These Tuscan almond biscuits have been adapted from Baking by Antonio Carluccio - I halved the quantities. The recipe is also influenced by Honey & Co, London where they serve a ricciarelli type biscuit studded with juicy pieces of apricot. So I add plumped up dried apricots to this recipe when I have them. I also add tiny chunks of very dark chocolate when I feel like a bite of chocolate. Maya Gold by Green & Black is good.
Friends and family love these ricciarelli! They just taste so good and once you have the hang of making them a batch can be made quickly.
Just some notes on making this recipe - if you have not got an orange to make the zest - use a lemon. The apricots can be omitted or substituted with another dried fruit - cranberries at Christmas perhaps? The ricciarelli dough can be flavoured with almond or vanilla, or orange essence as an alternative to fresh orange or lemon zest. If you have not got enough ground almonds adjust the proportions of the other ingredients accordingly to make the dough the right consistency. It should be stiff and pliable to roll into a log shape. This is quite a ‘forgiving’ recipe.
Ingredients
150 g ground almonds
170 g caster sugar
grated zest of 1 orange
3 tsp honey
80 g dried apricots, soaked in boiling water until plump - about 15 minutes. (If the apricots are quite moist and plump already don’t bother with soaking them.)
1 egg white beaten until stiff
Icing sugar to roll the biscuits
Rice paper (edible wafer paper) to place the riciarelli on to bake
Method
Before you begin - preheat the oven to 180 C. Line a baking sheet with rice paper.
Mix the ground almonds, caster sugar, honey and orange zest together. Drain the apricots and cut into small pieces (0.5 cm across) and mix with the almonds and caster sugar. Stir in enough egg white to form a stiff paste.
Divide the dough into two and roll each piece on a surface dusted with icing sugar until it is 2 cm thick. Cut the mixture into lozenge shapes and place on the rice paper. Dust icing sugar over the riciarelli biscuits and leave for about an hour. This allows the surface to dry out a little and crack when the ricciareli cook.
Cook for 15 minutes until just beginning to brown. Remove from the oven and place on a cooling rack.
Tear/cut the paper between the riciarelli to serve.
The ricciarelli can be stored in a jar or airtight container for a few days - if they last that long.
