Ricciarelli have been the essential Tuscan Christmas sweet long before panettone and pandoro descended from Northern Italy and took centre stage on our holiday dessert tables.
They originate back in the fourteenth century Republic of Siena, when marzipan was first imported to Tuscany from the east. The city’s pastry chefs were inspired by these delicious Arab confections and transformed them into ricciarelli, whose shape was meant to resemble a grain of rice. Almonds were precious ingredients at the time, so ricciarelli were destined primarily for the tables of local nobility.
Ingredients
- 2 egg whites, about 75 grams
- 1 drop lemon juice
- 200 g icing sugar, + 1 cup for dusting the ricciarelli
- 200 g almond flour
- 1 tsp bitter almond aroma
- seeds of 1 vanilla bean or ½ tsp vanilla extract
- grated zest of 1 orange
Instructions
- The night before, whisk the egg whites with a drop of lemon juice, then mix in the icing sugar and the ground almond flour. Add also the bitter almond extract, the grated zest of an orange and the vanilla seeds or extract. Cover and set aside in the fridge overnight.
- The day after, preheat oven to 160°C (320°F). Dust a wooden working surface with icing sugar. Roll the dough into a log and cut out small balls of dough.
- Shape the dough with your hands into an oval, about 1 cm thick. Arrange the ricciarelli on a tray lined with parchment paper.
- Wet your hands with water and pat each ricciarello, then coat the shaped ricciarelli with extra icing sugar.
- Bake the ricciarelli for about 20 minutes. They will still be moist and soft but will harden as they cool down.
Note
- If you don’t have time to make the dough the night before, placing it in the freezer for half an hour or in the fridge for an hour should be sufficient. You just want the dough to solidify a little so it’s easier to roll out.
This recipe is adapted from julskitchen.com Giulia Scarpalleggia
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