Chocotorta (Argentine Chocolate Cake)

Any classic dessert in Argentina must have Dulce de Leche in its preparation, and the extremely classic Chocotorta dessert is no exception.

Imagine this with me, one layer of dark chocolate biscuits, followed by a layer of dulce de leche and cream cheese mixture, topped by another layer of chocolate biscuits, and the story goes on, until you get a small fort of chocolate biscuits and dulce de leche.

A simple, no-fuss dessert that stirs every Argentine stomach and appetite, the Chocotorta is a delight available in almost every cafe, and a recipe that everyone in Argentina knows by heart.

The first time I made Chocotorta was for Juan’s birthday in 2011, and since then he’s been asking me to make it again. During the time that I didn’t (or refused to) he would satisfy his sweet tooth by ordering it repeatedly, a couple of weeks in a row whenever we go out for brunch.

It’s Juan’s birthday today, and since he’s such a wonderful boyfriend and charming human being, I finally gave in, and made him an improved, more colourful version of the Chocotorta (thanks for specific instructions from my good friend Agustina).

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SWEETIE!

Thank you my dear love..

…for being so amazing, for having the most marble blue eyes I’ve ever seen, for cultivating my sweet tooth, and giving in to my requests. Thank you for eating all the food I cook and being my experimenter whenever I forage into the land of unknown ingredients, and thank you for sometimes saying “I’m full” instead of “Hey your food sucks” because you don’t want to hurt my kitchen sentiments.

Thank you for caring and loving me, for always being so considerate, and for being who you are – deep, sensitive, and thoughtful. Thank you for also being kind, to everyone around, especially to your family and friends, and for showing me over and over that I made the right choice when we decided to take a jump and I moved to Argentina.
TE AMO!

I LOVE YOU…

…AND YOUR SWEET TOOTH!!

The long-awaited once-a-year chocotorta!

CHOCOTORTA

Ingredients:

1) 300g of cream cheese (I used the Mendicrim brand)
2) 800g of dulce de leche
3) 720g of chocolate biscuits (I used the brand Chocolina)
4) 1 bowl of instant coffee (sweetened to your liking) – other alternatives are milk or chocolate milk
5) 1 small packet of M&Ms (or any candy of your choice)

Steps:

1) Mix cream with dulce de leche
2) In a large rectangular pan, lay the first layer of Chocolina biscuits so that they cover the entire surface of the bowl
3) Spread the mixture in step 1 over the first layer of biscuits
4) Soak chocolina biscuits quickly one by one in coffee and lay them over the mixture in step 3
5) Spread the mixture from step 1 over the second layer of biscuits
5) Repeat steps 4 and 5 until you have a final layer of biscuits, leaving a small whole in the middle
6) Leave in the refridgerator for at least 4-5 hours before filling the hole with M&Ms

Mix cream with dulce de leche:

Until you get this mixture:

In a large rectangular pan, lay the first layer of Chocolina biscuits so that they cover the entire surface:

Spread dulce de leche-cream cheese mixture over layer of biscuits:

Soak biscuits quickly in coffee:

Arrange biscuits evenly over mixture:

Spread more mixture over second layer of biscuits:

Repeat the previous steps until you have a final layer of biscuits, leaving a small hole in the middle:

M&Ms milk chocolate! Melts in your mouth not in your hands!

Leave in the refrigerator for at least 4-5 hours before filling the hole with M&Ms:

After eating almost 1/5 of the cake: