Ingredients
The layers
- 3 packetsChocolinas chocolate biscuits (about 500 g), or any thin, dry chocolate biscuit
- 400 gcream cheese, at room temperature
- 700 gdulce de leche
- 300 mlwhole milk
- 150 mlstrong black coffee, cooled, or 100 ml coffee plus 50 ml sweet vermouth or coffee liqueur
To finish
- 50 gdark chocolate, shaved
- 2 tbspcocoa powder, for dusting
- Extra dulce de leche, warmed, for the top (optional)
Directions
- Beat the cream cheese alone for a minute until completely smooth, then add the dulce de leche in three additions, beating just until uniform. Overbeating slackens the mixture and it will not hold layers.
- Taste the cream. It should be sweet but with the cream cheese clearly cutting through; add a spoonful more cheese if it is cloying.
- Mix the milk and coffee in a shallow dish wide enough to take a whole biscuit. The dip should be cold.
- Dip each biscuit for no more than 2 seconds a side. Chocolinas are made to absorb fast; leave one in for five seconds and it collapses in your fingers.
- Line the base of a 20 x 25 cm dish with a single tight layer of dipped biscuits, breaking some to fill the gaps.
- Spread a third of the dulce de leche cream over the biscuits in an even layer about 1 cm thick, right to the edges.
- Repeat, biscuit and cream, for three biscuit layers and three cream layers, finishing with cream on top.
- Cover and refrigerate at least 6 hours, ideally overnight; the biscuits must fully soften into cake. Dust with cocoa and scatter chocolate shavings just before serving, and cut with a hot, dry knife.
Technique
- Chocotorta was created in 1982 as an advertising recipe for Chocolinas and dulce de leche, and became a genuine national birthday cake within a decade. It is Argentina’s most-made cake and involves no oven.
- The overnight rest is not optional. Cut after two hours you get wet biscuits in cream; after twelve you get a cake with a fine crumb.
- Full-fat cream cheese only. Light versions are too wet and the layers slump.
- Dulce de leche brands vary in sweetness; taste before you commit and adjust with cream cheese rather than sugar.
Substitutions
- No Chocolinas outside Argentina: use thin dry chocolate biscuits such as Bauducco or plain chocolate digestives with the sugar side down, and shorten the dip to one second.
- Mascarpone can replace cream cheese for a richer, less tangy cream.
- For a version without coffee, dip in cold chocolate milk; this is how it is made for children’s parties.
Variations
- The classic three-layer chocotorta with coffee-dipped biscuits.
- A version with sliced banana between the layers.
- Chocotorta in individual glasses, layered as a trifle for parties.
History
Created in 1982 by advertising copywriter Marite Mabraganya to promote Chocolinas biscuits and Mendicrim cheese, layered with dulce de leche.
Frequently asked questions
What is Chocotorta?
Chocotorta is a dessert from Argentina: no-bake cake of chocolate cookies, dulce de leche, cream cheese. Created in 1982 by advertising copywriter Marite Mabraganya to promote Chocolinas biscuits and Mendicrim cheese, layered with dulce de leche.
How long does Chocotorta take to make?
Chocotorta takes 25 min of preparation and no baking, 6 hr chilling of cooking. The recipe makes 8 servings. It is rated easy to make.
What can I substitute in Chocotorta?
Yes, within limits. No Chocolinas outside Argentina: use thin dry chocolate biscuits such as Bauducco or plain chocolate digestives with the sugar side down, and shorten the dip to one second. Mascarpone can replace cream cheese for a richer, less tangy cream. For a version without coffee, dip in cold chocolate milk; this is how it is made for children’s parties.
What is the most important thing to get right in Chocotorta?
Cover and refrigerate at least 6 hours, ideally overnight; the biscuits must fully soften into cake. Dust with cocoa and scatter chocolate shavings just before serving, and cut with a hot, dry knife.
