I have been away for long yet again. This time I do not wish to offer any excuses. It’s sheer LAZINESS. Well if I may say, the weather is also partly to be blamed for my hibernation. I am so frustrated – it is supposed to be Spring but the weather here has been absolutely unforgiving. The snowstorm that concluded yesterday dumped about 8 inches of snow. Can’t wait for sunshine! Anyways, the weekend weather is finally expected to be in 70’s and that is good enough motivation for me to get started with baking.
For this month’s “We need to Bake” Aparna choose a beautiful yeasted cookie - called the Torcettini di Saint Vincent (Sugar crusted Twisted Cookies from the Valle d’Aosta ). This recipe is originally adapted from A Baker’s Tour by Nick Malgieri.
Torcettini are smaller versions of 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. These cookies are not too sweet as there is no sugar directly added in the dough. I like recipes which do not use too much of sugar, eggs and butter. This one is just a perfect one with minimal ingredients.
They tasted similar to Palmiers. Crispy on the outside and soft on the inside,these cookies are truly addictive. No one can have just one:).
Torcettini (Torcettini di Saint Vincent (Sugar Crusted Twisted Cookies)Ingredients
- 1/2 cup warm water, about 110F
- 1 1/4 teaspoon active dry yeast (or 1 tsp instant yeast)
- 1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 teaspoon lime/ lemon zest
- 3 tablespoon unsalted butter, cold and cut into small pieces
- about 1/3 cup sugar for rolling the cookies
Instructions
Dissolve the yeast in the warm water, in a small bowl and keep aside.
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.
If making chocolate Torcetti, remove 2 tbsp all-purpose flour and add the 2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder mentioned in the recipe. Don’t add the lemon zest/ anise. Use orange zest and maybe add 1/ 2 tsp instant coffee powder with the flour.
Add the yeast-water mixture and pulse till it all comes together as a ball. Do not over process or knead. 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.
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.
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. Using a pizza wheel 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 in this part because this just makes it easier to have 24 equal sized bits of dough, as compared to pinching of bits of the dough.
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.
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. Don’t worry, they will not “puff up” much.
Bake them at 325 F for about 25 minutes till they’re a nice golden brown. Cool the cookies completely, on a rack. Store them in an air-tight container at room temperature.
http://www.thefoodielovers.com/2013/04/torcettini-di-saint-vincent-sugar-crusted-twisted-cookies/
Thanks Aparna for yet another interesting recipe. I loved it!
Bon Appétit
Nina
