Alfajores are one of the most popular sweets in Argentine gastronomy, although they are not exclusive to the country of tango, barbecues and gauchos. They are also very present in other Latin American countries such as Uruguay, Chile, Mexico or the Dominican Republic.

They are very simple to prepare and are slow to die, at least in their most classic and traditional form: filled with dulce de leche and coated in grated coconut . From here there are variants that include bathing the alfajor in a thin layer of chocolate or adding cocoa to the wafer dough, among others.

If you dare to fill it as usual, with dulce de leche, you can buy it or you can also make it homemade. I'll tell you how below - you'll be surprised how easy it is.

Le Creuset pizza base and porcelain plate Caractère Revol

Ingredients (for 12 units)

• 75 g butter (at room temperature)
• 75g icing sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 4 egg yolks
• 200 g fine corn flour (maizena type)
• 50g wheat flour
• 5g chemical yeast
• Salt
• Dulce de leche (to fill)
• Grated coconut (to decorate)

Le Creuset pizza base , Pallarès knife , Revol no.w bowl , Revol no.w cup , Bérard flour spoon , Caractère Revol porcelain plate

Elaboration

1. In a deep bowl, mix the butter with the icing sugar, stirring until integrated. Add the vanilla essence and the egg yolks (we save the whites for another recipe) and stir.
2. Next we add the chemical yeast, a pinch of salt and the two types of flour. We remove everything we can until we integrate and finish mixing well using our hands.
3. We place the dough between two sheets of baking paper, with the help of a roller, we stretch it trying to make it all the same thickness: 1/2 centimeter. We transfer it to a baking tray and let it cool in the fridge for 30 minutes.
4. When the dough is cold and has hardened, cut it into discs with a 6 cm cookie cutter. We place them on a baking tray covered with parchment paper (I used the Le Creuset pizza tray ), leaving a little space between them.
5. Bake in the oven, pre-heated to 180 ° C for 10 minutes. Remove and let cool on the same tray before handling.
6. We introduce the dulce de leche in a pastry bag and deposit a generous amount on half of the wafers. We close them with the other half, squeezing gently (be careful, they are very fragile) so that the dulce de leche spreads throughout the interior and comes out slightly around the edges.
7. Place a small amount of grated coconut on a plate and coat the edge of the alfajores, gently rolling them until they are well coated.

Le Creuset pizza base and porcelain plate Caractère Revol

How to make dulce de leche at home

Dulce de leche is easily found in supermarkets or in our pantry section , but it is very easy to make it at home. You just have to put a can of condensed milk in a pressure cooker , cover it with water and cook on position 2 (or second ring) for 20-30 minutes. Wait for the pot to lose pressure to open it and for the water to cool completely before removing the can and using the dulce de leche.