The Best Alfajores

July 31, 2018

Staying away from dulce de leche? I am not good at that. How about from The Best Alfajores? Impossible!

In South America, dulce de leche is the food of getting along. It’s the common ground for Uruguay, Argentina, Brazil and all our neighbors. Despite the dispute for paternity over the product, if there is a pot around, we all enjoy it together.

Which brings us to Christine from Uruguay, Rolando from Argentina, and me, from Brazil. Over Dulce de Leche, we became friends. Pretty strong team to back up this story, don’t you think?

Christine was born and raised in Uruguay, where her family ran a bakery in Punta del Este. There, she met her husband Rolando, while he was working in the textile industry.

The couple moved to New York in 2007 and after the birth of their daughter Uma, Christina began making treats from her homeland to reconnect with her birthplace and pass away her native culture to her daughter.

Typical story goes big, fast forward 10 years, and in 2016 they opened a manufactory in Buchanan, New York, a perfect place to set up shop.

“I am cooking the foods I grew up with”, said Christina who makes the best alfajoresI’ve ever tasted.

How about Dulce de Leche Bombons? Wanna take a bite? Nhac!

As a loyal, royal, sweet-submissive, aficionada for the subject (and for Hamilton!), alfajores has always presented a certain degree of dissatisfaction. Not because of the ducle de leche. Oh no! That’s the easy part. Because of the cookie!

“Everyone expects alfajoresto be a crunchy cookie, like oreos. And the cookie by itself, is indeed, on the crunchy side when it is just baked. But the differential of the alfajores lies in the process of sandwiching two pieces of cornstarch cookie with a layer of dulce de lechein the middle, and then enrobing in dark or white chocolate. Once enrobed, the chocolate seals the moisture, and gives a soft texture to the cookie. This balance takes 2-3 days to develop. You can’t eat alfajoresthe day it’s made”, says Christina.

Living in the New York area, I have tried alfajoresin all shapes and forms, but nothing compares to this one. In Christina’s hands, the sandwich cookie is transformed, and enlightened through the process of enrobing. It’s worth the calories!