Pave De Biscoito Maria (layered Cookie Tart)

Total Time: 6 hrs Preparation Time: 4 hrs 30 mins Cook Time: 1 hr 30 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 9
• 1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk (lowfat or fat-free okay)
• 1 (7 ounce) package maria cookies (see note below)
• 1 cup milk (i use skim or fat-free half & half)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 7 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 4 ounces butter or 4 ounces margarine
• 4 egg yolks
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 tablespoon cocoa powder (optional)
• roasted peanuts, for decoration
• maraschino cherry, for decoration

Recipe

• 1 note: maria cookies are usually found in the ethnic/hispanic foods section of grocery stores. hard ladyfingers or graham crackers may be substituted.
• 2 remove label from condensed milk can.
• 3 place unopened can in a large saucepan and cover it with water.
• 4 boil for 1 to 1. 5 hours, making sure that the top of the can is always covered with at least a half-inch of water to prevent an explosion (if the water level becomes too low, just add some more hot water to the pan until can is sufficiently covered).
• 5 remove can from water with tongs or a strainer and set aside to cool.
• 6 allow can to come to room temp before opening (hot can is under pressure and will spray you if opened).
• 7 with a mixer, beat the butter/margarine and sugar until well-mixed (3-5 min. depending on strength of your mixer).
• 8 add yolks, one by one, beating well after each addition.
• 9 add cocoa powder now if you want a chocolate pavé (very good this way).
• 10 beat in vanilla extract and heavy cream (beat only until mixture is homogeneous and fluffy- it will become grainy if overmixed).
• 11 pour milk or half-and-half in a shallow dish for moistening cookies.
• 12 in a 2-quart glass casserole or 8x8" dish, dip cookies one by one and form a layer to cover the bottome of the casserole.
• 13 next, spread half of the butter-cream mixture over the cookies.
• 14 top with another layer of moistened cookies and rest of the butter-cream mixture, ending with a layer of moistened cookies.
• 15 spread entire can of room-temp dulce de leche over the dessert.
• 16 sprinkle with roasted peanuts, and decorate with maraschino cherries that have been patted dry.
• 17 refrigerate for 4 hours or overnite to allow layers to fully blend.