This Raspberry Dulce de Leche Chocolate Cake is also known as torta Amor, Torta Mixta, or Torta SofÃa, and other female names in Chile. Regardless of the name, I can wholeheartedly recommend it. It’s just spectacular.
I recommend cooking in steps for these more complicated cakes: I made the pastry cream one day. The following day, the chocolate cakes, and the day before serving, I baked the puff pastry dough, beat the cream, and assembled it. Store in the fridge overnight; the following day, it’s perfect.
Chilean and American cakes exhibit several differences in ingredients, flavors, and preparation methods:
- Flavors and Ingredients: Chilean cakes often incorporate ingredients like dulce de leche (manjar), walnuts, and fruit preserves, resulting in rich, nutty, and fruity flavors. Merengue and puff pastry are common in Chilean cake recipes, creating moist and sweet cake layers. Red velvet, cream cheese frostings, and buttercreams are not popular in Chile.
- Texture and Consistency: Chilean cakes often have a moist, dense texture, especially when incorporating dulce de leche. Puff pastry and crispy layers can also provide a textural contrast. Compared to American cakes, which tend to have a lighter, fluffier texture, with sponge or butter cake layers that are often soft and airy. The frosting is typically smooth and creamy.
- Decoration and Presentation: Chilean cakes are often less elaborate in decoration. They may be garnished with powdered sugar, chopped nuts, or simple icing, and their beauty lies in their rustic, homely appearance. Fondant decorations, intricate designs, and custom cake toppers are unusual.
This Torta Mixta reflects the aspiration of many Chilean cakes to have all the possible textures and flavors in one cake. And it works.
Other Chilean layer cakes with Dulce de Leche:
- Torta Pompadour Banana thousand layers
- Easy Pompadour with puff pastry
- Panqueque manjar nuez Dulce de leche walnut layer cake
- Traditional Milhojas Thousand layers cake
- Easy milhojas cake (no-bake)
- Torta Alfajor
- Chilean Tres leches cake
- Torta de Amapolas Poppy seed layer cake
- Torta Manjar Nuez Walnut Dulce de leche cake
Torta Mixta or Torta Amor
Raspberry Dulce de Leche Chocolate Cake. The most delicious cake.
- Total Time: 2 hours, 30 minutes
- Yield: 12
Ingredients
Units
For the chocolate cakes,
- 170 grams cake flour or 120 grams regular flour and 50 grams potato starch
- 55 grams unsweetened powder cocoa
- 7 eggs
- 200 grams granulated sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 85 grams unsalted butter, melted
For the pastry cream,
- 3 egg yolks
- 1 egg
- 70 grams granulated sugar
- 40 grams cornstarch
- 475 ml whole milk
- 50 grams unsalted butter in small cubes
- 70 grams granulated sugar
- pinch of salt
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract (try to use the real deal, read the ingredients)
To assemble the cake,
- 2 cups heavy whipping cream
- 1 cup raspberry jam
- 3 cups raspberries
- 1 sheet of puff pastry (1/2 box)
- 1/2 cup dulce de leche
- 1/2 cup raspberry juice
Instructions
for the chocolate cakes,
- Preheat the oven to 365F or 185C.
- Line the base of a round 20 cm by 8 cm cake mold with parchment paper.
- Sift the flour with powdered cocoa, and mix thoroughly.
- Combine the eggs, sugar, salt, and vanilla in a bowl using a hand mixer. Place over Bain Marie and allow to heat to 115F or 46C. Remove from Bain Marie (carefully, the bowl will be hot) and beat with the hand mixer at high speed until the mix rises and is frothy, about six more minutes.
- Sprinkle 1/3 of the flour and cocoa mix using a spatula and fold gently into the egg batter. Repeat with the following 1/3 and then incorporate the last 1/3.
- Add the melted butter and combine into the mix, always trying to keep the batter from deflating. Just stir as needed.
- Place in the mold and bake for 35-40 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Let cool in the mold. Refrigerate in the same mold if it is filled on the following day.
For the pastry cream,
- In a bowl, mix with a hand whisk the egg yolks and the egg until frothy. Add the sugar (70 grams) and cornstarch until well combined.
- Heat the milk and butter, the rest of the sugar (70 grams), and salt in a medium pot. Stir to dissolve the sugar until it starts boiling, remove from the heat and very slowly, in a thread, incorporate the mix of egg yolks, beating continuously.
- Return the mix to the pot and cook over medium heat until it thickens and starts bubbling, stirring continuously. Remove from the heat, add the vanilla extract, and run through a sieve if you see any lumps. Allow the cream to cool over a bowl of water and ice. Cover with plastic wrap and press right up against the surface. Refrigerate until you use it.
- You can make it 2-3 days ahead of time.
To assemble the cake,
- Flatten the puff pastry and cut the same size or slightly larger than the chocolate cake. Cook according to instructions on the package and allow to cool. It will grow quite a bit.
- Beat the cold heavy cream in a cold bowl with a hand mixer at high speed until whipped or Chantilly.
- Mix with the pastry cream, add 1/3 whipped cream to the pastry cream, and combine. Fold in the rest of the cream.
- Unmold the chocolate cake and cut it in half. Use the top half as the base layer. Drizzle with half of the raspberry juice. Spread one layer of raspberry jam.
- Spread one layer of pastry cream and then one layer of raspberries.
- Cut the puff pastry in half. Spread one layer of dulce de leche on top and then place it over the raspberries.
- Then another layer of pastry cream, raspberries, and puff pastry with dulce de leche.
- Finish with one layer of chocolate cake moistened and with raspberry jam.
- Use the rest of the cream to even out the surface and cover well. Refrigerate and decorate.
- Allow resting for 4 hours before serving. Keep refrigerated.
- Prep Time: 1 hour, 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Category: Cakes
- Method: Oven baked
- Cuisine: Chilean
Do you have a cookbook?
Love your recipes.
Not in English, yet. Thanks!
I’d love to give it a try to your torta ( it looks beautiful and delicious) but I don’t understand the quantities in grams or liters, any possibilities to have it in the system I can understand? Thanks.
You can use Google to switch to your prefer system. I do recommend using at scale for baking. Most scales can switch in between grams and ounces. Good luck.
This cake was divine! But you forgot “love” as an important ingredient;) I am so honored that you made this cake for me and so so lucky to call you friend! This cake was a very special highlight of my celebration! Thank you!!
Cake is love, love is love.