Invented in the nineteenth century in Tortona, Piedmont region, these cookies initially were based on hazelnuts, a very popular fruit in the area.
Later, Stefano Vercesi reworked the recipe by replacing the hazelnuts with almonds, and it is this variant that has come down to us.
The particular name of these sweet morsels derives from their shape: according to some, the kiss would be the one that the two round biscuits exchange to remain united; according to others, however, the shape would resemble that of the lips of a girl intent on popping a kiss.
Let's fasten the apron and let's get started!
INGREDIENTS for about 65 cookies:
For the dough:
150 g peeled almonds
150 g flour 00
200 g white granulated sugar
1 medium egg white
150g cold butter
1 pinch of salt
For the filling:
130 g 50% dark chocolate (I do not recommend higher percentages of cocoa, because otherwise the sweets will be a bit too bitter)
PROCEEDINGS
First, chop the almonds in a blender and set aside the fine crumb so obtained:
In the bowl of a planetary mixer, transfer the cold butter cut into small pieces and the sugar and mount a leaf hook:
Knead at medium speed until the two ingredients are well combined:
If you do not have a planetary mixer, you can carry out this first operation using a spoon or a fork, crushing the butter well in the sugar and mixing thoroughly.
Add the fine crumbled almonds and continue to knead with the leaf hook (or with your hands):
Salt the egg white, add it to the mixture and knead again:
Finally, combine the sifted flour with a sieve, mix it with the dough and then conclude the preparation of the mixture by kneading it by hand on a well floured pastry board:
You don't need to handle it too much: just knead it the minimum necessary to form a smooth, soft and compact dough, which will be wrapped in cling film and let to rest in the fridge for at least 3 hours, preferably overnight:
After this time, recover the dough from the fridge, divide it into many balls of about 4 - 5 g each, shaping them with hands, and put them, well-spaced from each other (about 2 cm), on a baking sheet covered with greaseproof paper:
With these quantities, we will get around 130 balls.
Preheat the oven to 200 ° C in STATIC mode: once the temperature is reached, lower it to 175 ° C and cook the balls for 13 minutes, using the intermediate shelf of the oven, baking one pan at a time.
Do not use the other shelves of the oven, because different heights are exposed to different amounts of heat, therefore, to obtain a good result, you should adjust the cooking time and temperature each time.
During cooking, you will see the balls flatten slightly, turning into domes; do not worry if at the end of 13 minutes they have not colored too much: they must remain almost white, with just a slight hint of gilding.
If during cooking, the balls were to flatten too much, like this:
there could be two causes:
1) the oven has not been preheated correctly (in this case, the subsequent batches will be much better)
or
2) you exaggerated with sugar, adding more than what is indicated in the list of ingredients
In any case, do not despair: perhaps you will not get some "classic" Lady's kisses, but you will still have delicious sweet wafers, to be enjoyed alone or accompanied by creams or jams!
The correct result which allows to assemble the Lady's kisses is this one:
Remove the domes from the oven and leave them in the pan without touching them, at least until they have cooled and hardened.
At this point, let's turn half of them upside down, trying to match the most similar domes together:
Melt the chocolate in a bain-marie a little at a time, otherwise it will have time to harden before we can use it all:
With the help of a spoon, a sac-à-poche or a syringe, distribute a little melted chocolate on each "turned" dome; the amount of chocolate to use depends on the size of the domes: do not be sparing, but do not overdo it: remember that the chocolate must be visible, but without dripping from the biscuit!
Cover each dome with the corresponding half and let the chocolate filling completely solidify.
If some spiteful biscuit just doesn't want to stay still in position, we can help ourselves with some pieces of toothpick, in this way:
Have a nice tasting!
We can keep Lady's kisses at room temperature, in a container closed with a lid, for a week, before the dough inevitably begins to harden a little.
If you want to download the card of this recipe, click on the link below:
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