dear chile,

dear land of my forefathers (sounds biblical, doesn't it?),

feliz cumpleaños!! today marks your glorious independence, and what better way to celebrate than to make delicious desserts and a blog post?

here's a little snippet of chile:

the national flower:

the national bird (a condor, one of the largest birds in the world):

the national dance, the cueca:

and last, but not least the national anthem (beware, it's VERY majestic and is about 7 hours long. okay, they usually only sing the first verse and chorus, but with all trillion verses-maybe 7 total?-it's super long):

oh and here are some desserts i made to celebrate the occasion! 

they're called alfajores, and i think you should all try making this simple and delectable dessert. here's the recipe!

for the cookie part:

1 C (plus a little) of flour

1/2 C corn starch

1/4 tsp of baking powder

1/8 tsp of salt

1/4 C sugar

1 stick of butter

1 egg

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

for the insides:

buy dulce de leche already made....

or you can cook your own by cooking condensed milk in a double broiler in the top part until it's the color/consistency you want

preheat oven to 35o degrees

1. beat butter and sugar until fluffy

2. in another bowl mix everything dry (1C flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt)

3. add egg and vanilla to butter and sugar mix

4. add all dry stuff and mix until it starts sticking all together. if it's too moist, add a little more flour until it's a good consistency. not too moist, not too dry, cuz it has to stick together

5. grab bits of dough to roll up into your hand (should be like the size of a bouncy ball) and then smash them so they're about 1/8 of an inch thick. you could also roll it out, and then cut it into any shape you want. whichever you prefer.

6. cook until sides are a little golden brown (somewhere between 12 and 20 minutes)

7. allow them to cook off

8. put about a teaspoon or more between two cookies, and then roll the edges in powdered sugar!

from: http://nookandpantry.blogspot.com/2007/12/alfajores.html