Dulce delicous.

During Christmas we all make and eat things that we shouldn't. Dulce de leche is one of these things. I found out just how good this stuff is when a friend of mine married a man from Chile. This man's mother is a renowned baker in her area, and they make a cake from thin cookies and dulce de leche.

My friend actually brought some home with her. The cake was covered in powdered sugar and wrapped in saran wrap. It was a towering firm thing, well adhered and sturdy. I looked around the interwebs and found that there are a few people out there who have had this, and mostly they talk about it. Many people who have had that cake do not also speak English.

I found a partial recipe, but found that the cookie dough was a pain in the butt to deal with and hard to roll out. I also have found that I have one small oven and only two racks. To make this cake you need around seven layers of cookie in the middle.

I have come up with my own invention. It is not the recipe that my friend's mom makes. Hers has hard cookies in it, and I don't really have the recipe for that. I have come up with a solution. It includes a pie dough type layering item and dulce de leche. It works well and is well received. It is messy and not very pretty, so I always like to dust it well with powdered sugar and well trim the sides. I think the cake that my friend's mom makes is round, mine is square. Not to fear, it is good, and people will think you amazing for making it. So with a simpler version of a dessert I cannot recreate I give you:

Dulce De Leche Cake

Oh, you might have to make multiples of the dough recipe. Just make the cake until you run out of dulce de leche.

Ingredients:

2 C. high quality unbleached flour
4 oz. cream cheese
3 oz. butter
2 Tbs. natural sugar

2-3 cans of sweetened condensed milk

Powdered sugar

Method:

I do not recommend you do this, I have told you this before, not a good idea. Peel the cans of condensed milk (or you can purchase cans of dulce de leche in the Mexican isle at some grocery stores). I might mention, I do it all the time, nothing explodes, I also use a pot I don't care about. Place them in the bottom of a large pot. Fill the pot with water 3 inches over the tops of the cans. Cover with a tight lid and boil for 8 hours. Do not let the water level drop below 1 inch over the cans. Remove from water and cool completely.

In a food processor combine the flour, sugar, cream cheese and butter. Pulse until it looks like grit. Add one or two tablespoons of water to get the dough to barely come together. If your dough is too wet you will have to use a lot of dusting flour.

Divide dough into thirds. Roll the dough out very thin, place it on a cookie sheet and poke all over with a fork. Bake 350 for about 10-15 minutes or until the edges get brown. Remove from cookie sheet, repeat.

Now with your skills cut your dough in half and make the best shaped half the size/shape of your cake. Place this on a plate and spread with dulce de leche. Place the other half on top, or use pieces and create a jigsaw type layer. Cover with dulce de leche. I usually go about 6-8 layers. Cut the sides on the cake to make a nice presentation and make sure the top is covered in a generous layer of dulce de leche. To keep the cake fresh cover it in powdered sugar (sides and all) and wrap tightly in saran wrap. To serve the cake place on a little plate and re-cut the sides if they are looking messy. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.

A little cake made like this (about 3x3 or 4x4 inches) will be enough for a 10-15 person party. It is very rich and you only need a little tiny square of it. I said it was good, not good for you.