What are Fave Dei Morti cookies?

I decided not to translate the name of these biscuits in the title, Fave Dei Morti, as I’m not sure how many people would want to read about cookies called “Broad Beans of the Dead”.  They don’t sound very appetising in English! The almond cookies are traditionally made in many regions of Italy at the end of October to be eaten during the period of Ognissanti, or All Saints’ Day. I read in a few places that these cookies were originally eaten at funerals in Ancient Greece.  I don’t know whether this is true or not, but it’s kind of nice to think that people could have a tiny taste of joy at such a sad event.

The origins of  fave dei morti

The biscuits were originally made with broad beans, but the main ingredient was changed to almonds as broad beans can be very toxic for certain people. In many Mediterranean countries, such as Italy, there is a hereditary condition called favism. For these people, eating broad beans leads to nasty symptoms and possible death (so the cookies were actually very aptly named once upon a time). The name fave has stuck, but now pretty much everyone can eat them without worrying about their health afterwards.

To colour, or not to colour?

The recipe for the fave dei morti cookies varies a little in different parts of Italy. Depending on where they are made also changes whether they are coloured or just left with the dough’s natural colour.  I liked the idea of making colourful biscuits, so I decided make them as they do in the North-East of Italy, with three different hues.  The red ones you see in the photo should actually be pink, not red.  I got a little carried away with the food colouring!  They tasted delicious anyway, but maybe are not as traditional to look at as they should be.

This post is part of the Cucina Conversations group.  This month you can find recipes from its members, celebrating Ognisanti and the Fall season. Here’s what you can check out:

Marialuisa’s Nzulli biscotti with almonds

Carmen’s Savoiardi biscuits

Rosemarie’s Castagnaccio

Francesca’s Fettuccine con Zucca e Porcini

Flavia’s Apple Torta Sbrisolona

Daniela’s Chestnut Pancakes (Necci) with Ricotta

By Lisa Watson

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Fave dei Morti

Colourful Fave Dei Morti Cookies are made in Italy at the end of October to celebrate "Ognisanti" (All Saints). Find the easy recipe to make them here.

Course cookies, Snack, sweet

Cuisine Italian

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes minutes

Total Time 25 minutes minutes

Servings 45 cookies

Ingredients

• 150 g All-purpose flour 1 1/4 cups
• 250 g Peeled almonds 8.8 oz
• 50 g Pine-nuts 1.8 oz.
• 100 g Icing sugar 3.5 oz.
• 2 Eggs
• Lemon zest from 1 lemon
• 2 tsp Cocoa powder
• 1 pinch or drop Red Food Colouring

Instructions

• Heat the oven to 180°C /350°F.
• Use a food processor to blend the almonds and pine-nuts into a  "flour".
• Beat the eggs until they become thick.
• Sieve the all-purpose flour and icing sugar. Add it to the 'nut' flour, and mix.
• Add the egg mixture to the dry ingredients, and mix well.
• Break the dough into three pieces.
• Knead the lemon zest into one ball, the cocoa powder into the second, and the food colouring into the third, until they are evenly coloured.
• Roll the dough balls into long sausages.
• Line a baking tray with baking paper, then break off bits of dough a little smaller than the size of a walnut and roll them into a ball, then flatten them very slightly. Place them on the baking tray with at least 5 cm/2 in distance between the cookies.
• Bake for 10 - 15 minutes until they are slightly browned.
• The cookies can keep for a week in an air-tight container.

A recipe from way back when

This recipe for peanut square is an childhood favourite of mine from New Zealand.  My mother used to make it regularly. She modified it from a recipe published in the Women’s Division of Federated Farmers Cookbook.  It’s not as posh as it sounds. It was an important way for women in the isolated country areas of New Zealand to join together and have some support, which I think meant that they made lots of jam and scones, and wrote this cookbook, well at least back in the 1950’s and ’60’s.  I love the cookbook as it dates back to the early part of last Century, therefore has all sorts of arcane sections, like the one for “Savory Gelatine Dishes”. Unfortunately, the copy I have comes from the 80’s, so has been updated to “include the use of electrical appliances“, as it says it the introduction.  I’d love to read the recipes for cooking things on open fires! Next time I head down to the farm in New Zealand, I’ll have to dig around to see if my mother still has one of the older editions.

Musings about coconut in New Zealand

Peanut square has dried coconut in it, just like many other sweet recipes from this time in New Zealand, such as mothballs and chocolate crackles.  This has always surprised me that dried coconut shows up everywhere, as it isn’t warm enough for coconut palms to grow in New Zealand.  My guess is that it was used so much because it keeps forever once dried, so was an easy product to have on hand.  Plus, the Polynesian Islands aren’t that far away and they DO have coconuts.  I imagine the boats from England may have stopped there on the way down to the ends of the Earth to gather more food for the passengers, and brought dried coconut with them.  On a tangent: can you imagine if you lived a Century or so ago, jumping on a ship in England to travel for months and months all the way down to a place that you’d never seen?  It must’ve been like it would be to move to the moon these days!

It’s all about the ratio of ingredients

You can use peanuts with the skin on or without for making peanut square.  I don’t think it makes that much difference.  I used peanuts without skin as that’s what I had in the cupboard.  In the recipe, it says to chop the peanuts roughly.  I didn’t actually do that either, as you can see by the photo above, but it worked fine! Remember that this recipe was originally with everything as a ratio, so if you use any kind of teacup to measure the ingredients, it will work fine.  For the those of you who are determined to bake with measurements, I have quantified everything. 🙂

Not so much a travel photo of the week

I’ll leave you with a photo that’s a little different.  It’s not exactly a travel photo of a beautiful landscape, but is a very typical photo of a New Zealand shearing shed in action.  This is taken in my parent’s shearing shed.  I know every knot in the wood there as I spent many hours sweeping and picking up wool there.  I’m very happy to hand my broom to the guys in the photo.  The work is hard, and in this shed, there’s no electricity, only a generator to run the machinery, so you can’t here anything but the buzzing of the cutters and the thumping of the generator all day.  I really admire the shearers and shed-hands (the people who sweep and sort the wool)!

By Lisa Watson

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Peanut, Coconut, and Chocolate Slice

Course Dessert

Cuisine New Zealand

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes minutes

Total Time 40 minutes minutes

Servings 10 people

Ingredients

For the Slice:

• 125 g Flour 1 cup
• 200 g Brown sugar 1 cup
• 1/4 tsp Salt
• 170 g Butter 6oz
• 1/2 tsp Vanilla essence
• 1 Tbsp Golden syrup
• 90 -100 g Peanuts 3/4 cup
• 100 g Dried coconut 1 cup
• 30 g Cornflakes 1 cup

For the Icing

• 260 g Icing sugar 2 cups + 2 Tbsp
• 80 ml Boiling water 1/3 cup
• 2 Tbsp Cocoa powder
• 1 Tbsp melted Butter

Instructions

For the Slice:

• Roughly chop the peanuts. Slightly crush the cornflakes.
• Mix the dry ingredients together.
• Melt the butter and mix in the golden syrup and vanilla essence.
• Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix.
• Press into a rectangular or square tart tin that has been greased with butter.
• Bake at 180ºC (350ºF) for 25 - 30 minutes until golden brown.
• Leave to cool in the tin before icing the slice with chocolate icing.

For the Icing:

• Add the cocoa powder and butter to the boiled water and stir until dissolved. If they butter doesn't melt completely, put the mixture in the microwave for a few seconds or on the stove-top.
• Add the icing sugar and whisk until you have a smooth, runny mixture.
• Pour onto the biscuit base and leave to set.
• When set, you can cut the slice into squares or bars. It keeps well for 2 -3 weeks in a closed container.

An Italian blog can’t be Italian without a tiramisu recipe

Well, I had to do it, didn’t I?  I can’t really say that I have a blog about Italian food without this recipe. What’s the best known Italian dessert outside Italy after gelato?  You’ve got it! Tiramisu!  Strangely, tiramisu is one of the most recently developed desserts that Italian make.  In general, Italian recipes date back into the mists of time, but tiramisu was said to have been invented during the last century, which makes it a baby in terms of Italian recipes! Of course, the origins of it are still controversial, although it is a new arrival on the scene, but it is commonly believed to have been first made in the Veneto region of Italy, where Venice lies in all its splendour.

How tiramisu got its name

So, I had to worm Venice in that last sentence somewhere since we just went there for a holiday. It does give me an excuse to write about (and therefore make….and therefore, eat) this delicious dessert! “Tirami su” is actually a phrase in Italian that, as you may know already, means “pick/pull me up”, and this dessert certainly does that with its coffee, eggs, cocoa, and in this version, chocolate.  It is said that it is an aphrodisiac, but I can’t imagine being up to anything much in that department after eating a dish of this!  It is very rich, so is better eaten in smaller portions (that means there’s much more for you later in the fridge when your guests go home!).

Notes before you make the tiramisu

You have to make sure your eggs are really fresh and that you eat it within two days of making it.  Store it in the fridge (or in your stomach) at all times.  To test for egg freshness follow my tips here before using them.  Don’t let this put you off making it.  If you have fresh eggs, and make a huge sacrifice to eat it quickly, then you’re good to go!

The only slightly tricky part of this dish is the wetting of the savoiardi biscuits: too little and they’re crunchy, too much and they turn quickly into a soggy mess. You can dip them quickly in a bath of coffee, or you can dribble coffee over them once they’re in the container you’re making the tiramisu in.  I prefer the dribbling method because if you make them a little too wet, at least they won’t fall to pieces in your hands and cover you with sticky biscuit pieces.

I made this tiramisu with decaffeinated coffee.  I once ate one that was delicious, but the woman who made it had put so much coffee in it that I didn’t manage to go to sleep until three in the morning!

The nice thing about this dessert is that it’s very easy to make it in one large dish, or in individual serving containers as the amount of ingredients aren’t exact.

And a last note on Savoiardi biscuits. They seem to exist with various names just about everywhere.  I’m not sure why exactly they’re called  “ladyfingers” in English as they’re relatively short and stubby.  Not how I imagine the fingers of a Lady at all!

Happy dessert making!!!

By Lisa Watson

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Tiramisu

Italian tiramisu is an easy, make ahead recipe that will impress your guests.  Find out all about it on Italian Kiwi

Course Dessert

Cuisine Italian

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Fridge time 3 hours hours 20 minutes minutes

Total Time 15 minutes minutes

Servings 6 people

Ingredients

• 1 box Savoiardi biscuits (Ladyfingers) I used 36 biscuits for 6 people
• 2 - 3 small cups Italian Espresso coffee
• 4 Egg yolks
• 125 g Icing sugar 2/3 cup
• 2 Egg whites
• 400 g Marscapone cheese 1 3/4 cups, 15oz
• 50 g Dark chocolate 2oz
• Cocoa powder to cover the top

Instructions

Prepare the Ingredients:

• Using a standing mixture, or egg-beater, to save your arms, beat the egg yolks and sugar together until they become light in colour and "fluffy".
• Add the marscapone and beat in.
• In a clean bowl, beat the egg whites until they are stiff, then add them to the marscapone mixture.  Stir in gently with a wooden spoon until they are incoporated.
• Grate the chocolate (don't touch it with your fingers otherwise it will melt immediately!).
• Make the coffee and let it cool a little.

To Assemble:

• Place a layer of savoiardi biscuits in the bottom of the container you are using.
• Drizzle coffee on them carefully until they are damp, but not swimming.
• Add a layer of the marscapone mixture, then sprinkle the grated chocolate over the top using a teaspoon.
• Repeat the process one more time, but finish with the marscapone mixture.
• Dust the top with cocoa using a small sieve to evenly distribute it.
• Place the finished tiramisu in the fridge for 3 - 4 hours before eating.

I’ve tried making macarons quite a few times only to end up with gummy, chewy messes.  I decided that it was time to rectify this, so went off to a course on making them recently.  Sadly my partner-in-crime, Giulia, who I’d spent many hours with trying to figure out where we both went wrong when trying to bake these elusive biscuits, couldn’t join me for fear of throwing up in the middle of the class.  I really missed her.  It would have been great to be able to turn to a friend during the many “Aha!!!” moments I had during the course and excitedly babble to each other that THAT’S why they didn’t work that particular time! I know that macarons are very French and have nothing what-so-ever to do with Italy, but I really wanted to share what I learnt with you all.

The class was held in Nice at the newly opened Atelier de Tam (see note at bottom of post). Tamara, the chef, was a finalist in the french version of Masterchef last year and has just opened a wonderfully situated cooking school in Nice, which is right near the old town of Nice, overlooking the blue, blue sea. At least this time, the first words out of her mouth weren’t, “There’s no way you can make this at home” as happened when I did a panettone making class last year!  In fact, she went to great lengths to show us that you can make macarons even when you’re camping, by getting us to make two batches: one with a held-held mixer and one with the standing mixture.  And, she was right.  There really didn’t seem to be any difference.  Though, the next question is whether you would cart along a candy thermometer, a macaron sheet, a piping bag, an oven, and for that matter, a handheld electric mixer, when your car’s already full of inflatable toys, snorkel gear, tents, towels, food to survive on, fishing rods, kitchen sinks, beer and wine, and all those other indispensable camping items!

Now, what she also proved to me, was that making macarons is a VERY finickety business full of traps that can send you screaming down into a camouflaged pit full of bamboo spikes, where you just can’t get back from.  From the humidity on the day, to the type of tray you bake them on, to the egg freshness, and also (which is probably my main difficulty) for the fact that you have to be SUPER-precise when weighing everything, there are many, many ways you can slide off the safe track and into the impenetrable jungle in the blink of an eye.

So, here are a few of the secrets that Tamara divulged to us to help you out a little: humidity causes the macarons to crack when cooked.  Actually, if you look at the photo of those we made during the course, you can see that they didn’t work entirely.  Actually maybe that’s a downside to having a cooking class with wide open french doors right on the sea-front, even though it’s very beautiful, it may not be a great place for making biscuits as fussy as these ones are.  If you get even a trace of water on the baking tray, or on your fingers, that will be enough to make them pack a sad.  That is why you need to use powdered colouring agents and not the usual water-based food colourings.

Another trick is that you have to use a tray with NO scratches or ridges on it, otherwise…..again….you’ll end up with un-puffed sweet chewy lumps (which all in all, don’t taste so bad!).  You have to watch the oven like a hawk when they’re in there.  The cooking temperature and time for baking are an indication only.  DO NOT walk away from them.  They’re very high maintenance and want your undivided attention.  If they don’t have that, they will through a hissy fit and turn into a blob of something non-macarony.  Then no matter how much you plead and cajole them, they will sulk and stay like that forever.

So…….after all that, are you ready to pick up your spatula?  Good for you!!!  I figure if I keep trying, one of these days, I will get macarons that actually look and taste like the ones you buys in the shops!!   It was a great experience, even though the macarons didn’t work out. Tamara is a lovely person and very good teacher!

NOTE:  update from April 2017:  the atelier no longer exists, but Tamara offers courses online.

 By Lisa Watson

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Ingredients

• 75 g Ground almonds
• 75 g Icing sugar
• 30 g 1st Egg whites
• 25 g Water
• 75 g Caster sugar
• 30 g 2nd Egg whites
• Powdered colourant
• A candy thermometre
• A macaron baking sheet
• An icing piping bag with nozzle

Instructions

The day before:

• Mix together and sieve more ground almonds and icing sugar than you need.  Leave for at least one night, if not two to dehydrate. You will need to weigh the quantities for the recipe at the end of this time as the ingredients will lose some weight due to the dehydration and the coarser lumps that don't make it through the sieve.
• The next day:
• Weigh out 150g (5.3oz) of the almond/icing sugar mixture. Add 30g of unbeaten egg whites and mix together. Choose the coloured powder you want to use and add a knife point of it.  Mix in and continue until you are satisfied with the colour. Set aside.
• In a small pot, heat the water and caster sugar, stirring occasionally until it reaches 100°C (212°F).  As soon as you reach this point, start beating the second 30g of egg whites with an electric mixer.  They should become frothy at this point, but not stiff.
• When the sugar/water mixture heats to 118°C (244°F), take it off the heat and pour it in a slow, steady stream into the egg whites without stopping the mixer.  Continue to beat the egg whites and sugar syrup on a moderate speed until the mixture is completely cold.  Congratulations!  You've just made Italian meringue!
• Now add the meringue mixture little by little to the almond flour mixture, stirring it in with a rubber spatula.
• Continue to swirl and pat the mixture until it begins to glisten.  this can take a while.  It took me about 5 or 10 minutes in the course.
• Put the mixture in an icing bag and pipe out blobs of it to fill the pre-drawn circles on your baking sheet (so that they are all abot the same size).
• Cook the macarons at about 150°C (300°F) for approximately 10 -12 minutes.  You need to watch them cooking.  If they start to crack the oven may be too hot, so you need to lower the temperature slightly.  Start to touch the tops of the macarons gently after about 8 minutes.  When they are firm, but slightly yielding, then they can be taken out.
• Leave them to cool before putting them together with the filling of your choice.  You can used jam, marscapone with flavours like chocolate or lemon, caramel, nutella, ganache (that's for another recipe post!).  Your imagination is the only limit!
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