Argentine alfajores
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 easy to prepare and die slowly, 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 mass, 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 Caractère Revol porcelain plate
Ingredients (for 12 units)
- 75 g butter (at room temperature)
- 75 g icing sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla essence
- 4 egg yolks
- 200 g fine cornmeal (Maizena type)
- 50 g wheat flour
- 5 g chemical yeast
- Salt
- Dulce de leche (to fill)
- Grated coconut (to decorate)
Le Creuset pizza base , Pallarès knife , No.w de Revol bowl , No.w Revol cup , Bérard flour spoon , Caractère Revol porcelain plate
Elaboration
- 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.
- 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.
- We place the dough between two sheets of baking paper, with the help of a rolling pin, we stretch it, making sure that it is all the same thickness: 1/2 centimeter. We transfer it to an oven tray and let it cool in the fridge for 30 minutes.
- When the dough is cold and has hardened, we cut it into discs with a 6 cm cookie cutter. We place them on a baking tray covered with parchment paper (I have used the Le Creuset pizza tray ), leaving a little space between them.
- Bake in the oven, preheated to 180 °C for 10 minutes. Remove and let cool on the same tray before handling.
- Place the dulce de leche in a pastry bag and place 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.
- Place a small amount of grated coconut on a plate and coat the edge of the alfajores, rolling them gently, until they are well covered.
Le Creuset pizza base and Caractère Revol porcelain plate
How to make dulce de leche at home
Dulce de leche is easily found in large stores 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 in position 2 (or second ring) for 20-30 minutes. Wait for the pot to lose pressure before opening it and for the water to cool completely before removing the can and using the dulce de leche.
