Alfajor
I don`t bake sweets often but, every once in a while, we just want to treat ourselves. Today we`re going with one of my childhood favourites: Alfajor. These are light, South American cookies filled with delicious and creamy Dulce de Leche, better enjoyed with a cup of coffee.
These are as simple to make as regular cookies, just lighter and filled with dulce de leche.
Use a fine mesh sieve to sift ¾ cup of flour, 1 cup cornstarch, 1 tsp baking powder, ½ tsp baking soda and ¼ tsp of salt. Mix.
In a large bowl, cream 8 tablespoons of butter with 1/3 cup of sugar using a rubber spatula. Blend them until the mixture is homogeneous and pale in colour.
Mix 2 egg yolks, 1 tablespoon of Brandy, 1 teaspoon vanilla and ½ teaspoon of cinnamon into the butter.
Fully incorporate the flour mix, ¼ cup at a time, into the butter mixture to make the dough. Once it becomes harder, wedge it a little with your hands until there are no more flour pockets, and form it into a disc. Wrap the dough disk with plastic wrap and put it in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Pre-heat oven to 350F.
While you wait, if you don`t have Dulce de Leche from your grocery store, make your own!
In a medium pan, mix 1 cup of sugar, pinch of baking soda, and 1 cup of heavy cream. Slowly bring it to a simmer whisking constantly with a rubber whisk. Once the mixture thickens and gets a darker caramel colour, add ¼ cup of heavy cream (chilled) slowly while whisking vigorously. Then add 1 tablespoon of butter and continue to whisk.
Let the mixture thicken and darken on a simmer. And yes, continue to whisk through this process. You should cook and whisk until the dulce de leche is thick.
Let it cool and check the consistency, it should be able to stay on a spoon and not drip. If it`s still a little runny, just cook it for longer on medium heat and whisk away.
If you, like us, don`t have a piping bag at home but find it easier than using a spoon, you can put the cooled dulce de leche in a sandwich bag, focusing on one of the bottom corners.
Stuff it as much as you can without going all the way to the opening, taking out all the air you can. Close it and twist it to hold.
When you`re ready to use, cut the corner of the bag and hold the top knot, pushing it down to pipe onto your cookies.
Bring the dough out and let it rest at room temperature for 3-5 minutes to soften a little. In a lightly floured surface, separate the dough into 22-24 equal sized pieces and roll them into balls. For better results, the dough should still be on the cold side when you work it, it will crack but you should be able to easily press it back together.
Use the back of a plate or another flat kitchen utensil to lightly press each ball into 1cm-thick discs. Use your fingers to bind any cracks on the sides of the cookies.
Place all discs on trays with parchment paper leaving 2+ cm of space between them.
Bake one tray at a time for 12-15 minutes. The top of each cookie should still be pale but the bottoms lightly golden and solid.
Let them rest on a wire rack or any other (not hot) surface. Flip half the cookies to expose the golden side and generously pipe dulce de leche on those. Aim at making the filling the same thickness as one of the cookies. Don`t worry about making them pretty, it won`t show.
Close the cookie sandwiches leaving the pale sides exposed.
Mix 1 tablespoon of cocoa powder and 2 tablespoons of powdered sugar and use a small sieve to dust the alfajores (optional).
Dulce de Leche Alfajor
Servings: 11-12
Time: 45 minutes
Ingredients
1 Cup Cornstarch
¾+ Cup Flour
1 tsp Baking Powder
½ tsp Baking Soda
¼ tsp Salt
½ tsp Cinnamon (optional)
8 Tbsp Butter (unsalted)
1/3 Cup Sugar
2 Egg Yolks
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
1 Tbsp Brandy
1 Cup Dulce de Leche (Recipe Below)
Powdered Sugar for Dusting (optional)
Cocoa Powder for Dusting (optional)
Step-by-Step
1. In a medium bowl, mix cornstarch, flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Use a sieve to clear any clumps.
2. In a large bowl, cream the soft butter and the sugar. Using a rubber spatula, mix the two vigorously until it looks lighter in colour.
3. Add the egg yolks, brandy, vanilla and cinnamon to the creamed sugar. Mix with the rubber spatula until fully incorporated.
4. In small increments, add the flour to the wet mixture until you have a smooth dough. Wedge it a little if necessary. Form the dough into a disc, cover it with plastic wrap and put it in the fridge for about 30 minutes.
5. Remove the dough from the fridge and let it rest for another 3-5 minutes at room temperature. Separate it into 22-24 even sized pieces. The dough should still be cold.
6. On a lightly floured surface, roll them into small balls and use a clean plate – or any flat kitchen utensil – to flatten the balls evenly (you should make them about 1 cm thick), then place them on a baking tray with parchment paper 2 cm apart.
7. Bake one tray at a time in an oven pre-heated to 350F for 12-15 minutes. The cookies should be firm and the bottom lightly golden, but the top should still be pale. Cool them in a wire rack or another room temperature tray.
8. Flip half the cookies upside down and pipe (or spread) room temperature dulce de leche onto the golden side. The dulce de leche layer could be as thick as you want, but we like to make it about the same thickness as one of the cookies. Place the other half of the cookies on top of the dulce de leche (golden side down) to make them into a cookie sandwich. Dust with a mix of cocoa powder and powder sugar.
Dulce de Leche
1 Cup Sugar
1 ¼ Cup Heavy Cream
1 Tbsp Butter
Pinch Baking Soda
Step-by-Step
1. Add sugar, baking soda and 1 Cup of Heavy Cream to a medium pan. Keep it on medium to high heat, stirring occasionally with a rubber whisk to not let it scorch. Bring it to a low simmer stirring constantly until the sugar begins to caramelize (15-20 minutes).
2. Once the colour is a darker caramel, add cold ¼ cup heavy cream slowly while whisking vigorously to incorporate it fully. Add the butter and continue to whisk.
3. Still whisking slowly to prevent scorching, let the mixture continue to simmer until it`s thicker and as dark as you want it to be. This should take about 20 minutes.
4. Let it cool and make sure it`s as thick as you want it to be. You can continue to cook it if you want it to be thicker.
Or
Ingredients
1 Can Condensed Milk
½ Tbsp Butter
Step-by-Step
1. Pour a can of condensed milk and ½ tbsp of butter in a small pan and whisk it with a rubber whisk on medium-high heat until it thickens and caramelizes.
