Alfajores with Chula Galvez

I made a corn starch alfajor, a classic recipe, with dulce de leche and spread it around with coconut. 

Chula's alfajores de maicena recipe comes from when she was studying at Argentina's Culinary Institute. It is a very classic recipe, but she puts her own spin on it like adding lemon or lime zest, cognac, and edible flowers.

First, Chula creams the butter with sugar. Then, she adds egg yolks. After, she adds dry ingredients: corn starch, pastry flour, and baking powder. She mixes the dough and lets it rest for at least two hours or overnight.

Chula rolls the dough 5-7 mm thick, then she uses a 2 inch cutter to make discs. 

When Chula lived in New York City, she began making cornstarch alfajores but they weren’t very popular to the local clientele. So, she decided to stamp edible flowers on top, and they became a huge success. 

Chula bakes the alfajores in the oven at 150°C for about 8 minutes. Then, she lets it cool. 

She puts dulce de leche on the bottom of each cookie. While some alfajores differ in size and ingredients, most all need to be filled with dulce de leche.

Chula forms the cookie and dulce de leche sandwich and sprinkles the edges with coconut. Chula says the best time to eat alfajores is with yerba mate during merienda, the tea time after lunch and before dinner.