Chajá — Uruguay's sponge, peach, cream and meringue cake

i. Origin & history

Chajá has a specific birthplace: the Confitería Las Familias in Paysandú, a city on the Uruguay River in western Uruguay. Its creation is credited to Orlando Castellanos, a pastry cook there, in 1927. The cake became the confitería's signature, and Paysandú remains its spiritual home; it was later produced commercially and sold across Uruguay and beyond, with the producers' exact recipe kept closely guarded.

The name comes from a bird. The chajá — the southern screamer, Chauna torquata — is a large waterbird of the River Plate wetlands, known for its loud call and its soft, grey, fluffy-looking plumage. The light, airy, meringue-covered cake is said to have reminded its creator of the bird. Despite the name, the bird is neither a crane nor a goose, though it looks a little like both.

Chajá is now one of Uruguay's best-known cakes, alongside the massini (sponge with cream and a burnt-sugar yolk topping) and the Martín Fierro dessert of cheese with quince or sweet potato paste. It is eaten at birthdays and celebrations, sold whole or by the slice in bakeries, and home cooks make their own with ready-made meringues and tinned peaches. It is widely known in Argentina too, especially in the provinces across the river from Paysandú.

The cake is all about contrast: soft, syrup-soaked sponge; cold, lightly sweet cream; juicy peaches; and the sugary crunch of meringue. In that respect it sits somewhere between a cream sponge such as Norway's bløtkake and the meringue-and-cream desserts of the Southern Hemisphere, such as pavlova and Eton mess.

ii. How the meringue stays crisp inside a cream cake

The defining feature of chajá is crisp meringue inside and on top of a cake full of cream and fruit — two things that are natural enemies, since sugar meringue dissolves on contact with moisture. The meringue must therefore be dry and fully baked: a French meringue of egg whites and sugar, baked low and slow until it is crisp right through and lifts cleanly off the paper. Pale, chalky, hollow-sounding meringues last much longer inside the cake than soft, chewy ones.

Timing does the rest. A chajá is best assembled on the day it is eaten, and ideally the meringue on the outside is pressed on only a few hours before serving. Inside the cake, the meringue pieces gradually soften into a chewy, marshmallowy layer — which many people love — while the outer coating stays crunchy if added late.

The sponge is a whisked genoise-style sponge, light and dry enough to absorb syrup without collapsing. Brushing each layer with the syrup from the tinned peaches (sometimes with a splash of liqueur) moistens it and carries the peach flavour through the cake.

Whipped cream holds the cake together. Lightly sweetened and whipped to firm but smooth peaks, it is stable enough to stack layers and spread over the outside. Whipped too stiff, it turns grainy; too soft, and the cake slumps under the weight of the fruit.

iii. Ingredients

Makes 12 servings · scroll the side panel to adjust

• 3 egg whites, for the meringue
• 180 g caster sugar, for the meringue
• 5 eggs, for the sponge, at room temperature
• 150 g caster sugar, for the sponge
• 150 g plain flour
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 820 g tinned peach halves in syrup (2 tins)
• 2 tbsp peach liqueur or rum, optional
• 600 ml whipping cream
• 60 g icing sugar
• 250 g thick dulce de leche, optional

Peaches in syrup are traditional and their syrup soaks the sponge; fresh ripe peaches work in summer, poached briefly in a light syrup. Make the meringues a day or more ahead; good bought meringues are a perfectly acceptable shortcut. Dulce de leche is not in every version — some Uruguayans consider it essential, others insist the classic is cream, peach and meringue only. Use whipping cream (about 35–40 per cent fat), which whips to a stable but soft texture. The liqueur is optional and adds depth for adult occasions.

iv. Method

1. Make the meringues: heat the oven to 110 °C (230 °F), or 90 °C fan. Whisk the 3 egg whites to soft peaks, then add the 180 g sugar a spoonful at a time and whisk to a stiff, glossy meringue. Spoon small mounds onto a lined tray and bake for 1½–2 hours until crisp and dry, then cool in the switched-off oven.
2. Make the sponge: heat the oven to 175 °C (350 °F), or 155 °C fan, and line the base of a 22 cm springform tin. Whisk the 5 eggs and 150 g sugar for 8–10 minutes until pale, thick and tripled. Sift over the flour in three additions and fold in gently with the vanilla.
3. Pour into the tin and bake for 30–35 minutes until golden and springy. Cool completely, then cut horizontally into 3 layers.
4. Drain the peaches, keeping the syrup, and slice them thinly. Mix 150 ml of the syrup with the liqueur, if using. Whip the cream with the icing sugar to firm, smooth peaks.
5. Place the bottom sponge layer on a plate and brush with a third of the syrup. Spread with half the dulce de leche (if using), a layer of cream, half the peaches and a handful of roughly broken meringue.
6. Add the second sponge layer and repeat: syrup, dulce de leche, cream, peaches and meringue. Top with the final layer and brush with the remaining syrup.
7. Cover the top and sides with the rest of the cream. Chill for at least 2 hours to let the sponge absorb the syrup.
8. Up to an hour before serving, crush the remaining meringues and press them all over the top and sides. Decorate with a few peach slices.

v. Tips & common mistakes

• Bake the meringue until truly dry. Underbaked meringues are chewy and dissolve quickly in the cream. They should sound hollow and peel off the paper easily.
• Add the outer meringue late. Pressing crushed meringue on just before serving keeps the crunch that defines chajá.
• Drain the peaches well. Wet fruit makes the cream slide and the meringue dissolve. Pat the slices dry.
• Soak the sponge evenly. Brush syrup over the whole layer, not just the centre, so it is moist throughout but not soggy.
• Whip the cream to firm but smooth peaks. It must support the layers; overwhipped cream turns grainy when spread.
• Eat it within a day. After 24 hours the meringue softens completely and the cake loses its contrast.

vi. Variations

Chajá with dulce de leche is the most common modern home version. Chajá de frutilla replaces the peaches with strawberries. Chajá de chocolate uses a cocoa sponge or adds chocolate shavings. Chajá en copa layers crumbled sponge, cream, peaches and meringue in glasses — a quick party dessert. The commercial version is also sold as small individual cakes.

Related desserts include Argentina's chocotorta and rolled pionono, Peru's meringue-topped suspiro limeño and the French dacquoise. For a cream-and-meringue cake from the north, see the Swedish prinsesstårta.

vii. Serving & storage

Serve chajá chilled, in wedges cut with a sharp, hot knife, at birthdays, weddings and family celebrations, or as a dessert on summer afternoons. It goes well with coffee, and in Uruguay with mate.

Keep it covered in the fridge and eat within 24 hours; the meringue softens and the cream starts to weep after that. The sponge can be baked up to 2 days ahead and the meringues up to a week ahead in an airtight tin, so the cake can be assembled on the day. It does not freeze well.

ix. More from Latin American

• Pionono — rolled sponge with dulce de leche
• Chocotorta — Argentine biscuit icebox cake
• Suspiro Limeño — Peruvian caramel and meringue
• Dulce de Leche — River Plate milk caramel
• Bløtkake — Norwegian cream layer cake
• Meringue Kisses — crisp little meringues