Pignolata, also known nationally and internationally as Struffoli is a very popular dessert in Southern Italy at Christmas time. It is not hard to make but time-consuming, and the best advice I can give is collecting the family around the table in order to roll them into the small marbles.

The traditional dessert is arranged like a pine cone or pigna, from which its name, pignolata is  derived.

There is another recipe, with my mother-in-law’s doses, enough to feed an army, in the best southern tradition. On the other hand, sometimes a bit of innovation can be stimulating, since creativity is a fundamental ingredient of cooking.

I added some raspberry puree which you can make very easily with the fresh ingredients: just blend a cup of raspberries mixed with 2 tablespoons water and press through a sieve.

Prep Time: 50 minutes | Cooking Time: 40 minutes | Total Time: 90 minutes (+ 2 hours for cooling the ganache) | Yield: Makes 6  servings.

Ingredients

For the dough

• 2 ¼cups  (300 g) all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling
• 3 eggs
• A pinch of salt
• 2 tablespoons (30 ml) Anise or Sambuca liqueur
• 2 tbsp white sugar
• 1 organic lemon zest, finely grated

For finishing

• Vegetable oil (sunflower) for frying
•  14 oz (400 g) honey
• ½ cup raspberry puree

For the dark chocolate ganache

• 8 oz (250 g) semi-sweet baker’s chocolate, chopped
• ½  cup (125 ml) whipping cream
• 1 tbsp (15 g) unsalted butter

Preparation

Mix all the ingredients (except the honey and vegetable oil) in a bowl, you can use a stand mixer with a dough hook. Work the dough until it is smooth. This doesn’t take very long: about 3 minutes or 5 minutes by hand.

Let it rest in the bowl, covered with plastic wrap, for 2 hours.

Flour your work surface and turn out your dough. Then divide the dough into 10 roughly equal pieces, each about the size of a golf ball. Take 1 ball and roll it out into a rope approx. 1/2 inch thick, then with floury hands, divide this into about 20 small pieces, and roll each piece between your hands (flouring them again if this helps) to make marble-sized balls.

Fry them (deep frying) in small batches until they are golden and lay the marbles on kitchen paper. When you have finished frying, discard the oil and clean the pan with kitchen paper.

Pour the honey in the pan and, when the honey is warm, tip all of the fried dough balls into it and, using a soft spatula, turn them gently to coat them.

Get out a large plate or cake stand with a slight lip or rim and place a wet glass or a pastry ring on it. Arrange the balls in the shape of a pyramid or a wreath with a serving spoon.

Add the raspberry purée to the honey and mix for 6 to 7 minutes, until the purée is caramelised.

The small balls can then be arranged in individual dessert plates in a random shape or again, into a pyramid or wreath.

Make the Ganache.

In a saucepan, pour the cream and butter and bring to an almost boil. When the cream is simmering and starts bubbling, add the chocolate and switch off the heat. Mix with a whisk and move to the fridge. Let it stand for at least a couple of hours, then move to a piping bag with a wide star tip.

Decorate the plate piping little amounts of ganache.  Add some green candied fruit.

With the Bologna Certosino (Chartreuse cake) I want to introduce you to a typical Christmas cake of Bologna cuisine, with almonds, pine nuts, unsweetened chocolate and candied fruit. It is almost unknown out of Emilia-Romagna region: sadly, the fame of many regional cakes is clouded by industrial products, which I am not a great fan of.

This cake is called panspeziale (apothecaries’ bread) – a kind of gingerbread, since in Middle Age it was created and baked by apothecaries (speziali).

Later, the Bologna Chartreuse friars began to bake it, and it was named after them. Other scholars believe the origin of his name is due to “special bread” (pan spzièl ) in Bologna dialect.

After careful historic researches, in the summer of 2003, Bologna delegation of Academy of Italian Cuisine deposited at Bologna Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture, the official recipe of Certosino.

This one, nevertheless, is not the canonic recipe but my mum’s, since that, like in all families, there is always the addition of little personal touches.

Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cooking Time: 40 minutes | Total Time: 50 minutes | Yield: Makes 8-10 servings.

Ingredients

• ¾ cup (100 g.) whole almonds, peeled
• ¾ cup (100 g.) pine nuts
• 1 cup (100 g.) dried figs, in chunks
• ¾ cup (100 g.) raisins
• 1-cup (100 g.) walnuts
• 7 oz (g. 200) diced candied fruit mix
• 21 oz. (g. 600) whole candied fruit (orange, cherries, cedar)
• 1-tablespoon anise seeds
• 1-teaspoon cinnamon powder
• 3 tablespoons honey
• 2 cups (250 g.) pastry flour
• ½-cup (100 g.) white sugar
• ¾ cup (80 g.) unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1-teaspoon baking soda
• Tepid water

Instructions

Heat the oven, 350 F. (180 C.)

In a bowl, combine all the ingredients, adding the diced mixed fruit, except the candied ones which must be left in a whole.

Pour the mixture in a baking pan, previously covered with parchment. Use the candied fruits to decorate the top of the mix and bake it for 40 minutes at 350 F. (180 C.).

Check with a wooden toothpick if it is cooked. If the stick is still wet, add 10 minutes.

These chocolate truffles are lovely special presents to give at Christmas time: there is nothing like a homemade gift for our families and friends to express our love for them.

The combination of chocolate, rum, coffee, and Amaretti cookies is reminiscent of Turin’s Bonet. These chocolate truffles are very festive and particularly appropriate to celebrate the winter holidays. The dark chocolate can be replaced with white chocolate and you can play with different ingredients to make the most of their versatility.

These chocolate delicacies have a very “exotic” yet transalpine touch. Piedmont cuisine is deeply influenced by its proximity with France, and not only because of geography; in fact, the Savoy dynasty, which ruled Italy until the end of WW2, was blood related to the French dynasty. Not only did the Savoy family try to compete with its French cousins in building palaces that wanted to resemble Versailles, but the two languages spoken in the parliament of Turin were French and the Turin dialect, until the constitution of the Kingdom of Italy.

Prep Time: 20 minutes | Cooking Time: 10 minutes | Total Time: 2 1/4 hours (including chilling time)| Yield: Makes 20-25 truffles.

Ingredients

• 2/3 cup (250 ml.) heavy (fresh whipping) cream
• 1 tablespoon (8 gr.) instant espresso coffee
• 1 tablespoon (15 ml.) dark rum
• 12 ounces (350 gr.) Good-quality finely chopped semisweet chocolate, or chocolate chips
• 4 ounces (80 gr.) amaretti cookies

Instructions

Set a heat-safe medium bowl over a medium saucepan filled with an inch or two of water (the bottom of the bowl should not touch the water in the pot). Heat over medium heat until water is simmering, then add cream to bowl and heat until warm, about 3 minutes. Add instant coffee and chocolate and cook, stirring constantly, until melted, about 3 minutes (or up to 5 minutes if using chocolate chips).

Carefully remove the bowl from the saucepan and pour chocolate mixture into a second heatproof bowl or pie pan (preferably made from metal, since it cools more quickly). Add the rum and mix carefully. Let cool at room temperature 15 minutes, then freeze until truffle base is firm, about 1 hour.

Line a baking sheet with parchment or wax paper. Once chocolate mixture has chilled, use a teaspoon, melon baller, or small scoop to drop truffle mixture by the heaping teaspoonful onto the prepared sheet. Form truffles into balls by rolling them quickly between the palms of your hands. This process is a little messy, so wash your hands in cold water halfway through rolling, if desired. Freeze truffles on prepared sheet for 20 minutes.

Topping:

With a blender or food processor, finely chop the cookies and pour the powder in a plate.

Once chilled, roll truffles in the topping pressing slightly to adhere the ingredients to the truffles. Store finished truffles in the refrigerator up to 5 days; remove to room temperature for 15 minutes before serving.

Note: if you do not find amaretti cookies or do not like them, you can replace them with chocolate powder, shredded almonds, grated pistachios or hazelnuts.