Gorgeous Maria Cookie and Lime Cake

(Today we have a big treat here at Mersydotes!  Papi Mersydotes is sharing a very special recipe for a new cake he just made, a Maria Cookie and Lime cake!)

I am a school teacher, a job I thoroughly enjoy.  Being a teacher allows me to sponsor one of the academic teams at my school.  Recently, we had our end of the year picnic to hand out awards and certificates.  To get ready for the picnic, I decided to make a Maria Cookie Cake.
 

If you have never had a Maria cookie, you are missing a real treat.  Maria cookies are not bold in flavor; this would limit their use.  Maria cookies are subtle in their flavor, which allows them to be more versatile.  Maria cookies are popular in Venezuela, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Portugal, Mexico, Australia, Costa Rica, Pakistan, the Philippines, India, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Spain and Egypt.   This is an interesting mix of countries.  Their history is also interesting so check out the Wikipedia page for more information.  (That is where I got the country list) 

The reason I made the Maria cookie cake (besides being a huge Maria cookie fan) is because one of my students made on and brought it in to school and shared it with his classmates and teachers.  I liked it so much that I decided that I would have to make one of these cakes some day.  Well the day arrived.  I surfed the net for a Maria Cookie cake and found many, many, many recipes.  I pieced this one together and it turned out great.  (I am actually eating a piece of the cake as I post this blog!)

To make the cake, you will need the following ingredients:

• 2 cans sweetened condensed milk
• 1 cup sour cream
• 8 limes
• 3 packs of Goya brand Maria cookies (7 oz. size)

• 

Pour the two cans of sweetened condensed milk (sweetened condensed milk really does not pour, it oozes so ooze the sweetened condensed milk) and one cup of the sour cream and place them into the mixing bowl.

Squeeze the juice of 8 limes into the mixing bowl. 

When you are finished juicing, you will have a rather watery looking concoction. 

That is fine because the next step it to mix the ingredients until they appear smooth.

In a (one of my wife’s brand new) non-stick pans, spread the mixture so that you have a thin layer coating the bottom of the pan.

Now take the Maria cookies (pictured below)….

…and spread them so they make one layer on the bottom of the pan.

Once they are laid out, pour in some of the mixture and spread it out on top of the cookies. 

Repeat this process until you have four or five layers.  Be sure to lay the cookies down so they do not stack right on top of each other, rather they are jogged so they overlap the cookies below.  Also, stop before you run out of the mixture. 

After you lay the top layer of cookies onto the cake, pour on the last of the mixture and spread it out.  Take five of the Maria cookies and crush then in a bowl with a fork.  These crumbs will them be sprinkled onto the top of the cake.

Do not crush the cookie repeatedly, just once crushing of each section of the cookie.  Do not crush the cookie into a fine dust; you want some texture.

Now this next part is key: you must refrigerate your Maria Cookie cake for at least 8 hours.  The mixture needs this amount of time to soak into the Maria Cookies and soften them.  I guess you could eat the cake right away but the flavors will not have had a chance to blend and the subtle Maria Cookie flavor will not be infused with the mixture…so please refrigerate overnight or 8 hours.

When I served it the kids and the other coaches really liked it, much to my surprise.  They asked for the recipe so I it to them the recipe and told them they had to give me a piece of their cake when they made their Maria Cookie cake.  Now that I have passed the recipe to you....no, you don’t have to give me a piece of your Maria Cookie cake when you make yours.  However, you must promise to enjoy the cake and share it with others and when people ask, you must share this recipe with them.  I am sure they will ask you for the recipe.  

Enjoy!