Alfajores were one of my favourite treats from my mamita goya (grandmother). They were special as she used to make them using her homemade dulce de leche with whisky, and to this day they are the best I have ever tried. Coming from a large family, I remember baking alfajores at Christmas and there would be about 15 of us kids around the kitchen table, all desperately trying not to eat the dulce de leche before the biscuits were finished!
In Ecuador fundas navideñas (Christmas treat bags) are more common than a present. In school, we always received a treat bag from friends and teachers. One of my best memories is of my dad getting big sacks of sweets and biscuits to do hundreds of Christmas bags; we would all help and give them away to kids who were living on the streets.
Makes 25
plain flour 150g
corn flour 160g
baking powder 1 tsp
butter 113g, at room temperature
icing sugar 60g, sifted
milk 3 tbsp
egg yolks 2
vanilla 1 tsp, optional
dulce de leche 100g
desiccated coconut 100g, grated
icing sugar to taste
Sift the flour, corn flour and baking powder.
Beat the butter with the sifted icing sugar until you get a creamy mixture. Add the milk and egg yolks until all the ingredients are well combined, then add the flour mixture little by little.
The final dough should be smooth and not sticky. If it’s still sticky, add some additional flour.
Divide the dough into 2 thick disc shapes, cover them with clingfilm and refrigerate for an hour.
Preheat the oven 180C fan/ gas mark 6.
Remove the dough from the fridge. With a rolling pin, flatten the dough until you have a thin layer. Use a round cookie cutter mould to cut as many circles as you can (I used a 5cm one).
Put the cookies on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for about 12-15 minutes or until they are lightly golden. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
Take a biscuit and place a teaspoon of dulce de leche on its underside, spread it well to the edges of the cookie, then gently stick another cookie (with the underside on the dulce de leche) on top to form a cookie sandwich.
Place the grated coconut on a flat plate and roll the edges of each stuffed cookie in the coconut mix so it sticks to the filling, giving it the characteristic look of the alfajores biscuit. You can also dust the cookies with icing sugar.
Ana Ortiz is a chef and co-owner of firemade.co.uk
