Rococo cookies

Every Neapolitan has the scent of pisto spice mix in their hearts, and the image of a grandmother kneading rococo dough at Christmas; much in the same way as most of us jealously safeguard a recipe for these cookies on a sheet of worn and stained paper that has withstood the challenges of time and generations. Crunchy cookies, low in fat but with a strong aroma, the fragrance of an authentic Neapolitan Christmas.

Ingredients

  • Rococo Cookies Ingredients:
  • 500 g of Pasta Garofalo flour
  • 500 g sugar
  • 100 ml water
  • 200 g of almonds
  • 50 g of mandarin juice
  • 10 g of pisto spice mix*
  • 4 g of ammoniac for cakes
  • *If you can’t find pisto ready-made, you can make your own by mixing the following ingredients:
  • 15 g of cinnamon powder
  • 5 g of pepper
  • 5 g ground nutmeg
  • 2 g of powdered cloves
  • 2 g star anise
  • 2 g of coriander
  • 4
  • 1 hour
  • Medium
  • Desserts

Preparation

1

Put all of the dry ingredients into a large bowl and mix them carefully. You can choose whether to keep the almonds whole as in our case, or chop them coarsely before adding them to the ingredients.

2

Mix the water with the mandarin juice (some families use oranges), and pour the mixture into the bowl.

3

Knead carefully and patiently. The dough will initially be gritty, and it will be difficult to make it uniform in texture. When the dough is smooth and firm, form a ball, wrap it in film and leave it to rest for at least an hour.

4

Shape the dough into a long loaf, and cut it into slices two centimetres thick.

5

From each slice, pull away long thinner slices, by squeezing it with your hands. Then close the ends to make a doughnut, and place in a tray on baking paper.

6

Cook at 160 °C for about 30 minutes. Once cooled, these cookies can be kept in an airtight box for several days.

7

*Insights: Pisto is a spice mix used in Neapolitan cuisine to flavour many dry Christmas desserts, like Rococo Cookies, Mostaccioli and Quaresimali.