Torta (now with recipe)

Those of you who know me personally will know that I spent a year in Paraguay at the end of high school.  I know it's really bad but one of the things I enjoyed most was the food - the sweet stuff in particular.  I attended many, many birthday celebrations and fell in love with their cakes.  Although I don't make an exact replica at home, it still tastes pretty good.  Delicious actually.

I was in a hurry when I made this one as I had a friend coming for morning tea.  If I had been organised I could have made it the previous night.  So basically you have layers of sponge (best if they are half the thickness I have cut them), diced peaches, caramel (I buy it tinned which tastes almost as good as dulce de leche) and cover it with meringue mixture - you could bake it but I'm naughty and have it uncooked but kept in the fridge at all times.  Actually it would probably make a nice pudding if you baked it after smothering it in meringue - hmm something to try!

Basic Recipe - no cooking involved!

1 store bought sponge cake

1 can of Nestle Caramel

1 tin of diced peaches

4 egg whites

2/3 cup of caster sugar (I'm guessing this because I just poured it from the pack)

So basically you need to slice the sponge cake into thin layers - this would be easiest when the sponge is not freshly baked.  Spread enough caramel on the bottom slice to suit your taste.  Top with sponge.  Next layer will be the diced peaches making sure there is enough juice to soak the sponge - similar to trifle I guess.  Then another layer of sponge.  Continue alternating layers.  Leave the top sponge plain.  Beat your eggs to make a meringue mixture, add the sugar and beat some more then spread all over your prepared cake.  Keep stored in the fridge.  Please note that eating raw egg white has risks especially for those with compromised immune systems so if you think you may be at risk, I recommend baking it.

Now, if you are really good you could make from scratch.  A sponge cake is fairly simple and for this cake it doesn't really matter if you manage to flop it!  There are numerous methods to make caramel(dulce de leche) but the most simple would be boiling a tin of condensed milk.