This month in We Knead To Bake group Aparna had decided to bake Torcettini di Saint
Vincent (Sugar Crusted Twisted Cookies from the Valle d’Aosta). In the We knead to Bake group, we are all experimenting with baking using yeast, under the expert guidance of Aparna. Loved making these cute small biscuits this time. Below is the information about Torcettiini, in Aparna's own words. It was very interesting to read the origin of these biscuits.
Torcettini are smaller versions of the Italian Torcetti
(meaning small twists), and these pear/ teardrop shaped twists are made of a
dough of flour, yeast and butter which are shaped and then rolled in sugar
before being baked.
The origin of these biscuits is believed to
be from Grissini (breadsticks) which were made from the leftover scraps of
bread dough. According to one story, a Grissini baker had some leftover butter
which he needed to use up. Inspiration struck and he decided to add the butter
to the last batch of his Grissini dough for the day. To be able to
differentiate this lot of “breadsticks”, he rolled them in sugar and shaped
them into loops, and the Torcetti was born. Torcetti/ Torchettini taste even
better when they’re flavoured with lime/ lemon zest or anise.
These biscuits are crunchy, not very sweet
and pair very well with cold milk, hot chocolate, tea/ coffee or wine. They are
delicious served warm and equally good cold, and keep very well if stored in airtight
containers.
Torcettini di Saint Vincent
(Adpated from A Baker’s Tour by Nick
Malgieri)
Ingredients:
1/2
cup warm water, about 110F
1
1/4 tsp active dry yeast (or 1 tsp instant yeast)
1
1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp lime/ lemon zest (replace with orange
zest for the chocolate version)
40gm
unsalted butter, cold and cut into small pieces
about 1/3 cup sugar for rolling the cookies
Preparation:
1) Dissolve the yeast in the warm water, in a
small bowl and keep aside.
2) Put the flour and the salt in the food
processor bowl (or a largish regular bowl if kneading by hand) and pulse a
couple of times to mix. Add the butter pieces and pulse until the butter is
well mixed and the flour-butter mixture looks powdery.
3) Add the yeast-water mixture and pulse till
it all comes together as a ball. Do not over process or knead.
4) Place the ball
of dough in a oiled bowl, turning it so it is well coated with the oil. Cover
the bowl, and let the dough rise quite a bit.
5) This dough does not really double in
volume, but it should look “puffy” after about an hour or so. When you pinch
off a bit from the top you can see the interior looking a bit like honeycomb. Press
down the dough and deflate it, wrap it in cling warp and refrigerate it for at
least one hour or up to 24 hours.
6) When ready to make the cookies, take the
dough out and lightly roll it out into an approximately 6” square. If the dough
feels sticky, scatter a little sugar on it.
7) Cut the dough
into four strips of equal width. Cut each strip into 6 equal pieces, by cutting
across, making a total of 24 pieces. The measurements are not very critical.
8) Roll each piece into a pencil thick “rope”
about 5” long. Sprinkle a little sugar on your work surface and roll the “rope”
in it so the sugar crusts the dough uniformly. Form the “rope” into a loop
crossing it over before the ends.
9) Place the Torcettini on parchment lined
baking sheets, leaving 1 1/2" between them. Leave them for about 20
minutes or so till they rise/ puff up slightly. They will not
“puff up” much.
10)Bake them at 160C (325F) for about 25
minutes till they’re a nice golden brown. Remove them immediately from the parchment and cool them on a cooling rack. Store them in an air-tight container at room temperature.
