Chilean Alfajores Food

CHILEAN ALFAJORES

Steps:

• Place the entire, unopened can of condensed milk in a large saucepan. Fill the saucepan with water and bring to a boil. Lower heat to a simmer and cook until milk inside has caramelized, about 2 hours.
• Remove from the heat and set aside to cool while you make the cookies.
• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
• Beat butter and sugar together in a bowl with an electric mixer until creamy. Mix in egg, then mix in flour until well combined.
• Drop batter by small teaspoonfuls onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Dip your finger into flour, and pat each cookie into a very thin, little circle (about the size of a quarter).
• Bake in the preheated oven until just starting to brown around the edges and no longer doughy in the centers, 10 to 12 minutes. Cool on the cookie sheet for 1 minute before removing to a wire rack to cool, 8 to 10 minutes more.
• Sandwich cooled cookies together with the caramelized condensed milk.

ALFAJORES

Steps:

• Combine the flour, corn flour and baking powder together in a bowl with a pinch of salt. Using a food mixer or an electric whisk in another bowl beat the butter together with the sugar and lemon zest until very pale. Add the egg yolks followed by the Cognac and vanilla extract. Beat in the dry ingredients until you have smooth dough. Wrap the dough in clingfilm and chill for a minimum of 1 hour. You can make the biscuit dough the day before and leave in the fridge.
• Line two large baking trays with baking parchment. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface to the thickness of a pound coin then cut out 60 biscuits with a 5cm round or fluted cutter. Put the biscuits back in the fridge for 20 mins to firm up.
• Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Bake the biscuits for 8 mins until just set. You want the biscuits to stay pale with a crumbly texture. Leave to cool completely before sandwiching two biscuits together with a spoonful of dulce de leche. Once all the biscuits are sandwiched together roll in desiccated coconut.