Peruvian food is in the spotlight at the moment as the next big thing – a cuisine of exciting flavours developed through a combination of indigenous recipes and 500 years of immigration. Or so they say in London, anyway. If your experience of Peruvian foods has so far been restricted to avocados and cocoa powder, try this free-from take on alfajores: almond shortcake biscuits sandwiched with gooey caramel.  Makes about 10100g dairy-free margarine50g icing sugar¼ tsp xanthan gum100g ground almonds100g rice flour, plus extra for rolling out the pastry¼ tsp cinnamonA pinch of saltVegetable oil, for greasing  For the filling75g dairy-free margarine75g light brown soft sugar1 tbsp golden syrup  1 Cream the margarine and sugar, then add the xanthan gum and stir.  2 Add the almonds, rice flour, cinnamon and salt. Once mixed, use your hands to clump everything together into a ball. Place the dough in the fridge for 30 mins.  3 Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4. Sprinkle your worktop liberally with rice flour, then roll out the dough to about 4mm thick. Use a 6cm circular cutter to form the biscuits, or use a knife to cut out 4cm squares of pastry. Make sure you have an even number.  4 Place each biscuit on a lightly oiled tray and bake for 25-30 minutes until evenly browned. Leave to cool on the tray; they should harden completely.  5 To make the filling, heat the sugar and syrup together in a heavy-bottomed saucepan on a medium heat. Once the sugar has dissolved completely, add the margarine. Let it melt, then bring the mixture to the boil. The mixture should bubble gently (don't stir it) for about 15 minutes until a couple of droplets dropped into a glass of cold water flattens out into a chewy splodge.  6 Turn off the heat and leave the caramel to cool, stirring occasionally. Once it is spreadable, add a generous dollop to the underside of one biscuit and then pop another on top. Continue until you have sandwiched all the biscuits. Store in an airtight tin. The alfajores will keep for several days.  What to watch out forXanthan can be derived from a variety of sources – check it's right for you before using.
Just as tasty: These delicious Peruvian-style biscuits use almonds and rice flour to dodge the wheat – and the caramel smothering is divine