Layer Dessert Polvito Uruguayo

Today you are going to get a layer dessert which is originally from Uruguay, but somehow became famous on Gran Canaria. Normally it is the other way around, many dishes that are originally from Spain are super popular in Latin America. For example this custard named flan, the sandwich cookies with caramel filling called alfajores, or the dumplings named empanadas. Sometimes ingredients were switched out, for example instead of quince for the quince paste called dulce de membrillo Colombias used the local fruit guava. So I found it particularly interesting that in this instance it was actually a Uruguayan immigrant who made polvito uruguayo famous on Gran Canaria. It consists of a cookie crumb, whipped cream, meringue, and the caramel cream named dulce de leche. These are layered into a glass and voilá, you got this decadent dessert.

The combination of meringue, caramel, and whipped cream seems to be loved in all of Uruguay and Argentina. There are two famous layers cakes that come to mind, torta Balcarce and torta Chajá. However, those are layer cakes with more components, you will need to turn on the oven. For polvito uruguayo it is much more straightforward. Instead of a cake layer, we will switch to a cookie crust. As a lot of caramel is used, I do not recommend sweetening the cream, otherwise it will be way too sweet.

Print Recipe

Polvito Uruguayo - Caramel Layer Dessert from Uruguay

Serves: 4 dessert glasses

Prep Time: 20min Total Time: 20min

Polvito uruguayo is a caramel layer dessert which is originally from Uruguay, but is now famous in Gran Canaria. It consists of a cookie crumb, the caramel dulce de leche, meringue, and whipped cream.

Ingredients

• 30 grams of butter
• 70 grams of Graham crackers or simple cookies/biscuits
• 150 grams of heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
• 300 grams of the caramel cream dulce de leche, homemade or bought
• 50 grams of meringue, either homemade or bought

Instructions

1

Melt the butter in the microwave or on the stovetop. Either process the crackers/biscuits into small crumbs in a food processor or by banging with a rolling pin in a sealed plastic bag. Mix with butter and set side. Beat the heavy cream with the vanilla extract until stiff, transfer into a piping bag without any tip. Do the same with the caramel cream dulce de leche.

2

Now we are going to assemble, for each component we will have two layers, so you will need to halve the amounts. The layers are like this: first cookie crumbs, caramel cream, whipped cream, and lastly crumble meringue on top. Repeat.

3

Chill in the fridge for at least one hour or overnight. If chilled, the dessert will keep for a few days.