Grandma's Design

CUCCIDDATI

GRANDMA

Rosanna

COUNTRY

Italian Italy

ORIGIN

Sicilia

INGREDIENTS

FOR THE DOUGH:

Flour 500 g
Pork lard 150 g
Sugar 125 g

FOR THE FILLING:

Blended dried figs 500 g
Dark chocolate 100 g
Sultanas 150 g
Toasted almonds and walnuts 150 g
Cinnamon one spoonful
Orange peel

FOR THE ICING:

One egg white
Icing sugar 150 g
A few drops of lemon juice

HISTORY

The origins of this dessert are very ancient. The word derives from the Latin Buccellatum, or a tasty morsel, and as in all old folk traditions, these recipes are handed down from mother to daughter. In fact, before the Christmas festival people would get together to prepare these delicious biscuits, to give as presents to friends and family and to put out on the table during Christmas lunch. Families prepared these biscuits starting from the day of the Immaculate Conception, both to eat and to give as gifts. Today, Rosanna prepares a large amount of cucciddati for her family and friends. She makes them with her sister and she also gives a lot to her friends.

More Minus

HOW TO

For the dough: Put the flour onto a flat surface and make a well in it. Add the lard and sugar. Work the dough until it's uniform and of a consistency that will allow you to roll it out easily. Make a ball, wrap it in plastic, and leave it to rest in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.For the filling: Blend the dried figs with the chocolate to form a homogenous cream. In a mixer, roughly blend the nuts and the sultanas with a spoonful of cinnamon. Pour this into the fig cream, add the grated orange peel and mix everything together well.For the icing: Whisk the egg white and sugar in a bowl to form a smooth mixture.

Take the dough out of the refrigerator. Twist off small pieces and roll them out to a thickness of 1 centimetre, forming rectangles 10 x 5 cm. At this point put a spoonful of the filling onto the dough and close it over. Turn the cucciddato over so that the part that has just been closed is pressed onto the work surface. Make small slits in the top of each biscuit with the point of a knife so that they open up while baking without expanding too much. Place the biscuits on a baking tray covered with wax paper and bake at 180 °C for 15-20 minutes.When they are golden brown and cooked through, brush the icing over the top of the cucciddatti while they are still hot, and sprinkle them cinnamon or icing sugar.