My Grandma's Dutch No-Bake Layer Cake
This is the family secret recipe revealed: my grandmother's Dutch no-bake layer cake, passed on from generation to generation, I couldn't find it anywhere on YouTube. It has the creaminess of a cheesecake, layers like a tiramisu, a fluffy soft bite like a cinnamon bun, lots of fruity elements and that dense macaroon pudding flavor. No oven needed, so it's really easy for beginner home cooks. It's one of those cakes that when you see it you aren't sure how it's going to taste, and when you taste it, you're sold.
Ingredients
- 1 L whole milk (500 ml per pudding batch)
- 1 sachet macaroon pudding powder
- 1 sachet vanilla cream pudding powder
- 1 pack plain biscuits, for the base and decoration
- 1 pack ladyfingers
- a good amount strawberry jam
- 1 jar applesauce
- a few ripe bananas, sliced
- 1 pack almond macaroons
- a good dusting cinnamon powder
- a knob unsalted butter, for coating the form
Method
- 1
Coat a 22 cm round cake form with unsalted butter so the cake doesn't stick when you take it out.
- 2
Cook the macaroon pudding: pour 500 ml whole milk into a pan, add the whole sachet of pudding powder, bring to a boil and boil for 2 minutes, keep stirring the bottom, very important, or it burns onto the pan. It should turn very thick.
- 3
Repeat with the second 500 ml of milk and the vanilla cream pudding sachet. And yes, licking the spoon like you did as a kid is allowed, as long as you wash it thoroughly before using it again.
- 4
Fill the bottom of the form with as many whole plain biscuits as possible, fill the gaps with crumbs, and punch it down into a solid base.
- 5
Spread the macaroon pudding over the base with a spatula.
- 6
Add a tight layer of ladyfingers, squeezing broken pieces into the smaller corners so the whole cake is covered.
- 7
Spread a good amount of strawberry jam over the ladyfingers, fill all the nooks and crannies.
- 8
Spread the applesauce on top of the jam. I used a jar, but if you feel extra, homemade definitely works.
- 9
Dust over a good amount of cinnamon, then lay the banana slices on one by one. It's a bit of work, put your favorite music on and get into the zone.
- 10
Add the almond macaroons one by one on top of the bananas, then the remaining jam over the macaroons, again into all the nooks and crannies.
- 11
Spread the vanilla cream pudding on top.
- 12
Decorate with whatever biscuits you have left (I make our family sigil, required by family law, otherwise they'll come and find me), another layer of cinnamon, and some dots of jam if any is left.
- 13
Let the cake take a long nap in the fridge overnight. Next morning, carefully take off the form.
4 tools I used.
Some links are affiliate links. If you buy through them, I earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.