Culinary tour 2010 - Argentina: Alfajores de Maicena de Ilda

This week I will finally join Joan's new Culinary Tour Around the World in Argentina.

The recipe I chose is the recipe I received from an expert pastry maker from Paraguay, she lives in Sant'Ignatio a town in the Misiones region which now is divided between Paraguay, Brazil and Argentina. This region's history is both complicated and sad (some of you may remember the film 'Mission').

The sweet called Alfajor has arab origins in Spain between 711 and 1492. It was then exported to South America were now it is considered traditional.

The Alfajores I made are thinner than usual and with less filling but I think the most important thing is the cookie recipe and then each of us can play with it (I'm planning of filling some with lemon curd !).

RECIPE

Combine :

500 gr of flour

500 gr Maizena

350 gr Sugar

2 tsp baking powder

Lemon zest

Vanilla

Add :

4 Eggs room temp

250 gr Butter room temp

And you will see how wonderful this dough is ! No need of refrigerate it it won't shrink or spread just roll it at your desired thickness and bake in a 350°F oven until pinkish then fill with Dulce de leche and roll them in shredded coconut.

Ilda recomends eating them after a couple of days (they are different : taste some right away and compare !)

GRAZIE ILDA !