Peruvian Alfajores have been in my life for ever. Years ago (I am talking like 15-20 years back) you couldn't find it anywhere well in Miami FL. How I would eat it is when my grandfather would go on his yearly trip to Peru and he would bring us kids some yummy sweets and treats from Peru.
My grandfather passed away two years ago and I never got over it. Death is a really difficult thing to deal with but making this reminded me of the good times I had with him. He was a great man. Why I decided to make these was because I had a dream with my grandfather. I kept thinking all day about him and the the memories of the cookies.
Now you could most likely find Alfajores anywhere. Latin America, especially in Miami, FL is extremely popular here. Latin Restaurants and Latin Bakeries are in every corner now.
For the caramel, you can either buy it made or you can make it. Now making it can be tricky and time consuming but its so much better. You can to get a can of of sweet condensed milk put it in a pot of boiling water for like 2 hours. This is how my grandmother made it when we were kids so I stuck with this. Make sure that its always submerged in water or the can I have been told can blow up.
Okay so the recipe, I got it from this website: Yanuq.com. The website is in Spanish but you can translate in English but to be nice I will post the English version on here! LOL Now the dough will be very crumbly but if you add some water or milk it will make it better. Just a few drops, enough to be able to roll it out. I also added a tsp of vanilla.
PASTRIES OF MANJARBLANCO
Ingredients:
2 cups sifted flour
¾ cup butter or margarine
4 tablespoons powdered sugar
Caramel (Manjarblanco)
Preparation:
Join butter, flour and sugar. Stir with a fork or stirrup.(I used my KitchenAid). Finish kneading by hand, until a uniform mass.
Roll out dough on a floured surface. Cut circles with cookie cutter (the size and shape is optional.)
Carefully transported to a greased baking tray.
Bake preheated 350 ° F (175 ° C) for 12 or 15 minutes.
Remove from oven. Cool.
Alfajores To assemble, take one cookie, filled with caramel and then cover with another cookie. Sprinkle powdered sugar.
Note: If you want to make a large gingerbread, double the amounts of the recipe. Roll out the dough into circles 25 cm (10 inches). It is preferable to do this over a plastic film or waxed paper for easy transport to the plate. Once on the board remove the film or paper. Get 3 layers.
Proceed in the same way as with small alfajores.
Lunchbox suggestions:
Save alfajores unfilled in an airtight container. Fill them with caramel or whatever you want (caramel, chocolate, jam, etc) the same day. Place in lunch box.
For the caramel, you can either buy it made or you can make it. Now making it can be tricky and time consuming but its so much better. You can to get a can of of sweet condensed milk put it in a pot of boiling water for like 2 hours. This is how my grandmother made it when we were kids so I stuck with this. Make sure that its always submerged in water or the can I have been told can blow up.
Okay so the recipe, I got it from this website: Yanuq.com. The website is in Spanish but you can translate in English but to be nice I will post the English version on here! LOL Now the dough will be very crumbly but if you add some water or milk it will make it better. Just a few drops, enough to be able to roll it out. I also added a tsp of vanilla.
PASTRIES OF MANJARBLANCO
Ingredients:
2 cups sifted flour
¾ cup butter or margarine
4 tablespoons powdered sugar
Caramel (Manjarblanco)
Preparation:
Join butter, flour and sugar. Stir with a fork or stirrup.(I used my KitchenAid). Finish kneading by hand, until a uniform mass.
Roll out dough on a floured surface. Cut circles with cookie cutter (the size and shape is optional.)
Carefully transported to a greased baking tray.
Bake preheated 350 ° F (175 ° C) for 12 or 15 minutes.
Remove from oven. Cool.
Alfajores To assemble, take one cookie, filled with caramel and then cover with another cookie. Sprinkle powdered sugar.
Note: If you want to make a large gingerbread, double the amounts of the recipe. Roll out the dough into circles 25 cm (10 inches). It is preferable to do this over a plastic film or waxed paper for easy transport to the plate. Once on the board remove the film or paper. Get 3 layers.
Proceed in the same way as with small alfajores.
Lunchbox suggestions:
Save alfajores unfilled in an airtight container. Fill them with caramel or whatever you want (caramel, chocolate, jam, etc) the same day. Place in lunch box.
