One of the many perks of working for the Dean's office was the food. Quite a few international visitors would arrive bearing tasty gifts that the Dean kindly shared with his ravenous gaggle of assistants and staff. One day there was a box on the desk, labeled "Alfajores Havanna." Inside were chocolate or meringue coated cookies. I grabbed one and took a bite, to be met with the most decadent and rich explosion of flavor. I could not even finish the whole cookie because it was almost too sweet and rich, but then a few hours later I was craving another. I was not the only one who shared this experience because the large box was empty by the end of the week.
A year later when I visited Buenos Aires I discovered that alfajores were traditional cookies that sandwiched a delicious layer of caramelized dulce de leche. I bought a box of the Havanna brand alfajores to bring back to the office, and a jug of dulce de leche for myself. It went fast-- spread like nutella on crepes, drizzled over ice cream, even eaten alone in a heaping spoonful as I gave myself a pick me up before my dreaded spatial economics class. When the jug ran out I became almost inconsolable, especially when I found a recipe to make it which involved more effort than I had to offer as a grad student. Then an Argentinian classmate gave me her secret: there was a cheating way to make it that did not involved standing vigilantly over a pot of whole milk.
The recipe is simple!
Buy a can of condensed milk. Remove the paper label. Place the unopened can in a pot and fill with enough water to come 1 inch above the top of the can. Cook at a low boil for three hours, making sure to occasionally check on it, and keeping the water level around one inch over the can (I have heard that the can may explode if you let the water level dip to can level). Let sit until the can cools, about 40 minutes. And there you are: deliciousness in a can!
before
after
If you want to have the wonderful alfajores recipe to go with the dulce de leche:
1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg
2 egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 teaspoon lemon zest
1 1/2 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
Preheat the oven to 350 F (176 C). Cream the butter and sugar. Add the egg and yolks and continue beating. Now add the vanilla and lemon zest. Sift together the remaining ingredients (cornstarch, flour, baking powder and salt) and add to the wet mixture. Drop small spoonfuls of the batter onto a buttered baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes and remove from the baking sheet. Sandwich the cookies with dulce de leche.
Dulce de Leche is delicious with just about anything that sounds good with caramel.
A year later when I visited Buenos Aires I discovered that alfajores were traditional cookies that sandwiched a delicious layer of caramelized dulce de leche. I bought a box of the Havanna brand alfajores to bring back to the office, and a jug of dulce de leche for myself. It went fast-- spread like nutella on crepes, drizzled over ice cream, even eaten alone in a heaping spoonful as I gave myself a pick me up before my dreaded spatial economics class. When the jug ran out I became almost inconsolable, especially when I found a recipe to make it which involved more effort than I had to offer as a grad student. Then an Argentinian classmate gave me her secret: there was a cheating way to make it that did not involved standing vigilantly over a pot of whole milk.
The recipe is simple!
Buy a can of condensed milk. Remove the paper label. Place the unopened can in a pot and fill with enough water to come 1 inch above the top of the can. Cook at a low boil for three hours, making sure to occasionally check on it, and keeping the water level around one inch over the can (I have heard that the can may explode if you let the water level dip to can level). Let sit until the can cools, about 40 minutes. And there you are: deliciousness in a can!
before
after
If you want to have the wonderful alfajores recipe to go with the dulce de leche:
1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg
2 egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 teaspoon lemon zest
1 1/2 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
Preheat the oven to 350 F (176 C). Cream the butter and sugar. Add the egg and yolks and continue beating. Now add the vanilla and lemon zest. Sift together the remaining ingredients (cornstarch, flour, baking powder and salt) and add to the wet mixture. Drop small spoonfuls of the batter onto a buttered baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes and remove from the baking sheet. Sandwich the cookies with dulce de leche.
Dulce de Leche is delicious with just about anything that sounds good with caramel.
Comments
It was funny to find your post about them, picture and all.
If you go to http://www.havanna.com.ar/
you will be able to see where the international spots are toget the alfajores.
I live in Newport and I am always eager to greet a someone coming from Argentina in the hope that they will have brought with tem a box of the delicious gold-and-silver wrapped cookies.
Are you in Hong Kong?