Banana Torta de Mil Hojas (Thousand-Layer Cake)

The torta de mil hojas is a classic South American dessert.  I tried my first slice at Liguria, an amazing and quirky restaurant in Santiago.  I bought another in Buenos Aires at our neighborhood panaderia, Del Carmen on Viamonte.  In Chile, the cake featured a lighter caramel in between the layers, and naturally, the Argentinean version had spoonfuls (and more spoonfuls) of dulce de leche.

While I was in the Southern Cone, I continued to dream about all of the sweet things to pair with dulce de leche when I returned to America.  Banana has been at the top of my list since I had a banana split and dulce de leche sundae at Freddo, the best heladeria in the world.  (I'm not kidding: I don't think I'll ever taste ice cream that's as rich, velvety, and creamy until I return to Argentina.)

I thought a torta de mil hojas featuring some fresh bananas would be out of this world, and it turns out I was right.  As with any layer cake, this one is a labor of love, but it's definitely worth the work.  I topped mine with a decorative Argentinean sun.

I have the most perfect song to accompany the banana torta de mil hojas.  Los Beat 4, a Chilean band formed in Santiago in the late 1960s, has a song that's absolutely made for this dessert.  Here's "Dame un Bananino" ("Give me a banana!").

Ingredients:
--1 1/4 c. flour, + extra for rolling
--1/2 c. chilled butter, chopped
--1/4 c. ice water
--pinch of salt
--pinch of granulated sugar
--2 c. dulce de leche (we brought some back from Argentina, but you can also buy it at any specialty foods store, or in many cases, the lovely World Market)
--2 ripe bananas, slice very thinly

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a food processor, make a pastry crust by pulsing the flour, butter, ice water, salt, and sugar until the mixture begins to form a ball of dough.  On a large flat surface, add some flour and roll out the dough until it's quite thin.  Using a dish or other perfect circle, cut out eight (8) dough circles that are approximately 6" in diameter.

On a parchment lined baking dish, bake the pastry dough for about 12 minutes, or until it becomes lightly golden around the edges.  Remove and allow to cool completely.  **If you want to make a design on top like I did, cut out whatever design you'd like from your remaining dough and bake for 10-12 minutes, or just until golden around the edges--just like the pastry layers.

Once the pastries have cooled, place a dollop of dulce de leche on the bottom of a plate and stick the first pastry circle on top.  This will prevent the torta de mil hojas from moving around.  Coat the top of the first pastry circle with a heaping of dulce de leche (about 3-4 tablespoons), and then add another pastry circle on top.  This time, coat the circle with a very thin layer of dulce de leche (less than one tablespoon) and add a thin layer of bananas.  Repeat, alternating between layers of dulce de leche and bananas, until you've placed the final pastry circle on top.  If you're adding some pastry decor, attach it with any remaining dulce de leche.

Serve!