Ricciarelli di Siena

 

The ricciarelli are marzipan cookies with a cracked surface that are usually shaped like an oval. They are probably the most popular cookies in Italy and although in the past they were only made for Christmas, they are now found at any time of the year. Their most defining characteristic is the cracked surface they present and which makes them unmistakable. Furthermore, like other Christmas sweets or cookies, they can be prepared well in advance because stored in a metal container - the usual one for cookies - they can last for almost a month.

The ricciarelli descend from Arab confectionery, although as sweets differentiated from marzipan they were born in the 14th century in the area of Tuscany. The other characteristic Christmas sweet of Siena is the famous Panforte, also with medieval origins.

Siena is an Italian town of just over 50,000 inhabitants located in Tuscany. Apart from its gastronomy, it is known worldwide for the horse race called Palio and especially for its Gothic cathedral, probably the most impressive and beautiful in all of Europe.

INGREDIENTS

• 200 g  (7 oz) almond flour
• 200 g  (7 oz) of icing sugar + 200 g for coating
• 2 egg whites
• The grated peel of an orange (without the bitter white part)
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

First, in a large bowl, use a whisk to mix the egg whites with the lemon juice, vanilla, and orange peel until you get a foamy mixture.

Next we add the icing sugar and almond flour. Mix until you obtain a soft dough. When the rods are no longer possible, use a spoon, spatula or similar.

It forms a ball and is stored inside a transparent film. We leave it in the refrigerator for 24 hours so that the dough absorbs the aromas of the flavorings well.

After 24 hours, we sprinkle icing sugar on a flat surface and on it we shape a cylinder from which we cut equal pieces that allow us to form a cookie about 3 cm (1.2 inches) wide and 3 cm (1.2 inches) long (just under 2 cm /0.8 inches thick).

We coat each of these pieces in icing sugar and give them the characteristic oval shape, although nothing happens if we give them a conventional rounded shape, the flavor does not change.

From now on, much of what we are going to do is done with the sole purpose of forming surface cracks. That's why it probably seems like unnecessary nonsense to you, but hey, it is what it is.

We place the ricciarelli on an oven tray covered with parchment paper.

We dip a kitchen brush in water, drain it so that it is only moist, and with it we wet the surface of the ricciarelli. Then we sprinkle icing sugar again. Why? Well, so that the surface cracks.

We preheat the oven to 150 degrees (302 F) and bake at this temperature for 5 minutes. Then we go up to 170 degrees (338 F) for another five minutes - this is when the famous cracks will form - and finally we go down to 160 degrees (320 F) to bake for another 5 minutes. That said, this carousel of temperatures ensures that cracks form...

They are already done... or not. You will notice that they have become soft, so be careful. We pick them up with a spatula and put them to cool on a rack. They take 1 hour or sometimes more to acquire the hardness of a cookie.

And ready. With or without cracks, they are great. And since they can be stored for 30 days, you can prepare them now and have them ready for Christmas' day.