Thousand Layers Cake is the most traditional Chilean cake; this actual recipe is from my great aunt, she used to bake this cake for my birthday as a present. She usually makes this cake at least a day in advance, and it tastes great for 3-4 days.
The most traditional filling is Dulce de Leche and walnuts, but pastry cream and whipped cream are also used. Not too sweet jams like plum or rhubarb are also excellent.
Maybe you will also like this recipe: Easy Dulce de Leche Flan
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The most traditional Chilean cake. Layers of thin, crunchy dough and dulce de leche and jam.
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Ingredients
for the dough,
- 3 cups sifted flour
- 250 grams/ 8 oz unsalted butter, room temperature
- 3 egg yolk, room temperature
- ¾ cup milk
- 1 tablespoon rum or pisco
- 1 pinch of salt
for the filling,
- 3 cups of dulce de leche or caramel (available in Latin supermarkets, I like La Lechera brand sold in cans, usually right next to the condensed milk)
- 2 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
- ¼ cup powdered sugar
Instructions
- Combine the flour and salt in a big bowl. Add butter in chunks, egg yolks, milk and liquor, work to form a dough of medium consistency. Do not work with your hands, use a fork or 2 knives or a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, the important thing is not to use your hands because the body heat will melt the butter and bits of butter remaining in the dough are what gives the crispness to the dough. Wrap in plastic wrap and let stand in the fridge overnight or at least 6 hours.
- Preheat oven to 350F or 180C.
- Divide the dough into 14 equal portions. Roll each piece on a floured counter until very thin, using a paring knife cut circles of 9″ of diameter, I usually use a plate as a guide, pierced the circle of dough with a fork in almost the entire surface and bake over an ungreased baking or cookie sheet for 5-7 minutes until golden, let cool.
- Assemble the cake filling in between each layer with dulce de leche, every three layers add ground walnuts also, saved 1 cup for decoration purpose. Cover the whole cake with a thin layer of dulce de leche and sprinkle with a mixture of walnuts, powdered sugar, and crumbs.
- Let it rest well cover in the fridge and serve at room temperature.
Keywords: mil hojas, thousand layer cake, chilean cuisine
Hola!!! Soy una CHilena Rancaguina. Hace un tiempo subiste una receta de la torta pompadour estilo angelicas,.. viviendo en Canada en aquel entonces la reproduje y me luci con tus consejos! quiero repetirla pero no la encontre! podrias subirla nuevamente? es de las mejores tortas del mundo y soy muy agradecida de que hayas compartido el secreto… podrias compartirlo nuevamente, porfavor? Hoy ya no estoy en Canada, hace un tiempo volvi a Chile, pero estoy lejos de las tierras celestes… en la Isla grande, saben de comida chilota… pero muy pcoo de tortas ricas!! estara de cumpleaños mi amigo y quisiera sorprenderlo! espero puedas responderme, muuuchas gracias por tus recetas!! saludos
Hola Renata,
Acá esta la receta http://www.enmicocinahoy.cl/2011/08/torta-pompadour-estilo-angelicas-hojarascacrema-chantillymanjar-banana-one-thousand-layers/
Suerte!
Hola ! He hecho esta receta varias veces, sale excelente !!! Mi pregunta es….puedo congelar la masa unos días antes d hacer la torta ?
Ya horneada… nunca he probado, pero lo más fácil es congelar la torta ya lista.
Hi! For the decorations all around the cake – is that just the walnuts and powdered sugar or did you cover it with a crumbled layer. It looked different than the walnuts placed in the filling layers so I wanted to check.
I’ve made this before and it’s amazing! I love how yours is decorated though and I was hoping to mimic that.
Thank you!
Yes, I collect all the crumbs and bake the cuttings from the dough and crumb them for decorating purposes.
Thank you!! 😀
Hi,
I am not a big fan of nuts. Is there anything else I could use? Or is it essential for the cake?
Thanks
You can omit them, the cake will be almost the same. If you worry about being too sweet because of the dulce de leche, add some layers of raspberry or plum jam.
Hi Pilar. You mentioned in an earlier post that it’s okay to freeze the entire cake. What would I wrap it with? Does the texture stay the same after it’s been thawed? Thank you!
Yes, the texture stays the same. You need to wrap it in two layers of plastic film, and then inside a plastic bag. Don’t keep it frozen for more than 2 months.
I tried your recipe and the cake was excellent.Because was my first time I made two batches just in case of any problem but everything went fine,so following your instructions i assemble the cake.
I was so happy .The cake was ligth incredible good
My family enjoyed and was nothing left.
Thank you for a wonderful recipe.
Thanks for coming back and sharing. I’m so glad you enjoy it.
Hi Pilar
I forgot to tell you that I baked the second batche and I frozen the layers wrapped in plastic for five days.
Then I made the second cake and was perfect .The texture did not change.
Great tips. Thanks!
So excited to try to make this. I was an exchange student in Chile in the 1980’s and I LOVED this cake!!
Good luck, and let me any questions here in the comments.
I was also an exchange student in Chile in the 1980s (stayed in Santiago and Punta Arenas and visited Vina del Mar)and I had a different version of this cake while in Punta Arenas. All I remember is that it had a choclate layer on the bottom, mil hojas and manjar in the next layers, then layers that had strawberries or raspberries and maybe cream and covered with icing. I wish I had that recipe. Has anyone heard of this version?
Hi Audra,
That sounds a lot more like this recipe https://www.chileanfoodandgarden.com/easy-thousand-layers-cake/ minus the chocolate.
I accidentally used my hands to make the dough and I put it in the fridge. Will it really affect my layers?
Maybe, difficult to say, because it will depend on way melted the butter got. Sorry.
Once the cake is assembled I want to freeze it, how do you thaw it?
On the fridge overnight, still wrapped.
The cake. Looks delicious I am going to try to make, I would like to know what kind of crumbs I need to use. Thanks
The crumbs on the outside are one of the layers just crumbled.
Do you bake the layers on a cookie sheet? or in the cake pan you used to measure the size?
On a baking sheet or cookie sheet. Thanks for asking I will change the recipe to be more precise. Best,
Loved this recipe, I’ve prepared this cake and it turned out wonderful!! Easier than expected. Thank you Pilar.
Fantastic!
Can i use salted butter for this tortamil hoja
Instead of salt??
Yes, but don’t add more salt to the recipe.
hola me encanto tu receta de pan de pascua me quedo muy rico. voy a probar esta ahora. Desde que deje chile me dan ganas de comer cosas que no venden aca. gracias por compartir tus recetas.
Que bueno Nancy, yo igual acá.
Gracias por la receta, en chile es tan facil encontrar pre hecho el biscocho de la mil hojas, que nunca he intentado hacerla.. vamos a ver como no va!
Cierto, acá en EEUU no queda de otra.
Hi there! What’s the dough called? Puff pastry?
It’s similar to puff pastry, but not at all the same. Is a dough with less butter, more eggs. Elastic and crunchy after baked.
Puff pastry is not a replacement.