking skills, you might want to follow a recipe…” Nope, I just used a box mix and improvised with a variety of online recipes as my guide for this cake, which ended up being a “version” of coconut tres leches cake. So here’s how it went…

As concerned as I was about the taste of this “disaster cake” as I came to call it, I got nothing but rave reviews from the partygoers. And despite the rich ingredients in the cake, it tasted not too sweet and actually quite light with the cool whip frosting.

If I can remember how to make it again, I think I will! Optional garnishes would be coconut flakes or bananas on top, or you could add some pineapple or mandarin oranges to the cake portion.

Go Coco Loco!

Are you a confident baker? I could cook all day with passion but baking really gets me flustered! Have you ever made a tres leches or coconut tres leches cake? What is your favorite kind of cake?

Meri