Light No-Bake Chocotorta

📝 Ingredients

• 200 g butter biscuits (about 24 biscuits)
• 150 ml semi-skimmed milk
• 1 tbsp instant coffee
• 3 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder (2 for the milk, 1 for the top)
• 400 g fromage frais, 3% fat
• 150 g plain cream cheese
• 200 g dulce de leche
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

🍴 Utensils

• Dish of about 15 × 25 cm
• Fine sieve
• Mixing bowl
• Whisk
• Shallow bowl
• Flexible spatula

📖 Steps

1. Tip the fromage frais into a fine sieve set over a bowl and leave to drain for 15 min: as it loses its whey, it will make a firmer cream and the layers will hold well when sliced.
2. Meanwhile, warm the milk for 1 min in the microwave (warm to the touch, not boiling). Whisk in the instant coffee and 2 tbsp cocoa until there are no lumps at all, then pour it into a shallow bowl and leave to come back to room temperature.
3. In the mixing bowl, whisk the cream cheese on its own for 30 s to soften it, then add the dulce de leche and vanilla and whisk until smooth. Fold in the drained fromage frais in two batches, without overbeating so the cream doesn't turn runny.
4. Dip a biscuit in the coffee milk for 2 seconds per side, no longer, or it will fall apart. Place it in the bottom of the dish and continue until the whole base is covered with a third of the biscuits packed tightly, breaking off pieces to fill the gaps.
5. Spread a third of the cream over the biscuits with the spatula, right to the edges. Make a second layer of dipped biscuits then cream, and finish with a third layer of biscuits covered with the rest of the cream, smoothed well.
6. Cover with cling film stretched over the dish, without letting it touch the cream. Chill for at least 8 h, ideally overnight: the biscuits soak up the cream and take on the soft texture of a real cake.
7. Just before serving, dust the last spoonful of cocoa through the fine sieve to form an even layer. Cut into 8 portions with a knife dipped in hot water and wiped between each cut, for clean edges.