TABELIAAUTHENTIC RECIPE
Baci di damaBaci di Dama Hazelnut Cookies
Piedmontese hazelnut cookies whose name means “lady’s kisses.” These bite-size sweets join 2 fragrant nutty half-sphere cookies with dark chocolate. Originating in Tortona and served at the House of Savoy’s court in the 19th century, they epitomize Piedmont’s pastry culture.
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Ingredients (4 servings)
- Hazelnut flourStore-bought, or roasted hazelnuts finely ground in a food processor150 g
- Cake flour150 g
- Powdered sugar150 g
- Cold unsalted butterCut into 1 cm cubes and refrigerate until just before use150 g
- Dark chocolate (65–70%)For joining the cookies80 g
- Salt1 g
Method
Make the dough for resting
- 1 Put the hazelnut flour, cake flour, powdered sugar and salt in a food processor.
- 2 Cut 150 g cold butter into 1 cm cubes, add it and process in short pulses until loose and sandy.
- 3 Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and press into a flat shape.
Ready when
Proceed when the entire mixture has a loose, sandy texture.
Caution
Pulse quickly so the butter does not melt. Prolonged processing makes the dough oily.
Rest in the refrigerator
- 1 Refrigerate the dough for 45 minutes.
Ready when
After 45 minutes, proceed when it is firm and easy to handle.
Shape into balls
- 1 Preheat the oven to 170°C.
- 2 Break off portions of approximately 6 g and roll into balls 1.5–2 cm in diameter.
- 3 Arrange 2 cm apart on a baking sheet and refrigerate for another 15 minutes.
Ready when
Proceed when the balls are uniformly sized.
Caution
Roll quickly so the warmth of your hands does not melt the butter.
Bake and cool the cookies
- 1 Bake at 170°C for 14–16 minutes.
- 2 Cool completely on a rack.
Ready when
They are baked when the bottoms are lightly golden.
Caution
Overbaking makes them hard. They are fragile while hot, so do not touch until cool.
Join with chocolate
- 1 Finely chop 80 g dark chocolate and slowly melt it over a 55–60°C water bath.
- 2 Put a dot of chocolate 5 mm in diameter on the flat side of a cookie, top with 1 more cookie and press lightly.
- 3 Leave at room temperature for 30 minutes to set the chocolate.
Ready when
They are ready when the chocolate has fully set.
Caution
An excessively hot water bath burns the chocolate. Keep it at 55–60°C.
About this dish
The name baci di dama, “lady’s kisses,” comes from the shape of 2 half-sphere cookies joined with chocolate. Piedmontese pastry makers imagined softly touching, full lips in these tiny hazelnut cookies. They are said to have been devised by a pastry maker in Tortona in the 19th century, and records show that they were served at the House of Savoy’s court.
The key to making them is not to melt the butter. Cold butter is rubbed into the dry ingredients to form a loose, sandy mixture, which is rested thoroughly in the refrigerator before being rolled into small balls. If the dough warms up, the fat separates and the cookies spread as they bake, losing their half-sphere shape. Baking beautiful, evenly sized half-spheres depends less on technique than on attention to temperature.
Piedmont’s hazelnuts are among the world’s finest, and their flavor lies at the heart of much of its pastry culture. The chocolate joining the cookies is not merely glue: it is a 3rd protagonist, adding bitterness to the nuts’ toasted fragrance. In the mouth, the 2 cookies melt into a single flavor without separating, and the metaphor of a “kiss” comes to life.
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