Ricciarelli Ricciarelli
(See image on opposite page)
➤ MAKES about 24 ➤ PREPARATION 20 minutes + resting time ➤ BAKING 15 minutes
Nobody visiting Siena could miss the piles of ricciarelli stacked in bakery windows. Typically a biscuit baked and given at Christmas, they are now found all over Tuscany throughout the year. Ricciarelli are delicious almond cookies, shaped as a rice grain and coated with a thick layer of icing sugar. As per most traditional Italian bakes, there are as many variations to this recipe as there are families in Siena; nevertheless, one of the best documented mentions of this biscuit in the 19th century stipulates that no flour should be used, making this recipe inherently gluten-free.
• 250g ground almonds or 250g whole blanched almonds
• 250g icing sugar, plus extra for shaping and decorating
• zest of 1 unwaxed organic orange
• 85g egg white (about 2-3 medium free-range egg whites), at room temperature
• 1/ 8 tsp cream of tartar
• 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
• ½ tsp natural almond extract
1 If using whole almonds, grind them in a food processor. In a large bowl, mix the ground almonds with the icing sugar and orange zest until fully combined.
2 In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites and cream of tartar with a handheld electric whisk until foamy. Incorporate the vanilla and the almond extract into the egg whites and keep whisking to form stiff peaks.
Incorporate the egg whites into the almond mixture to make a paste. You will be knocking most of the air out of the whites while mixing, but this will not be a problem.
