Baci di Dama Cake by Luca Montersino
Baci di Dama Cake by Luca Montersino
I am a huge fan of baci di dama and always have been; I still remember when we were dating my husband would occasionally bring me a bag of them from a famous pastry shop on the Ligurian Riviera to make me happy.
Could I let the Baci di Dama Cake by master Luca Montersino pass me by? Practically the delight of a bacio di dama multiplied many times over!
Ingredients, texture and shape are the same as traditional baci di dama but the proportions change: the cake appears in a “giant” version, with its unmistakable hazelnut flavor and the delicious chocolate filling.
You’ll be surprised to discover that the recipe is also easy and quick; you only need to follow a few fundamental tips.
Oven temperature is important, but it is equally important to respect the dough resting times before baking.
As with every preparation there are different versions: some make it with hazelnuts, others with almonds, others with a mix of nuts, and the same goes for the filling which in the original recipe calls for dark chocolate.
The one I share today is the master’s recipe made with hazelnut flour to which I added a pinch of baking powder, and which I filled with Nutella instead of chocolate.
With this base, you can of course make the irresistible mini Baci di Dama: perfect for snack time or tea time.
Baci di Dama Cake by Luca Montersino
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Medium
- Preparation time: 20 Minutes
- Cooking time: 20 Minutes
- Portions: 8
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Energy 921.83 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 90.98 (g) of which sugars 55.77 (g)
- Proteins 12.43 (g)
- Fat 59.66 (g) of which saturated 29.68 (g)of which unsaturated 28.43 (g)
- Fibers 5.96 (g)
- Sodium 155.31 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 175 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE THE Baci di Dama CAKE
- 1 3/4 cup hazelnut flour
- 2 cups type 00 (all-purpose) flour
- 7 oz butter (about 14 tbsp (≈7/8 cup))
- 1 large egg yolk (about 20 g)
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 0.7 oz egg white (about 2/3 of a large egg white (≈20 g))
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 tsp baking powder
- as needed Nutella® (for filling)
HOW TO PREPARE THE Baci di Dama CAKE
In a large bowl or in the bowl of a stand mixer put the softened but still firm butter together with the sugar and mix until well combined. Add the hazelnut flour and continue mixing, then add the egg yolk, the egg white and the salt while stirring.
As soon as everything is well incorporated add the flour already sifted with the baking powder and mix until completely absorbed. Form the dough into a disk, wrap it in plastic wrap and transfer it to the refrigerator for at least 40 minutes.
Meanwhile, line the base of a pan with a diameter of about 8–8.7 in with parchment paper. After resting time, take the dough, divide it into two equal parts and roll each out with a rolling pin to a thickness of about 3/8 in, then cut two circles with the same diameter as the pan.
Bake both bases in a preheated oven at 338°F (conventional/static) for about 20 minutes until the surface of the biscuit is golden and small cracks form. Once baked, let the bases cool otherwise you risk breaking them.
Separately, slightly soften the Nutella in the microwave or in a double boiler. Finally, cover the cake base with plenty of hazelnut cream, leveling with a spatula, then place the second layer of bacio di dama on top. Your cake is ready; you can serve it as is or decorate it with mini baci di dama, drizzles of melted chocolate or simply powdered sugar.
TIPS AND VARIATIONS
HAZELNUT FLOUR If you don’t have hazelnut flour you can grind whole toasted hazelnuts in a food processor together with the sugar. You can replace hazelnut flour with almond flour. If you buy raw hazelnuts or almonds, roast them first in the oven both to remove the skins and to enhance their aroma and flavor. Only when they are completely cool reduce them to flour.
HAZELNUT CREAM For the internal filling you can use, instead of Nutella, a dark chocolate cream, milk chocolate cream or even white chocolate cream.
DOUGH RESTING It is very important to rest the dough in the refrigerator both for the texture and to obtain perfect baking; otherwise the bases would stay flat and not slightly domed as the recipe requires.
BAKING The oven temperature must be kept constant at 338°F in conventional mode.
STORAGE
Once ready, the Baci di Dama cake can be stored in a cake carrier or under a glass dome at room temperature for up to one week.
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