Sicilian Soft Almond Pastries

[Katie Meadow]

I purchased a pricey little package of sweets made by an Italian bakery in Torrretta, Sicily. The bakery is called Pasticceria Sua Maesta and the translation of the product is simply Soft Almond Classical. It's like a soft cookie but it isn't a flat cookie shape, and the ingredients are: sugar, almonds, apricot kernels, glucose syrup, invert sugar, egg white, honey, vanilla. They are quite dense, and there's a slightly bitter taste that must be from the apricot kernel. How you get an apricot kernel in the middle of winter is beyond me. And how you get the kernel out and usable in a cookie is also beyond me, but these are so good I'm ready to try.

The bakery has a website (in Italian, of course) and I believe that this little morsel belongs to a type of pastry called pepite di mandorle which appear to have a few different shapes. Does anyone have a recipe for such a cookie, or can anyone suggest a book of Italian or Sicilian foods that includes one?

[John DePaula]

I think that these may be similar to the recipe for which you are searching:

Sospiri e Désirs (Sighs and Desires)

See also:

Sicilian Pastries from Shop of Maria Grammatico

[lapin d'or]

Although I have yet to cook from it I have a copy of Sweet Sicily, The Story of an Island and Her Pastries by Victoria Granof and this has a number of almond pastry recipes in it.

I could not see any that used apricot kernals but I think they are used to add a bitter almond flavour to the marzipan.

lapin

[Abra]

I think you can just use Bitter Almond Essence or Oil. I can get it easily in stores here, since it's used a lot in Europe, but if you can't find it locally you can get it here from King Arthur.

[rickster]

My local Trader Joe's is selling bagged apricot kernels in its nuts section and they're pretty cheap - they're advertising them as "poor man's almonds". They are roasted - I don't know if that is standard or not. I used some in an amaretti recipe a few weeks ago and it seemed to turn out pretty good. Just whizzed them in a food processor like chopping any other nut.

Edited March 9, 2009 by rickster (log)

[Katie Meadow]

My local Trader Joe's is selling bagged apricot kernels in its nuts section and they're pretty cheap - they're advertising them as "poor man's almonds". They are roasted - I don't know if that is standard or not. I used some in an amaretti recipe a few weeks ago and it seemed to turn out pretty good. Just whizzed them in a food processor like chopping any other nut.

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Amazing! I'll check it out. The bitter almond oil sounds intriguing as well. Thanks to all!

[pastrygirl]

My local Trader Joe's is selling bagged apricot kernels in its nuts section and they're pretty cheap - they're advertising them as "poor man's almonds". They are roasted - I don't know if that is standard or not. I used some in an amaretti recipe a few weeks ago and it seemed to turn out pretty good. Just whizzed them in a food processor like chopping any other nut.

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I've heard that they need to be roasted to denature whatever toxins are in them. They are not recommended to be consumed raw in more than the smallest quantity.