Alfajores de Maicena

Ingredients

• 220g cornflour (cornstarch)
• 140g plain flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 150g soft unsalted butter
• 100g caster sugar
• 3 egg yolks
• 1 tbsp brandy or cognac
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
• 1/4 tsp fine sea salt
• 350g thick dulce de leche (dulce de leche repostero)
• 80g desiccated coconut
• Icing sugar, for dusting

Before you cook

• Take the butter out of the fridge an hour ahead so it is genuinely soft
• Sift the cornflour, plain flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt together into a bowl
• Grate the lemon zest
• Line two baking trays with baking paper
• Tip the coconut into a shallow bowl ready for rolling

Steps

1. Beat the soft butter and sugar together for 4 minutes, until pale and fluffy.
2. Beat in the egg yolks one at a time, waiting until each disappears before adding the next.
3. Add the brandy, vanilla and lemon zest and beat briefly to combine.
4. Tip in the sifted dry ingredients and fold them through with a spatula until the dough just comes together.
5. Stop mixing the moment there is no loose flour left, because working this dough makes it tough.
6. Flatten the dough into a disc, wrap it and chill it for 30 minutes.
7. Heat the oven to 170C fan.
8. Roll the dough out between two sheets of baking paper to a thickness of 7mm, which is thicker than you think it should be.
9. Cut out rounds with a 5cm cutter and lift them onto the lined trays with a palette knife.
10. Gather and re-roll the scraps once only.
11. Chill the cut rounds on their trays for 10 minutes so they hold their shape.
12. Bake for 11 to 13 minutes, until the biscuits are set and matte but still completely pale on top with only the faintest colour underneath.
13. Leave the biscuits on the tray for 5 minutes, because they are extremely fragile while hot.
14. Slide them onto a rack and cool them completely.
15. Spoon the dulce de leche into a piping bag and pipe a thick mound onto the flat side of half the biscuits.
16. Press a second biscuit on top of each and squeeze gently until the filling reaches the edge in a neat band.
17. Roll the exposed rim of each alfajor through the desiccated coconut so it sticks all the way round.
18. Dust the tops lightly with icing sugar.
19. Store the alfajores in a tin for a day before eating, which lets the biscuits soften into the filling.