This recipe involves making a dough using 400g plain flour, 200g unsalted butter, 100g sugar, 2 eggs, vanilla essence, and the zest of 1 lemon. First, mix the butter with flour until it resembles breadcrumbs, then incorporate sugar, vanilla essence, lemon zest, and eggs to form a smooth dough. After lightly kneading the dough, wrap it in cling film and refrigerate for one hour. A K beater can be used for mixing if available.
Ingredients for the sweet pastry recipe
400g plain flour
200g unsalted butter
100g sugar
2 eggs
vanilla essence
zest of 1 lemon
Equipment
Large mixing bowl
K beater (if available)
Other
Cling film
Method
Start by mixing butter with flour. Rub in with your hands until it resembles fine bread crumbs. You can also use a k beater to do this.
Add sugar and mix well. Add vanilla essence, lemon zest and eggs. Combine all very well until you a have a nice smooth dough.
Knead dough lightly, wrap in cling film and put in fridge to rest for an hour.
This recipe details how to make figolli, a sweet pastry using ground almonds, sugar, and lemon zest. The process involves mixing ingredients, shaping the dough with cutters, and baking for thirty minutes. Leftover filling can be used to create almond biscuits. Decoration is recommended the following day for best results.
Ingredients for the filling – Makes about 2 figolli
250g pure ground almonds
200g sugar
1 egg, separate the white and yolk
almond essence
zest of 1/2 lemon
juice of 1/2 lemon
Equipment
Large mixing bowl
Wooden spoon
Rolling pin
Figolli/Cookie cutters
Pastry brush
Baking paper
Method
Pre heat oven gas mark 4-5
Mix together almonds and sugar. Beat well the egg white and add to almond/sugar mix. Combine well together.
Add almond essence, zest and juice of 1/2 lemon. Mix well until consistency resembles a ‘dough’. If mixture is too hard, add a tiny bit of water or some more egg whites if you have any left.
Dust your kitchen top and rolling pin with flour so when opening the dough it won’t stick.
Prepare figolli cutters and cut through the dough 2 times of the same shape.
Paste one of the shapes with the almond mixture leaving the edges empty. Brush some water on the edges and place the other shape right on top. With the tip of your fingers press down slightly along the edge of the whole shape so it won’t lift up whilst cooking.
Brush the top of your ‘figolla’ with the egg yolk.
Place in oven and bake for around 30 mins.
When ready, leave to cool completely and decorate with chocolate or icing. Best is to decorate the next day.
Left over filling – you can make some delicious almond biscuits. Roll the mixture into a ball and place on a lined oven dish. Put an almond on top (I used walnuts as that’s what I had in my cupboard) and bake on gas mark 4 for around 20mins.
