Cantucci

Ladies and gentlemen, I’m a simple lad (let’s not make things worse by saying “primitive”). Admittedly, I sometimes go for coffee to those much-maligned chain cafés that serve it in the paper cups Kasia Tusk parades around with in her photo shoots. I’ve even seen those little rusks with almonds inside there. But I’d never tried them. A simple lad, I’d never eaten anything called cantucci or cantuccini, or the homely-sounding biscotti.

Not until Saturday. Saturday was an extraordinary evening, during which — probably the least important part — those Italian rusks also made an appearance. Unfortunately, I liked them very much, and not even on Saturday, when I received them, but on Sunday I devoured almost the entire packet. A tragedy.

Cantucci are far too good. Especially for me, a lover of every kind of nut (apart from walnuts, which I’m allergic to) and almonds.

So I decided to make up for that whole packet and have a go at cantuccini myself. It’s not that difficult, really. At first I didn’t quite believe these ingredients would come together into a dough, and you do have to knead it a bit (a KitchenAid would probably be better for the job), but I managed. Do they turn out like the ones I was given? Fairly similar, although I’m not sure I didn’t dry them out a little too much. So perhaps, instead of drying them for 25 minutes, it’s worth checking them after 22 – 23 minutes 🙂

There’s just one thing I’m afraid of: that they’ll tempt me all over again 😉

Recipe facts:

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Baking time 1: 30 minutes

Baking temperature 1: 175 degrees Celsius

Baking time 2: 25 minutes

Baking temperature 2: 160 degrees Celsius

Serves: lots of people

Calories: in cantucci

Ingredients for delicious Italian almond rusks:

• 100 grams of almonds (with skins on)
• 3 hen’s eggs
• 250 grams of plain wheat flour
• 3/4 of a glass of fine cane sugar
• 2 teaspoons of baking powder
• a pinch of salt
• about 5 cm of lemon peel
• about 5 cm of orange peel

Recipe for fragrant cantuccini:

I chopped half the almonds into small pieces with a knife and tipped them into a deep bowl. I added 2 level teaspoons of baking powder, the flour, sugar, a pinch of salt and the remaining whole almonds. I added the scalded and finely chopped orange and lemon peel. Finally, I cracked in 3 hen’s eggs.

First, I mixed everything thoroughly with a spoon, then started kneading the dough by hand. Initially in the bowl (if it’s too wet, add a little flour), then I transferred it to the lightly floured kitchen worktop and kneaded it. Once it was smooth and no longer stuck to my hands, I cut it in half with a knife. I made two balls, which I shaped into logs 3 – 4 cm in diameter (they look like little baguettes, as you can see in the photo below).

I placed them on baking paper and put them in the oven preheated to 175 degrees Celsius for 30 minutes. Then I took the cantucci out and gently cut them with a bread knife into “slices” 2 centimetres thick.

I put them back on the paper-lined baking tray (as shown in the picture) and into the oven, cooled down to 160 degrees Celsius. I baked them for 25 minutes, turning the cantucci over halfway through. Once cooled, the delicious sweet rusks are ready. Enjoy!