Alfajores are delicious, buttery shortbread-like biscuits sandwiched together with dulce de leche, a rich, caramel confection which is a staple in South American countries, especially Argentina. They are completely addictive.
Visit any café in Buenos Aires and they’ll bring your coffee accompanied by a small glass of juice or water and a lovely little treat, often an alfajore. Their caramelised richness makes the perfect foil to a strong espresso.
Why, then, are they not everywhere here too? One comment from the peanut gallery was that nobody knows how to pronounce them. Alfahoray (sing.) and Alfahorezzzz (pl.)
As my mouth waters at the very thought, we’ve devised a delicious gluten-free recipe using our Revenge Gluten-free Almond Plain Flour Mix for the biscuits and very generously sandwiched them together with dulce de leche. We've then rolled them in toasted coconut for an authentic finish although sometimes they are coated in chocolate.
How to acquire the famous dulce de leche? Here are the methods we’ve tried.
Buy a jar ready made. Very quick method!
Make your own from scratch with milk, sugar and bi carb soda stirred over a low heat for several hours until a thick, rich caramel is achieved. Lots of patience and elbow grease required here.
Our preferred method? Take an unopened 395g tin of condensed milk, cover with water in a saucepan, bring to the boil then simmer for 2½ hours, keeping covered with water for the duration. Cool completely before opening (unless you’re partial to explosions) to reveal your supply of delicious, creamy, caramel.
Do give our alfajores a go, or try the little biscuits just as they are, iced or filled with anything else you fancy ... and the dulce de leche, well it’s just dangerous.
Rosie
ALFAJORES
Makes around 30 pairs using a 3cm round cutter
125 gm butter, at room temperature
75 gm caster sugar
2 egg yolks
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon cognac (optional)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
250 gm Revenge Gluten-free Almond Plain Flour Mix (see below)
½ teaspoon baking powder
Cream butter and sugar until pale and creamy. Add the egg yolks one at a time. Add the lemon juice, cognac and vanilla. Fold in the flour.
Turn out onto a piece of plastic wrap and flatten into a disc. Refrigerate for an hour or so. The dough will keep in the fridge for two days.
Preheat oven to 180°C. Line two baking trays with non-stick kitchen paper.
Remove the dough from the fridge and, in between two sheets of non-stick baking paper, roll out to a thickness of around 4mm. Lightly dust the surface of the dough with a little white rice flour if it is sticky.
Using a round biscuit cutter cut out rounds to your desired size. (We use a 3cm cutter which makes quite dainty sized alfajores.) Place on the lined trays leaving a centimeter or two in between each one.
Bake for 10-12 minutes until the bottoms are light golden and the tops still pale.
Allow to rest on the tray for 5 minutes before transferring to a rack to cool.
To Serve
30 gm desiccated coconut
Dulce de leche
Lightly dry-roast the coconut in a frying pan, tossing constantly until lightly coloured. Allow to cool completely.
Sandwich two biscuits together with a teaspoon of dulce de leche (you may need to use more if your biscuits are bigger than the 3cms) and roll the sides in the toasted coconut.
The unfilled biscuits will keep for several weeks in an air tight container. Once filled, the biscuits will hold for a day but will eventually soften to a more cake like consistency. Both are delicious.
REVENGE GLUTEN-FREE ALMOND PLAIN FLOUR MIX
280 gm almond meal
210 gm besan flour
280 gm fine white rice flour
175 gm corn flour
Mix up a batch and store in the fridge