Figolli (2)

It's that time of the year again! Figolli Time.  Figolli are almond pastries cut out to represent symbolic figures. They come into their own at Easter time.  After our first figolli post, we couldn't resist the temptation, and decided to produce another lot which we would like to share with you all. The following recipe is for 4 - 5 figolli, depending on the thickness of the filling.

For the pastry

 
750 grams plain flour
350 grams unsa lted butter
250 grams sugar
4 egg yolks
Grated rind of 1 lemon


For the  filling
600 grams pure ground almonds
2 drops almond essence
600 grams sugar
Grated  rind of 1 lemon
Whites of 4 eggs

For the coating (royal icing)

400 grams icing sugar

2 egg whites

few lemon drops or almond essence

Method

Sift the flour into a bowl and  rub in the butter.  Mix in the sugar and  the lemon rind and combine. 

Add  the egg yolks a nd knead  into a dough. Turn  the dough onto a floured  surface and  knead for a few minutes. Cover and leave to stand  for 30 minutes in a cool place. 

Meanwhile, combine  the ground almonds, essence, sugar  and lemon rind in a bowl. Add  the egg whites and mix well.

Roll out  the pastry  over a floured  surface.  Use figolli cutters to cut out the pastry  into the figolli shapes of your choice. You will need  2 pastry shapes for each figolla.  Place 3 tablespoons of the almond mixture on 1 pastry  shape. Moisten the edges of the pastry with a little water and then top with  the other  pastry shape.

Press down  to seal edges together well. Proceed in the same  manner to prepare the other figolli.

Place the figolli on a greased baking tray and bake in a moderate to slightly hot oven for 35 minutes or until figolli are lightly browned.  Bring out of the oven and stand for 10 minutes.  Cool on a wire rack.

 

Now you need to coat your figolla with royal icing. To do this you will need 400 grams icing sugar mixed with 2 small egg whites and a few drops of lemon / two drops of almond essence.  Use a blender to mix well.

 

This is final result....

Hobza (Hard - Crusted Bread)

This is the hard-crusted bread recipe, good to eat with cheese, oil and tuna and good for toasts as well.

Ingredients

15g dried yeast

1/2 cup lukewarm water

1/2 teaspoon sugar

3 cups plain flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon oil

1 cup lukewarm water, extra

extra plain flour

Method 

1. Crumble yeast into basin, add the ½ cup warm water, sprinkle sugar into water, cover, stand in warm place 15 – 20 minutes or until mixture is slightly foamy.  Sift flour and salt into large china or glass basin, make well in centre, pour in yeast mixture, oil and extra water.  Mix with hand squeezing dough well until dough starts to leave side of the basin.
2. Cover and let stand in warm place about 30 minutes or until dough has doubled in bulk.
3. Turn dough onto lightly floured surface, knead well for about 5 minutes using as little flour as possible.
4. Shape into a round ball, place on lightly greased oven tray, dust top thickly with extra flour, slash top as per photo. 
5. Put dough in cold oven, turn to moderately hot, (200C) for 45 minutes

Zeppoli ta San Guzepp

Ingredients

1 cup hot water

1/2 cup butter

1 Tbsp sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup sifted all-purpose flour

4 eggs

1 tsp grated orange peel

1 tsp grated lemon peel

honey and chopped almonds for finishing

Ricotta Filling 

3 cups ricotta cheese

1 ¼ cups sugar

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 Tsbp grated orange peel

2 Tbsp grated lemon peel

Figolli

I promise I'll take a better picture this year... It tastes yummy though :)

 

Ingredients:

For the pastry:

350 grams caster sugar

800 grams plain flour, sifted

400 grams butter

Grated rind of 1 lemon

4 egg yolks, beaten

For the almond paste:

600 g caster or icing sugar

2-3 egg whites

Grated rind of 1 lemon

A few drops orange flower water

600 grams almonds, ground

To finish:

Glacé icing or chocolate for covering

Royal icing for decoration

Small Easter eggs

Method:

Make the pastry:

mix the sugar with the flour, then rubbing in the butter until the mixture resembles fine crumbs.

Add the grated lemon rind and the yolks, mixed with a little water to make a pliable dough.

Leave to chill.

Make the filling:

Add the sugar, orange flower water and lemon rind to the ground almonds, and bind with the egg whites.

Roll out the pastry and cut out your shapes.

Make two of each figure as they will be sandwiched with almond paste.

Lay the first shape on a greased and floured baking tray, spread with almond paste, leaving a small margin.

Lay the second shape over the top and press the edges together.

It helps if you wet the edges with a pastry brush to ensure adhesion.

Bake at 200 degrees C for 5 minutes, then at 180 degrees C for about 20 minutes, until pale golden.

Cool on the tray.

Finishing:

When cold, coat with glacé icing or melted chocolate, then decorate with royal icing in a different colours.

While the icing or chocolate is soft, press a small, foil-wrapped Easter egg in the middle of each shape.

Kwarezimal

Ingredients:

done yesterday (with pistaccios and cashews instead of just almonds)

100g of blanched almonds

100g of plain flour

125g of caster sugar

a dash of brandy or orange-flower water

the grated rind of one orange, one tangerine and one lemon

one tablespoonful of cocoa

honey and almonds to decorate

Method:

Toast the almonds briefly and grind them fairly roughly so that they are chunky rather than powdery.

Put them into a large bowl and add the rest of the ingredients.

 

Stir them together adding enough water to make stiff dough. Be careful as after you add just a little water, the dough will still look dry. Do not add more water untill you knead it by hand. If it is still too dry add a little more water. Be carefull not to use too much water.

 

roll the dough and shape them into rectangles. Don't forget to make the traditional diamond pattern with the back of a knife.

 

Place them on well-greased baking-sheets and bake at 190 degrees celcius for 20 minutes.

They should be crisp at the edges but still soft. Don't worry if they feel soft, they will keep on hardening. If you leave them too long, they will be too hard.

Remove them from the oven and spread them with honey, scattering almonds on top.

The almonds will stick to the honey.