I was introduced to alfajores by my Uruguayan and Argentinian family. These cookies exist in both a home-made version and an industrially manufactured version. Oddly enough, both versions have practically nothing in common.

Me, I like the home-made version, not only because it reminds me of my grandma and my aunts, but also because it has an unique gustative experience, impossible to replicate in a factory.

Home-made alfajores consist of a sandwich of two crumbly, fragile cookies with a generous layer of “dulce de leche” in between, and rolled in grated coconut.

Dulce de leche deserves not a post, but a monument. If you like the flavour of caramel you will become addicted to this stuff. I can guarantee you that.

There are two ways of preparing dulce de leche: the first method is slowly simmering milk with sugar and stirring regularly until it forms a dense paste. The second method is the one I’m going to explain here; it can’t be easier but it requires a bit of time. If you live in the USA you can forget about this altogether and simply buy a can of Nestlé LA LECHERA dulce de leche.

To my utter delight, my first attempt at making alfajores was a great success. I used a recipe I found on an Argentinian culinary blog.

While I was trying the alfajores I closed my eyes and I was instantly back in my grandma’s kitchen in Montevideo, savoring every particle of dulce de leche in it.

Ingredients for the dulce de leche:

- 1 400gr/14 ounces can of Nestlés sweetened condensed milk

Ingredients for the alfajores:

- 200 gr/1.5 cup flour

- 300 gr/2 cups cornflour

- 1/2 tsp baking soda

- 2 tsp baking powder

- 200 gr/ 5.3 ounces margarine

- 150 gr/0.8 cup (a little bit more than a 2/3 cup) sugar

- 3 egg yolks

- 1 tbsp cognac (brandy)

- 1 tsp vanilla extract

- 1 tsp grated lemon skin

- dulce de leche

- 1 pack of grated coconut (you will not need much)

Cooking instructions for the dulce de leche:

Put the can of condensed milk in a cooking pan with enough water to cover the can entirely. Bring to boil.

The water will evaporate slowly, keep an eye on it and add more (hot) water whenever necessary, in enough quantity to keep the can fully submerged at all times.

I only remove the can from the water after 3 hours because I like the dulce to be thick, but my mum only keeps it for about 2h. No rules here, it is a question of trying and finding out which texture and flavour (more or less concentrated) you like more.

Now, this is very important for your safety: LET THE CAN COOL (until you can grab it with your fingers without burning yourself) before opening it.

Cooking instructions for the dualfajores:

In a bowl sift the flour, the cornflour, the baking soda and the baking powder.

In a separate bowl, mix the margarine with the sugar. Incorporate the egg yolks one by one while you keep on mixing. Then add the sifted (dry) ingredients. And finally add the brandy, the vanilla extract and the lemon skin. Mix well.

No need to knead. Spread the dough on a flat surface which has been sprinkled with some flour until the dough is 0.5 cm/0.2 inches thick, using a rolling pin.

Cut circles with either a cookie cutter or a glass. I used a champagne flute because the alfajores should have a diameter around the 4cm/1.6 inches.

Cover the oven baking sheet with parchment paper and lay the cookies on it.

Bake for 7 minutes at 160°C / 320°F. Then turn the cookies upside down and bake for another 3 minutes. The cookies should not get a golden colour, they are supposed to be ‘pale’. Get them out of the oven.

Bake the rest of the cookies using the same method.

Now take a cookie and delicately (because they are fragile) spread a good layer of dulce de leche on it. Top with another cookie to form a sandwich.

Spread a bit of dulce de leche on the outer rim of the alfajor.

Pour the grated coconut on a dish and roll the sides of the alfajor (as it was a wheel) on the coconut. The coconut should stick to the sides.

Now serve and enjoy!!

Great with mate, mate cocido/with milk, tea, coffee, milk…

What can I say…who on Earth does not like pizza?!

This time I’ll share with you my mom’s recipe, which for me it is the most delicious in the world

The result is a pizza with a thick, yet extremely tender dough, a thick layer of tomato sauce and whichever toppings you fancy.

Ingredients (gives 4 middle size pizza’s):

- 2 pound / 1kg flour

- 3.5 ounces / 100 g yeast

- 1 tsp sugar

- lukewarm water (the temperature of the water is really important, if it is too hot or too cold the yeast will not “react”)

- 4 tbsp olive oil

- 2 tsp salt

- tomato sauce (explained in my gnocchi recipe in this blog)

- mix of Italian herbs: oregano, basil…

- the toppings of your choice: I used Gouda because I find it tasty and I like how it melts, and some cooked ham in strips

Cooking instructions:

Pour the flour in a large bowl and make a pit in the center. In it put, without mixing, add the yeast, sugar, oil and about 150ml lukewarm water. Leave to rest for a while until the yeast comes to the surface of the liquid, forming a big”cloud” or “stain” all over the surface (when in doubt, wait some more minutes).

Then add the salt, and knead the whole with your hands. Add more lukewarm water if needed, until you get a soft, tender and smooth dough.

Leave it in the big bowl in a warm place, covered with cling film, until it doubles the volume.

Then cut the dough in 4 equally heavy pieces. Spread each one, top with the tomato sauce, herbs, cheese and ham.

Bake the pizza’s in a pre-heated oven at 356°F / 180°C for 20 minutes.

Once cool, the pizza’s can be frozen, and later on, thawed in the oven.

Now, didn’t I tell you it was gorgeous?

Enjoy!!

As it turns out, hubby’s favorite dessert ever is lemon pie. Being the devoted wife I am (sometimes), I’m searching for the ultimate lemon pie recipe.

A couple of weeks ago I tried Fanny’s recipe, it tasted really nice, however the texture of the lemon curd turned quite runny and neither hubby or I were really fond of the meringue. That is why that version never made it to the blog

Today I made my second attempt. I used Fanny’s pâte sucrée, as I had frozen what was left over, and the lemon curd recipe from StoneSoup, which is extremely easy and extremely fast to prepare.  Finally, I decided to omit the meringue.

The result was absolutely delicious! And the curd has a really nice, firm texture.

Ingredients for the pâte sucrée:

- 300g – 10.5 ounces butter

- 190g – 1.5 cup icing sugar

- 60g – 1/2 cup ground almonds

- seeds from 1 vanilla bean

- 2 eggs

- 500g – 4 cups flour

- 1tsp fleur de sel

Ingredients for the lemon curd:

- 1 400g – 9.4 fl oz. can of sweet condensed milk (Nestlé’s)

- 1/2 cup – 125ml lemon juice

- 3 egg yolks

Cooking instructions:

Cream the butter until soft. Then mix in the icing sugar, ground almonds and vanilla seeds. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Mix in the flour and salt, to obtain a crumbly texture.

Form 3 balls with the dough, each weighting approx. 365g (13 oz.), press them down, wrap with cling film and either freeze or refrigerate them overnight (or do what I did: use one ball and freeze the other two).  Line the baking tin with the dough, prick the bottom with a fork to avoid irregular swelling while in the oven.

Bake for about 15-20 minutes in a pre-heated oven at 175°C – 345°F.

Mix all the ingredients for the lemon curd together.

Top the tart crust with the lemon curd, bake in the oven for 15 minutes.

Let cool and enjoy!

Brownies…these little sinful squares, warm from the oven, with tiny bits of creamy chocolate oozing from inside are absolutely GREAT. The credit goes to the Gastronomers Guide.

Come on, let’s sin together…

Ingredients:

- 3/4 cup  flour (85g)

- 1 tbsp cocoa powder

- 5 ounces bittersweet chocolate (150g)

- 1 stick butter, plus some to grease the pan (115 g)

- 1 tsp instant coffee (I used regular ground coffee and it was fine – coffee intensifies the aroma of the chocolate)

- 2/3 cup granulated sugar (150g)

- 1/4 cup brown sugar (55g)

- pinch of salt

- 3 large eggs

- 1 tsp vanilla extract

- 3 ounces bittersweet chocolate (90g), chopped, or chocolate chips (I think the chips will work out better)

Cooking instructions:

Preheat the oven. Butter a pan.

Sift the flour and the cocoa powder.

Melt the butter “au bain Marie”, then add the chocolate and the coffee powder. Once the chocolate has melted, remove from heat, add the vanilla extract and let cool.

Mix in a bowl (or in the kitchen aid) the eggs, the sugars and the salt until frothy. Add the butter-chocolate mixture, the flour-cocoa mixture and the chocolate chips.

Spread batter in the buttered baking pan.  Bake for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out with a few moist crumbs (if toothpick comes out clean the batter is overcooked).  The recipe said to let cool completely before cutting the brownies, but I didn’t (too impatient) and they were gorgeous, with the chocolate chips melted until soft and creamy…

Enjoy!!

I have a confession to make…I am a potato person. There, I said it.

Potatoes in all forms, sizes and formats. Fried, steamed, cooked, in the oven, you name it!

Gnocchi are another delicious excuse to consume potatoes, which explains why this recipe MUST appear in this blog, and why this is one of the few dishes I consume on a regular basis.

I must say, for me the best gnocchi in the world are the ones made by my Uruguayan grandma. The thing is, Uruguayans (like Argentinians) are mainly of Italian and Spanish descent. And besides the out-of-this-planet meat and BBQs, they traditionally eat many dishes which have their origins in Italy. The funny thing about it is that the dishes keep their Italian names yet they are written like they sound in Spanish. This is how “gnocchi” become “ñoquis” in Uruguay (and Argentina, for that matter).  You see? With only 3 million inhabitants this country is full of surprises.

My granny is faraway, and it never occurred to me to ask her her recipe yet (definitely something for my to-do list!). But this is not keeping me from enjoying these little, soft, golden, cute dough balls, because I am making them based on a great recipe from “From Argentina with love”.

So let’s get to it…

Ingredients – gnocchi:

- 1 pound potatoes (500 g), peeled, quartered, cooked in boiling water until tender and drained (note: keep the water, which you can use later to boil the gnocchi)

- 2 eggs

- 1 cup ricotta cheese (125g)

- 2 cups flour (285g)

- salt

Cooking instructions – gnocchi:

Mix all the ingredients and mix well using first a potato ricer, then a fork or (like me) use your hands, until you get a firm ball of dough.

Take a handful of dough, and make a long, thin roll out of it (it should be as thick as a thumb). With a fork or a knife, cut the roll in little portions (as long as half a thumb). While in this process, add some flour if the dough is too sticky.

Repeat with the rest of the dough. Now all that is left is to roll the gnocchi down a fork, to obtain a nice indented pattern that will absorb a maximum of glorious tomato sauce. Once you have done that you throw them in a pot with boiling water, and as soon as they start floating on the surface, collect them with a slotted spoon and serve with any sauce of your liking, and eventually with some grated Parmiggiano.

While my grandmother would serve it with “tuco” (I also need to ask her about this recipe), this below is my own (free) interpretation thereof…

Ingredients – tomato sauce:

- 2 pound  tomatoes (1 kg)

- salt

- black pepper

- 1 tsp dry chili flakes

- 2 tbsp olive oil

- 2 garlic cloves, minced

Cooking instructions – tomato sauce:

With the tip of a knife, make a cross at the bottom of each tomato. Put them then in a pot full water that has just boiled. When the skin starts pulling off, drain the tomatoes and chop them or blend them, depending on how thick you like your sauce.

Heat up the olive oil on a pan, toss in the garlic. Leave one minute, then add the tomatoes, the salt, the pepper and the chili. Let simmer until the sauce thickens a bit.

Serve with your gorgeous gnocchi, and eventually some grated cheese, fresh basil…

Enjoy!!

UPDATE:  last time I prepared gnocchi (photo above) I added half a cup of flour to make them a little bit more firm to the bite, I have already adapted the recipe accordingly. I also added two grated carrots to the sauce (hence the orangish colour of the sauce, and its runny texture), but in retrospective I think it had been better to add only one. Finally, I added some grated Parmesan on top, which was de-li-cious. Feel free to experiment yourself!

Today I woke up craving for a hearty, filling breakfast. I decided to make crepes, but instead of smearing on them the classic layer of Nutella (chocolate-hazelnut spread), I decided I wanted a salty filling. I had some Emmental and Gouda cheese at home, so I decided to use that…

The result was lovely, next time I’ll toss in some chopped raw ham together with the cheese, mmmmmmm

What are your favourite crepe fillings by the way?

Ingredients for the crepes (approx. 6 units):

- 2 eggs

- 1 cup flour (150g)

- 1 1/2 cup milk (375ml)

- pinch of salt

- 3 tbsp sugar (yes, because the contrast between the sweetness of the crepe and the saltiness of the cheese is heaven!)

- vegetable oil

Ingredients for the filling: :

grated cheese, pinch of salt, black pepper

Cooking instructions:

Mix the flour, the milk, the salt and sugar together, carefully, to avoid lumps.

Heat a couple of drops of oil in a skillet, pour enough batter on the skillet to cover its bottom. Move the skillet so that the batter covers the bottom evenly, in a thin layer.

When the bottom of the crepe starts to turn golden, turn the crepe upside down, spread some filling on it, and immediately fold the crepe in two. Leave for a minute and then turn the crepe upside down again. Leave for half a minute, then remove the crepe from the heat.

Repeat for the rest of the batter.

There you go, a fabulous breakfast of golden crepes oozing a creamy, soft cheesy filling.

Enjoy!!

Get rid of your prejudices. Take my word on this. This cake is good!! Delicious for dessert, for tea, when craving something sweet…you name it.

I prepared it this morning and I think that it will be gone by tomorrow night (and there are only the two of us eating it, yes).

I adapted the recipe from the Pioneer Woman.  I actually halved her recipe and I also did not make the frosting which was suggested. I also kept or even increased the original proportions of baking powder and baking soda, because I looooooove fluffy cakes.

I really liked the result : sweet enough, moist, tender, FLUFFY…and for those of you who are still suspicious about it, no, it did not taste like carrot AT ALL, really!

Ingredients:

- 250g sugar

- 125 ml vegetable oil

- 2 eggs

- 250g flour

- pinch of salt

- 1 tsp baking soda

- 1 sachet baking powder (15g)

- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

- 250g grated carrots

Cooking instructions:

Mix together the sugar, the eggs and oil in a large bowl. In another bowl sift together the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon. Add to the first mixture and combine. Then add the carrots and mix well.

Pour into a greased and floured pan, bake until done (mine took 50 min.). Let cool and enjoy!!