🍰 Torta mil hojas
Torta mil hojas, “thousand-leaf cake”, is a Chilean celebration cake made of many paper-thin layers of crisp pastry sandwiched with manjar, the Chilean dulce de leche. It is often finished with a dusting of crumbs, sugar or more manjar on top. The contrast between the crunchy layers and the soft, creamy caramel is what makes it special.
Diets
Allergens
Contains (in a typical recipe):
What it is made of
Recipe
Ingredients
- 500 g plain flour
- 250 g butter, cold
- 1 egg and 4 tbsp cold water
- 1 pinch of salt
- 800 g manjar (dulce de leche)
- 2 tbsp icing sugar to finish
- Optional: a few chopped walnuts
Method
- Rub half the butter into the flour and salt, add the egg and water and knead briefly into a smooth dough.
- Rest the dough in the fridge for 30 minutes.
- Roll it out very thin, spread with the remaining butter in small pieces, fold and roll again to make a quick laminated dough, then chill 20 minutes.
- Divide the dough into 10 pieces, roll each into a thin round and prick well.
- Bake the layers at 200 °C for 8–10 minutes until golden and crisp.
- Stack the cooled layers with manjar between each one, press gently, and top with crumbs, icing sugar or nuts. Rest overnight to soften slightly.
How to make it lighter
- Keep the slices small: at around 380 kcal per 100 g, a thin slice is enough for a treat.
- Spread the manjar thinly and use fewer layers to cut sugar and calories.
- Serve with fresh fruit or unsweetened tea instead of a second slice.
History
Layered pastry cakes filled with sweet cream or caramel exist across Latin America, and in Chile the mil hojas is a favourite for birthdays and family gatherings. Its signature filling is manjar, the thick milk caramel that is central to Chilean sweets. Bakeries sell it by the slice and it is often made at home for special occasions.
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Values are estimates per 100 g for a typical recipe; home and restaurant versions vary. Diets and allergens are worked out from the ingredients of a typical recipe — always check with whoever cooked the dish. Not medical advice. Nutrition data: Me Nutrition dish database v15. How we count →