Gorditas

When is an alfajor not just an alfajor?
Answer: When it’s an alphie, baked by Grace Reddin, of Gorditas Bakes, is when.
Ms Reddin does something simple with her alfies: she makes them special, every single one. They aren’t just the classic South American treat – a pair of cushiony-soft sweet cakes sandwiching a wodge of dulche de leche.
In Grace’s flour–feathered hands, however, the alfajor emerges as a work of art, that 'petite yet decadent morsel' as the NYT called them, a cake that demands the time to contemplate, enjoy and savour its every dram of deliciousness.
Grace then takes this simple idea into the stratosphere, wrapping the alfajor in a gossamer shell that is purest pixie dust, in colours of chocolate, meringue, ruby, gold, caramel and more.
It’s not baking, it’s not confectionery, it’s not just something to go with that cup of coffee. Instead, it’s a piece of perfection, a bite of something extraordinary from your best life.
Grace’s alfies stop time: it’s just you, and that petite yet decadent morsel.

Available online or from Olive Cafe, Skerries, McNally Family Farm Cafe, Balrickard, Cabana Cafe, Balbriggan and Cloud Picker Cafe, Dublin 2. Dublin deliveries every Thursday.