Guilty pleasures

Yesterday was Argentina's Independence Day.  It's nothing like the 4th of July in the U.S., which, in my opinion, is just our excuse to drink more beer than we usually do.  Strangely enough, however, we do have more in common with our southern neighbors than you might think.

Argentines love BBQs.  They seriously love them.  Every Sunday afternoon, I can count on smelling that smoky, summery BBQ air wafting up to my balcony from somewhere below.  It makes my mouth water just thinking about it.  So of course, to celebrate Independence Day last night, we went to a BBQ.  I ate about three different kinds of meat and almost had to forklift myself out of bed this morning.

To catch those of you up on why exactly I'm babbling about Argentina, I am living here.  For the next 15 days, anyway.  I studied in Buenos Aires for a semester of college and fell in love with the city (and, well, a boy...).  After graduation, I scraped together enough of my savings to fly out here and stay in an apartment for two months.  Besides wandering around the city and spending time curled up next to my handsome man, I cook. I've been experimenting a lot lately with local cuisine, which is basically the two following staples: meat and sugar.  My next project is figuring out how all Argentine women stay so skinny, with chocolate shops and chicken-fried steak day in and day out.

Perhaps one of the most "Argentine" of all cuisines is the alfajor.  It is a cookie on steriods.  Two crumbly butter cookies sandwich a thick layer of dulce de leche, and the entire package is sometimes even dipped in a sultry layer of milk or white chocolate.

They are everywhere.  They line the streets of Buenos Aires like Candyland, and there are about 30 different brands to choose from. The alfajor de maizena, however, is the most classic of all:

I could eat these everyday.  Sometimes, I do.

The dough is crumbly and light, with a hint of lemon, and melts instantly in your mouth.

Alfajores are usually filled with dulce de leche, but mousse or jam can be used as well.  My favorite brand of dulce de leche in the States is this; it's the closest you'll come to what Buenos Aires tastes like. 

Alfajores de maizena

1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 cups Maizena (or any brand of corn starch)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
200 grams butter
3/4 cup sugar
3 egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest


1.  Preheat oven to 350°F.


2.  Mix dry ingredients together.


3.  Cream the butter with the sugar. Add the egg yolks, the vanilla extract, and the lemon zest.


4.  Dig a hole in the middle of the bowl with the dry ingredients.  Pour the creamed mix into the hole, and with a spoon, slowly fold the two together.  The batter will be very crumbly; this is normal!  Once the batter begins to stick together, form a large ball of dough by pressing smaller pieces of the dough together.  I find sometimes if the dough is too crumbly to manage, an extra egg yolk helps.


5.  Cover the ball of dough with foil and refrigerate for 45 minutes.


6.  Remove from refrigerator.  Cut manageable pieces of dough off of the ball, forming patty-like cookies with your hands, about ½” thick.


7. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake for around 17-20 minutes. Begin checking after the first 10 minutes, especially if your oven runs warm. The dough should be white, not golden.  They may appear undone, but overcooking the dough will make it dry.


8.  Quickly remove the cookies and place them on a plate to cool, about 30 minutes.


9.  Once completely cooled, place a spoonful of dulce de leche (or your filling of choice) in the middle of one cookie and carefully sandwich between another cookie.  You might even want to pour a glass of milk before you take your first bite.