Alfajores for Easter treats

THE WASHINGTON TIMES

Alfajores — cookies that originated in Spain’s Andalusia region during the Moorish conquest — are particularly popular in Peru and Argentina, where each city seems to claim its own version as the best.

Traditionally made from two shortbread cookies sharing a filling of dulce de leche (caramelized milk), an alfajor goes very well with a cup of coffee.

For Easter, Split Bean Coffee of Van Nuys, Calif., which makes far better alfajores than travelers buy in airport shops in South America, is filling them with guava. These taste like home-made alfajores and are made according to an old Peruvian family recipe.

Split Bean Coffee also makes an alfajor Americano, which, appropriately, is filled with peanut butter. The guava alfajores for Easter come in the traditional size; an alfajor gigante, a really big one, is also available with guava or dulce de leche filling. The guava alfajor is dipped in white chocolate and decorated with gold leaf, and it can be shipped in a festive box or as part of an Easter basket.

The company also makes a delicious artisan marshmallow bouquet, flavored for Easter with rose petal, jasmine and lavender. These marshmallows have weight and are not to be confused with the light fluffs that are associated with roasting over a fire or topping a dish of sweet potatoes.

For more information about Split Bean Coffee’s alfajores and other products, visit www.splitbeancoffee.com or call 818/448-5185, fax 309/210-8449, or write to 15009 Hamlin St., Van Nuys, CA 91411. Split Bean Coffee would like to receive orders by Friday for delivery before Easter.

— Richard Slusser