Recipe Roadtest: Alfajores

I first learned of alfajores on the Fearless Kitchen blog. I was intrigued by this Argentine version of melting moments, with a rich dulce de leche filling sandwiched between buttery biscuits. I love dulce de leche, so of course I had to try making these! Coincidentally, a week later, Donna Hay published a recipe for alfajores, which I tested out today.

Alfajores

What you’ll need:

• 170g unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup icing sugar, sifted
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 egg
• 2 teaspoons honey
• 2 cups plain flour, sifted
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 0.5 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
• 0.5 cup desiccated coconut, plus extra for decorating
• 495g can sweetened condensed milk (or store-bought dulce de leche)

What to do:

For the dulce de leche (if not using store-bought):

1. Place an unopened can of sweetened condensed milk on its side in a large saucepan of water and bring to the boil. Make sure the can is fully submerged in the water. Leave on a simmer or light boil for 2.5 – 3 hours. You will need to top up the water as it evaporates, so that the can is still fully covered by water throughout the boiling process or the can may explode.

2. Remove the can from the saucepan with tongs and leave to cool before opening. 

For the biscuits:

1. Preheat a fan-forced oven to 180 degrees. Beat the butter, sugar and vanilla with an electric mixer until blended and pale.

2. Add the egg and honey, and beat to combine.

3. Add the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and coconut. Beat on low speed until a dough forms.

4. Flatten dough into two discs and refrigerate for 30 minutes or until firm. 

5. Roll the dough out between two sheets of non-stick baking paper to 5mm thick. Using a 6cm round cookie cutter, cut rounds from the dough, re-rolling as necessary. Place rounds on baking trays lined with non-stick baking paper.

6. Bake for 5 minutes or until the edges are golden and centres are still a little soft. Cool on wire racks. 

7. Spread half the biscuits with dulce de leche and sandwich with the remaining biscuits. Roll the edges in the extra desiccated coconut and enjoy your alfajores! The delicious gooey caramel is wonderful with the buttery, crumbly biscuits – just try and stop at one! 

Notes:

• Dulce de leche takes a few hours to make, so it’s best to start that first before you get on to making the biscuits.
• The biscuits bake very quickly, so keep an eye on them! It will really only take 5 minutes in the oven.
• If the dulce de leche does not reach the edges of the biscuits (it requires a lot of dulce de leche to reach the edges!), sprinkle the desiccated coconut by hand.