The town of Stresa sits on the Piedmont shores of the majestic Lago Maggiore, and Margheritine di Stresa cookies are synonymous with charming small town.
Pastry chef Piero Antonio Bolongaro prepared powder-sugar topped, daisy-shaped short crust cookies that would eventually become known as Margheritine di Stresa at his pastry shop in Stresa in 1857. The occasion? The first communion of Italy’s princess and future queen, Margherita – yes, the same Queen Margherita for whom Italy's most famous pizza style is named. Nowadays, they're popular all around the peninsula.
Caffè Bolongaro remains open today, and it's a must-visit for all food pilgrims eager to try the cookies in their place of origin. They're also available at other pastry shops around town, but this is obviously the most popular place to buy some. Here's the recipe so you can make them at home.
Margheritine di Stresa recipe
Recipe: Joëlle Néderlants
Ingredients for 60 cookies
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1⅓ cup all-purpose flour
1⅓ cup potato starch
1 cup powdered sugar
4 large egg yolks
firm 1 vanilla pod Lemon zest
salt
Method
Sift the flour and mix it with the potato starch. Chop the butter into 1⁄2″ cubes and whisk it with the powdered sugar until a cream forms. Add a pinch of salt, the zest of ½ lemon, and vanilla seeds. Crush the yolks through a sieve and mix them with butter, then incorporate the flour. Shape the mixture into a dough, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for around 1 hour.
Preheat the oven to 325°F.
Roll out the dough to a thickness of about ⅓″ and cut out the cookies using a 2″ flower pastry cutter.
Make a hole in the center of each with a small pastry cutter. Keep cut pastry scraps, knead them, and proceed until you have around 60 cookies.
Place the cookies on a baking sheet lined with baking paper and bake for 12-14 minutes—they shouldn’t become too dark.
Remove from the oven, let cool, and then sprinkle with icing sugar.