Maitelates Chocolates

continued

Now Zubía is making her own dulce de leche in Ann Arbor, as a chief component of her alfajor cookies (the name comes from Arabic and means “stuffed” or “filled”). She uses it as a filling between two very light, thin shortbread cookies and coats the sweet sandwich in semisweet Belgian chocolate. Working in Pastry Cart owner Barbara Steer’s professional kitchen, she turns out alfajores in five variations, each with its own taste and texture: straight dulce de leche, coffee, roasted almond, coconut, and white-chocolate-dipped. They’re $2 apiece at the Farmers’ Market, online at maitelates.com, and—starting in February—at Everyday Wines in Kerrytown.   

[Originally published in February, 2009.]