End your New Year's Eve dinner on a sweet note with one of these traditional Italian desserts.
Torrone
Torrone is widespread throughout Italy. Some of the most famous versions come from Cremona and Alba, as well as Sardinia and Sicily, and it's easy to prepare it at home.
The ingredients are ¾ cup hazelnuts, ¾ cup almonds, ¾ cup walnuts, ¾ cup water, 1¼ cup sugar, ½ cup honey, two large egg whites, a vanilla pod, and pastry wafers. First, toast the nuts in the oven at 300°F for about 10 minutes then whip the egg whites into stiff peaks. In a saucepan, prepare the syrup with water and sugar. In another, heat the honey and vanilla, then pour over the whipped egg whites. Add the syrup and dried fruit, then mix. Line the bottom of a pound cake mold with parchment paper. Cover the bottom layer with wafers, then pour in the mixture baking mixture. Cover the surface with the rest of the wafers and let rest in the fridge for 10 hours.
Torrone
Roccocò
Struffoli, fried then honey-dipped balls of sweet dough, are among Campania's holiday desserts — the chocolate version makes for an even more delightful indulgence. In Naples, roccocò always makes an appearance on New Year's Eve. These hard donuts, like Tuscan cantucci, are often served alongside a fortified wine for dunking.
To make twenty roccocò you need 8 cups all-purpose flour, 3⅔ cups sugar, 3 cups peeled almonds, ½ cup candied fruit, 3⅓ Tbsp. honey, ½ cup warm water, 1 cup filtered orange juice, the grated rinds of an orange and a lemon, 1 Tbsp. pisto (a mixture of spices such as cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves), a pinch of baking soda, one tsp. of salt and a vanilla pod. For the garnish, a couple of eggs, 1 Tbsp. sugar and ½ cup almonds.
Preheat the oven to 300°F. Toast the almonds and let them cool. Shape the flour into a mound then dig out a well in the center. Place the sugar, chopped almonds, orange and lemon peel, pisto, candied fruit, and grated vanilla in the well. In a small saucepan slightly heat the orange juice, remove it from the heat, add the honey and baking soda and gradually incorporate it into the dough. Once it has a soft but compact consistency, cut out the cookies, shape them into donuts, and place them on a drip pan covered with baking paper. Decorate the surface of the rococo with almonds, brush with the yolk, and dust with sugar, then place in the oven and bake for 30 - 40 minutes. Remove them from the baking tray when they have cooled.
Roccocò
Pangiallo Romano
Dried fruit is the star of this Roman Pangiallo, a cake with a golden crust, that was usually prepared on the winter solstice as a positive harbinger. The ingredients are 1½ cups all-purpose flour, 2 cups raisins, 1½ cups almonds, 1½ cups walnuts, 1½ cups peeled hazelnuts, 1½ cups honey, ¾ cup pine nuts, ¾ cup candied fruit, 5 oz. chocolate, 1 Tbsp. bitter cocoa, and the grated peel of an orange. For the icing, 2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour, 2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil, a sachet of saffron, and water.
Soak the raisins for 30 minutes. In a small pot heat the honey and add the orange peel. Chop the dried fruit and chocolate and put them in a bowl with the candied fruit, squeezed raisins, and cocoa. Pour in the honey and gradually add the flour. Knead everything together, divide the mixture into four pieces and place them to rest in a switched-off oven for a couple of hours. For the icing, dissolve the saffron in a little water. Heat the flour, oil, and dissolved saffron water in a saucepan, then add enough water to form a fluid batter with which to brush the cakes. Then bake at 350°F for around 40 minutes.
Pangiallo
