Carlota de Cafe
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Carlota de Cafe is the Mexican no bake dessert that turns a packet of plain Maria cookies into something that tastes like a coffee cake. You don’t soak the cookies. You layer them dry and the cream softens them overnight, which is the whole trick and the reason this works.
I love a dessert where the oven stays off and the fridge does all the work.
This one is layers of Maria cookies and a coffee cream made from cream cheese, condensed milk, and whipped cream. You build it like a lasagna, cover it, and put it away for the night. By morning the cookies have gone from crisp to soft and cake like, and the whole thing slices into neat squares.
People compare it to tiramisu and I understand why, but they’re built differently. Tiramisu uses ladyfingers dipped in espresso, so the soaking happens up front and fast. Here the cookies go in completely dry and the moisture in the cream does it slowly over 4 hours or more. Same destination, different route, and it means there’s no dipping and no risk of a soggy layer.
It’s about 30 minutes of actual work and then you wait, which is the hardest part.
One thing I’ll flag before you start: the cream needs to whip properly and there’s a specific way to add the coffee that makes that reliable. It’s in the method and I’d follow it exactly.
Don’t Soak The Cookies
This is the thing that separates Carlota de Cafe from tiramisu, so I want to be clear about it.
- The Maria cookies go in dry. Straight from the packet, laid onto the cream. No dipping, no brushing with coffee, nothing.
- The coffee is already in the cream. As the whole thing sits in the fridge, moisture moves out of the cream and into the cookies, and over 4 hours or more they go from snapping crisp to soft and cake like all the way through.
- If you soak them first, you’ve added moisture to something that’s about to get more moisture anyway. The cookies collapse, the layers lose definition, and you end up with something closer to pudding than a sliceable dessert.
- Which is why the chill time isn’t optional. Four hours is the minimum and overnight is genuinely better. Cut it early and you’ll hit cookies that are still crisp in the middle, which isn’t unpleasant but it isn’t what this is meant to be.
What Are Maria Cookies?
If you haven’t come across them, they’re worth finding.
Maria cookies are a plain, thin, lightly sweet round biscuit, and they’re a staple across Latin America, Spain, and the Philippines. They’re not exciting on their own, which is exactly the point. They’re a blank slate built to absorb whatever they’re sitting in.
- Where to find them: the international or Latin aisle of most large grocery stores, any Latin market, or online. Gamesa and Goya are the common brands and they cost very little.
- Substitutes: digestive biscuits or graham crackers both work. Digestives are the closer match in texture. Whatever you use, it needs to be thin, since a thick cookie won’t soften all the way through in the fridge.
- How many: 2 to 3 packages depending on the brand and how many layers you get. I’d buy 3 and have a spare, since running out halfway through building a 9 by 13 is an annoying place to be.
Ingredients in Carlota de Cafe
- Cream cheese (8 ounces, room temperature): Room temperature genuinely matters. Cold cream cheese doesn’t blend, it just breaks into lumps that you’ll be chasing around the bowl. Take it out an hour ahead. Mascarpone is an excellent substitute and pushes it closer to tiramisu.
- Sweetened condensed milk (1 can, 14 ounces): This is the sweetness and a big part of the texture. It’s what gives Carlota its particular richness and there’s no swapping it out.
- Vanilla extract (2 teaspoons): Warmth underneath the coffee. Pure extract if you have it.
- Ground cinnamon (½ teaspoon): More traditional than you’d think and it works beautifully with coffee. Skip it if you’d rather, or swap in a pinch of nutmeg.
- Salt (½ teaspoon): Small but important. Without it the whole thing tastes flatly sweet.
- Strong brewed coffee (¾ cup, completely cooled): Strong and properly cold. Warm coffee will stop your cream whipping, so brew it well ahead or make it the night before. Espresso works and gives you a more intense result. Decaf is fine and tastes identical.
- Heavy whipping cream (3½ cups, cold): Cold, straight from the fridge, and it needs to be heavy or whipping cream at around 35% fat. Anything lighter won’t hold peaks.
- Maria cookies (2 to 3 packages): See above. Buy 3 to be safe.
- Cocoa powder (½ tablespoon) and instant coffee (1 teaspoon), for garnish: Mixed together and dusted over the top through a fine sieve. It’s what makes it look finished.
How To Make Carlota de Cafe
Start the base. Room temperature cream cheese into a large bowl with the condensed milk, vanilla, cinnamon, salt, and half the coffee. Beat until completely smooth and creamy.
Half, not all. This is the step that decides whether the rest works, and I’ll explain why in the next section.
Add the cream and whip. Pour the cold heavy cream straight into the mixture and start whipping. It’ll look alarmingly thin for the first minute or two and you’ll be convinced it’s never going to come together. Keep going. It thickens quite suddenly and then you’re at soft peaks, light and fluffy but not stiff. Stop there.
Now fold in the rest of the coffee, gradually. A splash at a time, gently, tasting as you go. Stop when the coffee flavor is where you want it and before the mixture loosens. Some batches take all of it, some don’t, and that’s fine.
Build it. A thin layer of cream across the bottom of a 9 by 13 inch dish, which acts as glue for the first cookies. Then a single layer of Maria cookies, dry from the packet, covering the surface. Break some to fill the gaps at the edges.
More cream over the cookies, spread evenly. Then cookies again. Keep alternating and finish with a good thick layer of cream on top. I usually get about 5 layers.
Any cream left over is not a problem. Put it in a bowl and eat it with the spare cookies while you wait.
Chill it. Plastic wrap over the dish, into the fridge, minimum 4 hours and overnight if you can manage it. This is when the cookies soften and everything comes together, and there’s no shortcut.
Garnish just before serving. Mix the cocoa powder and instant coffee, then dust it over the top through a fine sieve. Doing it at the last minute keeps it looking sharp, because cocoa dusted hours ahead absorbs moisture and goes patchy.
Slice into squares and serve cold.
Getting The Cream To Whip
This is the one place this recipe can go wrong, and it’s entirely avoidable.
You’re whipping cream that has coffee in it, and coffee is liquid. Too much liquid in the bowl and the cream can’t build enough structure to hold peaks. It’ll thicken slightly and then just sit there, no matter how long you run the mixer.
- So add the coffee in two stages. Half at the start with the cream cheese, then the rest folded in gently after the cream has whipped. You get the full coffee flavor without asking the cream to do something it can’t.
- Everything cold except the cream cheese. The coffee needs to be completely cooled and the heavy cream needs to be fridge cold. Warm liquid is the other reason cream refuses to whip.
- And don’t take it to stiff peaks. Soft peaks is what you want, light and fluffy, holding shape but still spreadable. Overwhipped cream goes grainy and starts to split, and it’s much harder to spread into even layers.
- If it won’t thicken at all: put the whole bowl in the fridge for 20 minutes and try again. Cold usually rescues it. If it’s genuinely too loose, whip a separate cup of plain cold cream to stiff peaks in another bowl and fold it through.
Variations
- Chocolate. A layer of grated dark chocolate between the cookie layers, or chocolate shavings over the top instead of cocoa.
- Carlota de Limón. The other classic Mexican version. Swap the coffee for lime juice and zest, skip the cinnamon, and you’ve got something completely different and very good.
- Boozier. A tablespoon or two of Kahlúa or dark rum folded in with the coffee.
- With mascarpone. Use it in place of the cream cheese for something closer to tiramisu.
- In individual glasses. Layer it into tumblers or small jars instead of a 9 by 13. Better for a dinner party and the layers look beautiful through the glass.
- Less sweet. Hold back a couple of tablespoons of the condensed milk. You’ll lose a bit of body, so don’t cut much more than that.
Make Ahead And Storage
Make ahead: this has to be made ahead, so it’s ideal for entertaining. Build it the day before, chill overnight, and dust the top just before it goes on the table. One less thing to do on the day.
Fridge: up to 3 days, covered tightly with plastic wrap or in an airtight container. It’s arguably best on day 2, once the cookies have fully softened.
Freezing: I wouldn’t. The cream separates on thawing and the cookies lose the soft cake like texture that’s the whole point. It’s a fridge dessert.
Serving: straight from the fridge, cold. It softens quite quickly at room temperature, so if it’s sitting out on a warm day, keep the dish over ice or bring it out in batches.
More Delicious No Bake Desserts
- No Bake Cheesecake
- No Bake Banana Pudding Dessert
- Banana Split Cake (No Bake)
- No Bake Nutella Cheesecake
- The Best Tiramisu
- No Bake Peanut Butter Chocolate Bars
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Carlota de Cafe
Video
Ingredients
- 8 oz cream cheese (room temperature)
- 1 can sweetened condensed milk (14 ounces)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¾-1 cup strong brewed coffee (completely cooled, divided)
- 3 ½ cups heavy whipping cream (cold)
- 2-3 packages Maria cookies (or any digestive cookies)
- ½ tablespoon cocoa powder (for garnish)
- 1 teaspoon instant coffee (for garnish)
Before You Begin! If you make this, please leave a review and rating letting us know how you liked this recipe! This helps our business thrive & continue providing free recipes.
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the 8 ounces room temperature cream cheese, 1 can sweetened condensed milk, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract, ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon, ½ teaspoon salt, and half of the ¾ cup cooled coffee. Beat with a mixer until smooth and creamy.
- Pour the 3½ cups cold heavy whipping cream directly into the mixture. Whip until it thickens and forms soft peaks, light and fluffy but not stiff. It will look thin at first. Keep going, it thickens quite suddenly. Gently fold in the remaining coffee a splash at a time, tasting as you go, until the coffee flavor is where you want it. Stop before the mixture loosens.
- Spread a thin layer of the coffee cream across the bottom of a 9 by 13 inch dish. Arrange a single layer of Maria cookies over it, straight from the packet without soaking them, breaking cookies to fill the gaps. Spread another layer of cream over the cookies. Continue alternating cookies and cream until the cream is used up, finishing with a thick layer of cream on top. You should get about 5 layers.
- Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, or overnight, until the cookies have softened to a cake like texture.
- Just before serving, mix the ½ tablespoon cocoa powder and 1 teaspoon instant coffee together and dust over the top through a fine sieve. Slice into squares and serve cold.
Notes
- Don’t soak the cookies. They go in dry. The coffee is in the cream and moisture moves into the cookies as it chills. Soaking them first makes the layers collapse.
- Add the coffee in two stages. Half at the start, the rest folded in after the cream has whipped. Too much liquid up front and the cream won’t hold peaks.
- Everything cold except the cream cheese. Coffee completely cooled, cream straight from the fridge. Cream cheese at room temperature or it won’t blend.
- Soft peaks, not stiff. Overwhipped cream goes grainy and is much harder to spread evenly.
- Cream won’t thicken? Chill the whole bowl for 20 minutes and try again. If it’s still loose, whip a separate cup of plain cold cream to stiff peaks and fold it through.
- Overnight is better than 4 hours. That’s when the cookies fully soften into a cake like texture.
- Garnish at the last minute. Cocoa dusted hours ahead absorbs moisture and goes patchy.
- Buy 3 packages of cookies. Running out mid build is an annoying place to be.
Nutrition Information
Notice: Nutrition is auto-calculated for your convenience. Where relevant, we recommend using your own nutrition calculations.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I soak the Maria cookies in coffee first?
No, and this is the main difference between this and tiramisu. The cookies go in dry, straight from the packet. The coffee is already in the cream, and moisture moves into the cookies while it chills. Soaking them first makes the whole thing collapse.
Why won’t my cream thicken?
Too much liquid too early, almost always. Add only half the coffee at the start, whip the cream to soft peaks, then gently fold the rest in. Also make sure the coffee is completely cold and the cream is straight from the fridge.
What are Maria cookies and what can I use instead?
They’re plain, thin, lightly sweet round biscuits, found in the international aisle or any Latin market. Digestive biscuits are the closest substitute, and graham crackers work too. Whatever you use needs to be thin enough to soften through.
How long does it need to chill?
Four hours minimum, overnight is better. That’s when the cookies go from crisp to soft and cake like. Cut it early and you’ll find cookies that are still crunchy in the middle.
Is this the same as tiramisu?
Same idea, different build. Tiramisu uses ladyfingers dipped in espresso and mascarpone. This uses dry Maria cookies, cream cheese, and condensed milk, and the softening happens slowly in the fridge instead of in a dipping bowl.
Can I use decaf?
Absolutely, and you won’t taste the difference. Just make sure it’s brewed strong and completely cooled.
Can I freeze it?
I’d say no. The cream separates when it thaws and the cookies lose the texture that makes this work. Three days in the fridge is the way to go.
