Alfajores Cookie & Dulce de Leche FAIL.

Hi!

This is my FIRST attempt at making my own dulce de leche (from a can) and alfajores cookies.

And let me tell you........the dulce de leche part...EPIC FAILURE.

yes. that's how i felt.

But anyway, the cookie part was good. But what's a sandwich cookie without its filling right? A not-so-great one that is. 

Still eat-able though, with NUTELLA as substitute...ヽ(*≧ω≦)ﾉ

OK. Here is what i did with the dulce de leche.

1. I tried boiling the can method. I boiled it for 4++ hours. Then when i opened it, the condensed milk was still very runny and not even browning AT ALL. It was probably because I used the cheap kind, it was very thin to begin with...so note to all, if you want to make your own dulce de leche from can, DONT USE THE CHEAP CONDENSED MILK.

2. Then I tried the microwave method. Which ended up messier cause the milk just bubbled up and spill everywhere on the microwave dish. I may have made the mistake of not covering it up with cling film......But it still doesn't work after I did, even after almost 10 min microwaving and stirring in between 2 minutes or so. I blame it on the thin cheap milk....the milk just got wasted and I could only salvage about 1 cup or so.....

3. Frustrated, I resolve to the stove. I put the remaining milk in a non-stick pan and put it over low medium fire and kept stirring like a crazy person. It seemed like forever, trust me (and my sore arm)...but it seemed to be working...BUT THEN! Since  I personally have never made dulce de leche before and from the great advises of the internet cooking gurus, i stuck on stirring until what i thought was the right consistency (caramel brown but not very thick) for the alfajores filling...AND IT WAS, LET ME TELL YOU, AN OVER-STIRRED! HAHA! So the dulce de leche ended up TOO THICK. Well......how am I supposed to know that it would be slightly runny on stove but get thicker when it is cooling (AM IDIOT, I KNOW).

And so the dulce de leche ended up like this.....

I rolled them into balls (used with oil to keep it from sticking all over EVERYTHING) and now i have  caramel hard candy. HAHA! But they're really nice.....so the milk wasn't a total waste...

But before that...I STILL STUBBORNLY TRIED slapping them on to my cookies....which ended up like this here....

i don't know if you can see it, it might looked okay in 1st picture but on 2nd you can see the hard cracks of the caramel candy in between....hehe 

(#／。＼#)

☆.。.:*・°☆.。.:*・°☆.。.:*・°☆.。.:*・°☆☆.。.:*・°☆.。.:*・°☆.。.:*

Here is the recipe for the Alfajores cookies.

·         1 cup cornstarch

·         3/4 cup all-purpose flour, plus more as needed

·         1 teaspoon baking powder

·         1/2 teaspoon baking soda

·         1/4 teaspoon fine salt

·         8 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 stick), at room temperature*

·         1/3 cup granulated sugar

·         2 large egg yolks

·         1 tablespoon pisco or brandy**

·         1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

·         1 cup Dulce de Leche, at room temperature

·         Powdered sugar, for dusting (i didn't dust my cookies ;p)

*in Malaysia the butter is in a form of a brick (250g) so in my experience, half of that is the same as 1 stick.

**(i'm muslim so i substitute the alcohol with pomegranate extract, but you can use raspberry or any other kind of extract, seems fine with me)

1.     Combine the cornstarch, flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, whisk briefly and set aside.

2.     Mix the butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment on medium speed, scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Do this until the mixture is light in color and fluffy, for 3 minutes. Add the egg yolks, pisco or substitute, and vanilla and mix well for about 30 seconds. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl. On low speed, add the reserved flour mixture spoonful by spoonful and mix until just incorporated, about 30 seconds.

3.     Turn the dough out nicely onto a piece of plastic wrap and wrap it tightly. Place in the fridge until firm, at least 1 hour.

4.     Meanwhile, heat the oven to 350°F and arrange a rack in the middle. Prepare tray with baking paper and set aside.

5.     Remove the dough from the fridge, unwrap it, and place it on a lightly floured work surface. Lightly flour the top of the dough and roll to 1/4-inch thickness. If the dough crack, it can easily be patched back together. Stamp out 24 rounds using a 2-inch round cutter, rerolling the dough as necessary and until all of it is gone.

6.     Place the cookies on the prepared baking tray, 12 per tray and at least 1/2 inch apart. Bake 1 tray at a time until the cookies are firm and a pale golden on the bottom, about 12 to 14 minutes. The cookies will remain pale on top. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

7.     Flip half of the cookies upside down and gently spread about 2 teaspoons of the dulce de leche on each. Place a second cookie on top and gently press to create a sandwich. Dust generously with powdered sugar before serving! YUMMY!

PS: i doubled the recipe cause i thought 12 cookies is just isnt enough!!! (*´∀`*)