Chajá

Chajá is a layered Uruguayan sponge-and-meringue dessert from the river-port city of Paysandú, where it was created in 1927 by confectioner Orlando Castellano at the Confitería Las Familias. Its name comes from the chajá, the Southern screamer bird native to the wetlands of central and southern South America, and the cake was designed to imitate the bird's puffy, pale plumage. The construction is a bicolor sponge (bizcochuelo) split in two, sandwiched together with a thick layer of whipped cream (crema doble) and sliced peaches in syrup, then wrapped in crisp Italian-style meringue discs that look like feathers.

Chajá is eaten cold, usually as a single tall slice with a dusting of powdered sugar, and is the signature sweet of Paysandú confectioneries. From Uruguay it spread across the Río de la Plata and is also produced in Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and the United States for the diaspora market.