A family birthday tradition in my house growing up was to pick the cake we wanted and mom would bake it for us. Every year as a child I always chose German Chocolate with the Coconut Pecan Frosting, yum. As the years have gone by we have continued this family tradition and as an adult I changed it up by choosing a different dessert every year. For the most part I have always made it for myself as I was the only one to venture off to live thousands of miles away from where my family still resides. I chose a lot of favorites, Lemon Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting, Hot Fudge Brownie Sundaes, really it was whatever I was craving at the time. This last year found me wanting a layered cake with White Cream and Strawberries, it was delicious.
When it came time this year for my sweetheart to celebrate a very special birthday, his 50th. I asked him to give his cake of choice a lot of thought and to give me a few options so that the final decision would be a surprise. The one I settled on was the Tia Maria Torte. He loves Chocolate Chip Cookies and the foundation of this treat is comprised of those and fresh whipped cream. Whats not to love? So if you have a special someone celebrating and want to impress them, try this at home and I promise, you won't be disappointed.
This being my first attempt at this dessert I went to where else but the World Wide Web for suggestions. Many recipes I found online listed prepackaged cookies but darn it...I wanted it to be more special than that and yet still didn't have tons of time to make it. I decided on the packaged dough in the refrigerator department at the local market. If you have the time you can certainly make the cookies yourself or buy your favorite cookie in a bag.
Since we were celebrating a 50th birthday of course I chose to bake 50 cookies and 3 packages at 18 cookies each would be just enough to pull that off. The cookies bake in only 12 minutes per their instruction, no fuss and no mess. While they cooled I was able to make the whipped cream. 33% Whipping cream beaten with cold beaters in a chilled bowl until stiff peaks form and you are ready for the next step. Dunking the cookies! Assembling the Torte and topping it with your choice of goodies is tons of fun. As it was my first time making this Torte I can assure you that I will be making it again and again as it was a beautiful cake, it tasted amazing and I certainly impressed myself with how easy it was to make.
Ingredients...
2cups chilled whipping cream
1/4cup Confectioners Sugar
2lbs Chocolate Chip Cookies
2/3cup milk (I used 2%)
2/3cup Tia Maria Liqueur
1oz Semi-Sweet Chocolate
Directions...
Whip cream with sugar in a chilled bowl till stiff
Combine Milk and Tia Maria in a bowl
Dip cookies in Milk and Tia Maria mixture QUICKLY
Lay flat one layer of cookies in an ungreased Spring Form pan
Fill in open spaces with broken pieces of cookies
Spread a layer of whipped cream on top
Repeat this process 2x ending with a top layer of whipped cream
Grate Chocolate over top
Refrigerate for 24hrs to fully set
An option for the top besides grated chocolate could be chocolate chips : )
As a side note to you...if you decide to make this recipe please share with me how it turned out for you or if you have made a version of this already please share your thoughts, ideas, suggestions and any comments you wish, Thank you : )
Bon Appetit! Smacznego!
