Chajá, A Magnificent Uruguayan Dessert

Chajá is a typical Uruguayan dessert whose origin dates back to the beginning of the 20th century. As for the exact place of its invention, the city of Paysandú. Today it can also be found in places like Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, the United States, and so on.

And why is it called “chaja”? By the Guaraní name of a typical bird of Uruguay. On the other hand, it should be noted that a machine that assembles the dessert with its original shape has not yet been achieved, therefore, it continues to be assembled by hand.

Chajá dessert recipe

The original recipe has not been disclosed as it remains the property of the family that invented it. However, a fairly rough version can be prepared as follows.

Ingredients

• 3 egg whites.
• 3 glasses of cream (750 g).
• 1 can of peach in syrup (200 g).
• 1 cup of white sugar (100 g).
• 3 tablespoons of icing sugar (30 g).
• 1 cake of 26 cm in diameter.
• 1 plate or disk of meringue.

Preparation

• Whip the cream together with the sugar.
• Raise the whites until stiff with a tablespoon of sugar until they turn completely white, peaks appear and when turning the bowl they do not fall.
• Incorporate the whites into the whipped cream with enveloping movements so that they do not fall.
• Remove the peaches from the can and reserve two halves for garnish. Chop the rest and reserve the syrup.
• Cut the cake into medium 1 cm thick portions.
• Cover the piece of the container with the pieces of cake, there may be gaps between the pieces. It is necessary to ensure that those of greater consistency are on the edges of the mold.
• Spread a layer of the cream and egg whites mixture on the cake. Sprinkle the peach pieces on top and cover with meringue.
• Put back pieces of sponge cake and moisten them a little with the reserved syrup. Repeat the layers of cream, peach, meringue, sponge cake and syrup.
• Garnish with the reserved peach.
• Let it rest for a few hours in the fridge before unmolding.

Data of interest

• Difficulty: medium
• Preparation: 45 minutes + hours of rest in the refrigerator.
• If you don’t want to use an industrial sponge cake, you can make a homemade one, following any normal oil sponge cake recipe that you know.
• If you don’t want to use store-bought meringue, you can make a homemade one, beating egg whites until stiff with sugar or syrup and baking it for approximately 7 minutes.

Chajá dessert (another version)

Ingredients

For the sponge cake

• 1 cup and a half sugar (180 g).
• 6 eggs (360 g).
• 1 and a half cups of flour (180 g).
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla essence (5 g).

For the filling

• 2 meringue discs.
• 1/2 cup of sugar (50 g).
• 1 bag of meringues.
• 1 jar of cream (500 g).
• 2 jars of dulce de leche (500 g).
• 1 can of peach in syrup (200 g).

Preparation

Of the sponge cake

• With the electric mixer, beat the eggs with the sugar and the vanilla essence until a foamy mixture is formed.
• Add the dried (sugar and flour) sifted, incorporating them into the mixture with enveloping movements.

• Pour the mixture into a mold previously greased with butter and flour.
• Bake at 170ºC for approximately 50 minutes.

Of the filling

• With the help of the electric mixer, whip the cream together with the sugar until it is thick.
• Cut the peaches into thin wedges. Reserve the syrup.
• Cut the sponge cake into 3 parts. Soak one of them in syrup and place it in the bottom of a mold.
• Cover with a layer of dulce de leche and then add another layer of meringue on top.
• Moisten the second layer of sponge cake in the syrup and place it on the meringue.
• Cover with the whipped cream and place the peach slices on top.
• Cover with the last layer of sponge cake moistened with syrup.
• Cover the entire cake with the remaining whipped cream and decorate with meringues.

Data of interest

• Difficulty: medium.
• Preparation time: 45 minutes.
• If you don’t want to use industrial meringue, it can be made homemade by beating 6 whites until stiff and baking them for 10 minutes until lightly golden.