In a large bowl, using a hand mixer, combine the dulce de leche and cream cheese and beat until fluffy. Add creme fraiche or sour cream and continue mixing. It should be a light caramel color with no lumps. Taste to achieve the ratio you like. Reserve
Brew a cup of black coffee and pour it in a shallow dish. This is for dipping the chocolate cookies to make them moist. Make sure not to dip them for too long or they will get soggy and crumble.
Line your dessert baking dish with parchment and begin building the Argentina cake.
Submerge each chocolate cookie one by one in the coffee and line them across the parchment paper in the dessert baking dish. You may need to break up a couple of cookies to get the right geometrical shape to cover the entire surface.
Pour some of the dulce de leche mixture and spread evenly with a spatula. Arrange another layer of coffee-soaked cookies. And then, add another layer of the dulce de leche mixture.
Continue adding layers of chocolate cookies dipped in coffee followed by more dulce de leche mixture.
You should have at least four layers of cookies ending with a layer of dulce de leche.
For garnishing, melt a few squares of high-quality dark chocolate and pour on top of the last layer of dulce de leche.
After having made the recipe for the first time, we would now recommend delicately melting the chocolate. Instead of melting the chocolate over a stovetop, we recommend using the bain marie method for a smooth finish.
Once you have spread it out evenly, grate a few dark chocolate squares and sprinkle over the Argentina cake.
Cover with a plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least four hours. The longer the Argentina cake sits in the refrigerator, the better it gets.
Notes
You can substitute the coffee for milk especially if serving children.
For an adult-only version, some recipes call for mixing Kahlúa with the coffee
To allow the flavors to settle, it’s important to refrigerate for at least 4 hours or even overnight.