These cookies with almonds and egg whites (Lucanian recipe) are a typical sweet from Bernalda, a small town in the province of Matera. They were created by Mr. Vincenzo Spinelli, owner of the Pasticceria del Corso bar in 1977, who closely guards the original recipe. This one was given to me by my sister-in-law, a native of Bernalda, could it be the one created by the pastry chef?
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Cheap
- Preparation time: 45 Minutes
- Portions: about 70 cookies
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian Regional
Ingredients
- 3 1/2 cups Almonds
- 1 3/4 cups Sugar
- 6 large Egg whites
- 7 oz Dark chocolate
- 7 oz White chocolate
- 1 tbsp Vegetable oil (various)
Preparation
Place the almonds on a baking sheet and roast them at 212°F for about 15 minutes.
Blend them in a mixer until you get a not too fine, rather coarse flour.
In the meantime, whip the egg whites until stiff peaks form.
Add the sugar and continue to whip until you have a firm and glossy mixture.
Now add the crushed almonds to the meringue and gently mix with a spatula.
Take a teaspoon of the mixture and drop it onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
Space them apart as they will spread during baking.
Bake at 356°F for about 10 minutes, until they are slightly cracked on the surface.
Gently detach them from the parchment paper with a knife and separate them if they are stuck together.
As soon as they come out of the oven, perform the operation to fold them into the characteristic shape: place a cookie on the palm of your hand, put your index finger on top, bending it slightly, closing your palm a little with the cookie on it.
Melt the dark chocolate in a non-stick pan and the white chocolate in another pan (if your pot does not have a non-stick bottom, it is advisable to melt the chocolate in a bain-marie).
To make it shiny, add a tablespoon of vegetable oil, and in a few minutes, you will have melted, shiny, and homogeneous chocolate.
With a teaspoon, take a little melted white chocolate, let it drip onto the cookie, decorating half of the prepared cookies.
Do the same with the dark chocolate for the other half.
Refrigerate for at least half an hour before enjoying them.
Tips/Advice
With these quantities, you will get about 70 cookies.
To make the chocolate shiny, I recommend adding a tablespoon of vegetable oil while melting it.
To fold the cookie, you must handle it while still warm, before it hardens.
The egg whites should be whipped to very stiff peaks.
If you liked the cookies with almonds and egg whites (Lucanian recipe), try other sweet recipes from Basilicata:
Spaghetti with Green Beans and Ricotta Cheese
My Social Channels!
To not miss any recipes, you can also follow me on Instagram; Pinterest;
feel free to like my Facebook page ?
