[Sca-cooks] Cassatiddine, a nonmarzipan dessert

[Christiane]

A Sicilian dessert recipe for little cookies also known as cassatelline. A specialty of Militello, a city that had its glory days under Joan of Austria, wife of Francesco Branciforte and granddaughter of Charles V.

A Sicilian dessert recipe for little cookies also known as cassatelline. A specialty of Militello, a city that had its glory days under Joan of Austria, wife of Francesco Branciforte and granddaughter of Charles V.

I give the recipe in Italian as I found it on the Militello Website, with a translation as far as my Italian and dictionary can take it. Anyone who is more fluent in Italian, feel free to chime in, because I'm rusty. I find it really infuriating that amounts aren't given. It's true grandma cooking. This recipe obviously assumes that you have extensive experience in baking, and I have not yet redacted it. Perhaps for Christmas, if I have time. Anyone else, feel free to take a whack at it.


Ingredienti: Mandorle; zucchero; cannella; chiodi di garofano; marmellata di frutta; vermut (in tempi recenti si è  aggiunto il cioccolato); farina 00; uova e sugna.

Ingredients: Almonds, sugar, cinnamon, cloves, jam, vermouth (in recent times, chocolate has been added to this recipe), flour, eggs, and lard (I'd substitute butter).
         
Preparazione :  Preparare  un impasto con  mandorle  spellate e tritate, cannella, una manciata di  chiodi di garofano e una spolverata di zucchero. (Prepare a mixture of the ground-up, shelled almonds, cinnamon, a handful of cloves, and a sprinkling of sugar). Aggiungere 2-3 cucchiai di marmellata di frutta e mescolare il tutto con del vermut, fino ad ottenere un composto amalgamato. (Take two to three tablespoons of jam, mix with the vermouth, and add to the mixture, stirring until a blend is achieved).

Successivamente preparare, secondo la consueta  procedura, la pasta sfoglia necessaria per contenere l'impasto precedentemente  lavorato.  (Next, prepare enough puff pastry according to the usual recipe to contain the mixture just made).  **Note, create little two-by-two inch squarish cups of the pastry, not thinwalled, but thick. See the picture on this site http://www.comunemilitello.it/page16.htm for a guide).

 Le cassatiddine vanno infornate a temperatura moderatamente calda, per  uniformare la cottura del prodotto.  (Bake the cassatiddine in a moderately hot oven until just set).      Successivamente si effettua una seconda  infornata, per permettere alla glassa (albume e zucchero) di distribuirsi in modo omogeneo. (Before baking a second time, make a glaze of egg white and sugar and evenly coat the casstiddine).

Good luck!

Gianotta