What are Alfajores?
The Story of Alfajores
Who doesn’t love a sweet treat? Something melt-in-your-mouth delicious. An indulgent treat, even if it’s just a small one. Alfajores (al-fa-hor-es) give you all of that and also something a bit different to your usual biscuit to go with your tea or coffee.
From our roots in South America to a trip around the world gathering delicious flavours to tempt you with, Margot & Montañez's Alfajores are just the treat for a new teatime experience. Delicious, gluten-free (in our case) and with indulgent fillings, you’ll be wondering why you’ve never tried them before.
But, where did the alfajores come from?
From North Africa to South America...
The name might be a bit of a giveaway for the linguists. Spanish words starting with “al” have Arabic roots, and the same can be said of Alfajores. Brought to Spain by the Moors, these delicious little bites made their way across to South America with explorers and immigrants.
As tends to happen, they got changed a bit along the way. An alfajor in Spain is made with flour, honey, spices and nuts. Here at Margot & Montañez, we base ours on the traditional South American version of two biscuits, made from cornflour (so they’re gluten-free), and a delicious filling
It's all about the filling
Traditionally, Alfajores would be filled with dulce de leche (a thick, creamy, smooth caramel). It certainly adds to their luxurious, melt-in-the-mouth texture, and is part of why they are so well-loved.
For the very best occasions
Traditionally in Venezuela, Alfajores were served at the biggest occasions, and sometimes to just a select few guests. You knew your host thought you were someone special if you got one of the precious Alfajores.
From weddings to baptisms and other rites of passage, the arrival of the Alfajores was something to really look forward to. They were (and still are) the ultimate sweet luxury for these special occasions.
Redefining alfajores
There are some very traditional flavour combinations for Alfajores throughout South America, mainly with dulce de leche and chocolate.
When we set out to redefine them, we looked to flavour combinations from around the world. After all, if something is good with dulce de leche, it must be good with other things too, right?
So, after recipe development and taste testing, that’s how we came up with our first flavours. But we’re working on this all the time. Got a combination you’d like to see? We’d love to hear what you’d like to try!
Ready to give them a go? Start exploring our Alfajores!