Alfajores are an integral part of Latin America, especially of the “Rio Plantense” culture that includes Uruguay and Argentina, but which are also prominent in other parts of Latin America and Spain. Each country has their own variety and takes a little bit of ownership of this delicacy. A distant cousin of the French macaron, the alfajor is unique in its own right. We hope you will enjoy it and that it accompanies you in many sweet celebrations. Amma Bakery's recipe is based on the traditional Uruguayan variety, but here is a little history of the alfajor.
Some link its heritage to the Spaniards after the Moorish invasion of the Iberic Peninsula during the 8th Century that lasted over 700 years. The Arabic word Al-hasu means “filling” and shares its name with a recipe from the Andalucía region of Spain, which is different from our Latin American version. During the 16th Century, its recipe arrived with the wave of immigrants from Spain into South America, mainly into the southeastern areas of Rio de la Plata surrounding Uruguay and Argentina.
The historical archives of the alfajor mention several sources of creators of the classic alfajor, which started to include dulce de leche as a filling between two shortbread-like cookies. In more recent times, many Latin American countries began to prepare the alfajor recipe in its modern form now renowned globally: using two baked cookies filled with dulce de leche or its cousins the manjar blanco or cajeta, or instead with fruit jam. In whichever form, the alfajor is a sweet sandwich that can be eaten in its traditional form using two cookies filled with dulce de leche and rolled in shredded coconut, or it can be amped up to a cookie sandwich covered with a rich chocolate ganache or other glaze, creating indefinite variations.
According to more recent Uruguayan historical archives, the first alfajores originated in the Uruguayan city of Minas in 1953, an area that continues to produce the same artisanal alfajores using the original recipe, where the Bañadoras or “Bathers” who produce them using the original techniques, finish them off by dipping them in meringue or chocolate.
