Baci di Dama Cookies or Ladies’ Kisses: Recipes for some of the goodies mentioned in A DIFFERENT KIND OF FIRE

Baci di Dama or Ladies’ Kisses Cookies

(Italian Hazelnut Cookies)

In my book A Different Kind of Fire, Francesco d’Este uses baci di dama in his attempts to seduce Ruby Schmidt. These rich, delicate cookies are joined in a kiss by a thin layer of chocolate. They first appeared in Italy in the mid-nineteenth century in the Piemonte region. Their origin is shrouded in mystery: some believe the morsels originated in a pasticcere in Torona, but others believe the House of Savoia when Vittorio Emanuele II, then King of Sardinia, wanted a new taste sensation. Baci di Dama di Tortona hold a PAT (prodotto agroalimentare tradizionale) denomination, which means they are considered a traditional culinary product of Italy. All PAT products must be made following traditional methods and recipes, using only the finest ingredients.

I started making these cookies when I lived in Milano, Italy, having first tasted them at the Scuola di Cucina, a cooking school run by Ada Parasiliti down the street from my home on Borgospesso. Back then, though time-consuming, they were not difficult to make. I started with hazelnuts, roasted them a bit to loosen their skins, then rubbed the skins off with a dishtowel. Then came the really tedious part—chopping the nuts until they were the texture of coarse sand. Later, when I moved back to the United States, the cookies became easier with the advent of the food processor, though I used the fine grating attachment rather than the knife inside the bowl to avoid making hazelnut butter. Now, I simply order roasted hazelnut flour from King Arthur flour. [This flour is generally only available during the winter holidays, so I buy an extra pound to keep in the freezer for emergencies (Baci di Dama withdrawal symptoms)]. Now they zip together in minutes. You will get best results if you weigh your ingredients.

Assembly time: 20 minutes.     Chilling time: 2 hours     Baking time: 15 minutes     Yield: about 48 small double cookies

Store: One week in an airtight container.

INGREDIENTS:

For the cookies:

8 ounces (227 grams) roasted hazelnut flour

8 ounces (2 sticks) butter at room temperature

8 ounces (227 grams) all-purpose flour

8 ounces (227 grams) granulated sugar

1 teaspoon of vanilla

the zest of 1 lemon

Ice water, if needed

For the filling:

4 ounces (114 grams) of bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped. Use a good quality such as Ghirardelli or treat yourself to the high end stuff like Guittard, Valrhona, or Callebaut.

INSTRUCTIONS:

For the cookies:

In a large bowl, mix together the hazelnut flour, softened butter, flour, sugar, vanilla, and lemon zest.

Mix the dough until it is well-blended. Be careful if using a mixer. Use the bread-kneading blade and a low speed to avoid working too much air into the dough.

If the mixture doesn’t want to come together to a ball but remains crumbly, add ice water, 1 tsp at a time.

Shape the dough into eight logs about one inch in diameter and place on a baking sheet. Chill in refrigerator one hour.

Remove one log at a time from the refrigerator. Cut each log into one-inch segments (each weighing 7 grams or 1/4 of an ounce) and roll between your hands to form small balls. Place on a baking sheet about one inch apart and return to refrigerator for another hour.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Bake the baci for 13-15 minutes until they are set and a light golden brown. Remove from the oven and let cool completely.

For the filling:

Place the chopped chocolate in a double boiler over barely-simmering water and melt until smooth. Let cool just a few minutes until it thickens enough to spread.

Then put a small bit of melted chocolate on one cookie and sandwich another in place. Set aside until the chocolate firms up.