Today I'm sharing one of my favorite handmade biscuits - for as long as I can remember, they've been called peaches, until today, when I found out that the origin of this delicacy is in Italy, somewhere near Tuscany.
This delicacy is considered a carnival type; I assume cause of the color, which resembles a peach. My mother only once made them for me, I was always disappointed with her, as a kid, anytime she turned me down and offered something else in return.
33 years later, I understand why. Although I really love them, they don't require too many ingredients, but they are huge time consumers.
I guarantee that all the stake will pay off in the end.
Start time of preparation around 13:30.
Ingredients for the biscuit:
600 grams of flour
250 g lard (free to use butter)
200 g of sugar
2 eggs
1 bag of baking powder
1 bag of vanilla sugar - What makes "our" peaches different from the original Italian ones is that they use the liqueur in which they are soaked, then the filling can be Nutella, cream with pistachios, vanilla, etc...
Alchermes is a sweetish liqueur, typical of Tuscany and in particular of Florence where it is still prepared by the Officina Profumo Farmaceutica of the Church of Santa Maria Novella. Made with alcohol, rose water, cloves, cardamom and red dye, its original name comes from the Arabic al-qirmiz, meaning cochineal.
Beat the lard with a mixer until it becomes foamy, then add sugar and eggs, continue beating until marks form in the bowl. In fact, it is recommended to whip these biscuits longer. Then add the baking powder and vanilla sugar, and finally gradually add the sifted flour.
Using a wire whisk, gently knead the flour as long as possible, then knead the rest of with your hands.
The dough should be elastic beneath your fingertips at the end, and stiff enough to form balls without being overly rigid. I wish I could describe it better, but this is my best.:D
Longer kneading - better result.
Roll out the dough on the work surface after a light dusting of flour.
Separate into two pieces, place in a plastic bag, and chill for about 30 minutes. The cold break will give the dough firmness, making it simpler to roll the dough into balls, and stopping the process of baking powder, which we need when the biscuits are baking.
You may notice a greasy sheen on the work surface, as a result of kneading, the lard has loosened.
I took out one part from the refrigerator, which I will immediately shape and send to bake - 200c for about 15 minutes. Although the dough looks like it is crumbling, it is very elastic to work with.
Make sure the balls are as identical to one another as you can because we will eventually unite them.
As the first round is baking, the second round has come for shaping; you may form them all at once, place them in the refrigerator to chill, and then bake them. I did it this way, to avoid idling.
They look a lot like the famous Christmas cracked cookies, but the smell and taste are something completely different, something special. If you like lemon flavor, feel free to grate the zest into the dough, no mistake to make!
All at once!
It is the time when time stands still and the pile of biscuits does not decrease. Approximately 60 or so pieces were counted, each of them needs to be hollowed out.
Prepare a sharp knife, a lot of patience, and put some movie on - because it will take time.
The crumbs we scooped out are one of the main ingredients for the filling, allow the sponge cake to cool completely before you start [they are very fragile while warm].
By the time I finished - it was getting dark outside.
Total of broken biscuits = 3.
And now the ingredients for the filling:
150 g of powdered sugar
200 g of margarine
2-3 tablespoons of cocoa or 100 g of chocolate
2 tablespoons of rum
200 g apricot jam or any other
1/2 the amount of hollowed out crumbs
a handful of ground walnuts or hazelnuts
Cream the margarine with the sugar, then add cocoa or [melted room temperature chocolate], add rum, jam of your choice and crumbs.
The catch with the crumbs is that they also need to be sifted, the smaller part remains so that we can roll the peaches in them at the end [they leave a visual impression of those hairs on real peaches], and we add the larger crumbs to the filling.
If you think that all that's left is to fill them - you're wrong. :P
So what would peaches be without color?
Albino? Nah....
For that zingy pink tone, we will use food color, which we will dissolve with water, and then dip each hollowed-out half. I used raspberry flavored extract and a little less than 2 deciliters of carbonated water.
After dipping, leave them on a napkin to dry a little.
These cracks really annoyed me, although it is quite normal for dough containing baking powder, I was still hoping for a smooth surface.
For example, Italians use two colors, red and yellow, but I'm somehow not a fan of cake colors, so I decided to do everything with one. I tried to dip them unevenly so that the original brownish color of the biscuit would be still visible.
Then I applied the undiluted extract with a brush.
The clock loudly announces 18:50, and we are slowly approaching the end.
Flip the hollowed out caps, fill the piping bag and then fill each in turn until the filling goes over the edge.
Match them up in a sweet peach.
Add a spoonful of crystal sugar to the sifted crumbs, then roll them in.
Now I can finally say that they are ready.
You will certainly have plenty of filling, pack it and store it in the freezer. Next time you have a sweet tooth, add few more ingredients and roll some sweet rum balls or use it as a cake cream.
I was missing a couple of leaves, so quickly went around the rose garden, to chose a pair in the dark.
Now they are complete, finally.
The first thing I told the housemates is that they will consume this delicacy with a toothpick [little by little], because besides the fact that I love them immensely, they are really not for everyday preparation [unless that is your only daily occupation]
Bon appetite!
Please share if you've had the opportunity to try out these nibbles.
I'm also curious about, if you would have the nerve to prepare them.
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biscuit recipe...
late in the evening...
history is repeating...
:D
and now I will again rant that I didn't eat them for years, but on a serious note, I indeed didn't have them for so many years.
(please, say to the housemates that leave at least one until summer :D )
I would bring it faster, but had no idea how long making will last. 😱
All I remember - it was Christmas day, loooong time ago and apparently we won't have them for another looooong period. :D
Haha, I was serious about toothpick, if they heard me some might survive, if not we will have those tree original. 😉
the original ones from the tree will be good too :))
Yay! 🤗
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I remember eating them a couple of times (not lately, but like 20 years ago... lol...), but I can't remember that my mother/grandmother prepared them... I suppose it was at some wedding celebration, or birthday party...
Seeing how much time is needed to prepare them, I'm not surprised that my mom didn't do them... :)
But... They look great and taste awesome!
I have picked this post on behalf of the @OurPick project which will be highlighted in the next post!
As I mentioned, mom made them just once and I was unduly "angry", now after the whole day of preparation mine understanding is far better [even apologized] :D
Much thank you for the support, highly appreciated!
You hivers are such sweet tooth’s 😂 All tempting me to make something sweet and simple 🤤
Sweet hunters of Hive looking around for new hungry victims 😈
Pesche dolci aren't easy at all, better leave them when you have a full day at disposal (they are worth it!)🤤
[vote is appreciated but better avoid upvoating older than seven days as they are expired, energy waist]
Oh I see. Thank you for letting me know.