C2S Baking on New Year's Eve : Dulce De Leche Cookies

It's the last day of the 2010 year and after weeks of Xmas partying, I sit at home pondeing on the year that have gone past. 2010 seems to have pass in a whizz and one thing that I haven't done in a while was some baking.

A dear friend of mine got me some Dulce De Leche when she was in Argentina and it has been sitting in the kitchen pantry looking forlorn with a sign that says 'Eat Me!'.

So on the last day of the year, I decided to make Alfajores. I first had this at the Real Food Market in Covent Garden and really loved it.

Browsing the trusty internet, I decided to use this recipe.

Adapted from recipe
Ingredients:
 •12 tablespoons butter
•1 cup granulated sugar
•1 egg
•2 egg yolks
•2 tablespoons cognac
•2 1/2 cups cornstarch (corn flour)
•1 cup all-purpose flour
 
Preparation:

To make cookie dough:
Cream the butter and sugar together, then mix in the remaining ingredients except the dulce de leche. Knead on a floured work surface until the dough is smooth and let rest for 15 minutes.

Make the cookies:
Roll the dough out to a thickness of about 1/4 inch and cut into 2-inch rounds. Place on a greased cookie sheet and bake in a preheated 300°F oven for 24 minutes. When cool, spread some dulce de leche on the bottom of half the cookies and press another cookie on top, allowing some of the dulce de leche to squeeze from the sides.

This is an modified version of Alfajores as I didn't have any dessicated coconut to cover the sides. However, it is still really delicious. It had a crispy exterior followed by an airy crumbliness texture that went really well with the Dulce De Leche. It wasn't too sweet and had the hint of butter wafting in.

It took a lot longer to make which caused me to be late and rushing for my dinner but it was worth it.

Happy New Year!