Alfajores (Alpha Whore)

Alfajores are one of my favorite Christmas sweets ever. They were my grandfather’s favorites too and he facetiously called them mojoncitos, that is, little turds haha because of their shape and color. They were wrapped in beautiful colored transparent paper. This is how you make it: blend in a big glass container 1 cup of toasted almonds, 1 cup of hazelnuts, 3 cloves and 4 tablespoons of aniseed with a couple of tablespoons of olive oil. Then you blend about 12 breadsticks and set them aside, and make a syrup in a pan with 60 grams of sugar and 60 grams of water, setting it aside when it starts boiling. In another pan you boil about a glass of honey until it starts bubbling and add it to the almond and hazelnuts mix, with 1 tablespoon of cinnamon, 2 tablespoons of cilantro seeds and 3 tablespoons of sesame seeds, keep kneading with the breadsticks powder and the syrup and shape then like bullets to your taste. You let it all cool off and make another syrup with 100 grams of water and 100 grams of sugar. When it starts boiling you take it off the heat and let it cool off. Then you bathe the bullets in the syrup and sink them in a big bowl with confectioners sugar. Keep them stored in a pretty box. ideal to eat for merienda afternoon snack with a cup of coffee or tea. Scrumptious!

http://blogs.canalsur.es/cometelocs/2017/11/22/alfajores-y-turron-de-chocolate/ 

#alfajores #alfajor #alphawhores #alphawhore

Gypsy's Arm Cake, BRAZO DE GITANO

One of my fondest memories of cakes my mother made at home when I grew up was this chocolate cake that many call brazo de gitano, gypsy’s arm, which doesn't sound very politically correct these days, but it's the traditional denomination, although the classic recipe is more elaborate, and this is only an easy, simplified version. It is very simple yet quite yummy. I got the recipe from recetin.com. You start with a couple of packages of María cookies, the thicker the better, so they don’t crumble and collapse when moist. You melt the half tub of butter in the microwave, mix it with 6 tablespoons of sugar and 3 beaten eggs until you get a cream., which will be the sweet glue to stick the cookies together. We fill a a bowl with milk and a splash of Greek Ouzo liquor, and we bathe the cookies quickly in it before spreading the buttery cream and forming two rolls or arms by sticking them together one by one, which we set on a tray.  We melt in the microwave a bar of 70% cocoa chocolate with a tiny bit of butter, and pour the mix over the arms of cookies. Then we put the cake tray in the refrigerator for 3 hours covered with tin foil. The mixture of flavours is exquisite for merienda or 5 o’clock tea party Sir, oh yeah! Cold dark choc + liquor + sweet butter is a winner for children of ALL ages :)

https://www.recetin.com/brazo-de-gitano-con-galletas.html