Ricciarelli di Siena ai Mandorla DOP

Grind the blanched almonds in a food processor to a fine paste. Add the caster sugar and process briefly until fully combined into a uniform mass. The paste should hold together when pressed between the fingers.

Add the bitter almond essence and the egg whites to the almond-sugar paste. Work together until a cohesive, slightly tacky paste forms. Transfer to a covered container and refrigerate overnight. After resting, the paste will have firmed sufficiently for shaping; if it still clings to wet hands it has not rested long enough.

Heat the oven to 150 °C. Line one or two baking sheets with parchment. Spread the icing sugar in a shallow dish. With wet hands, take portions of paste and shape each into a flat oval lozenge of approximately 5–6 cm in length. Roll each piece generously in the icing sugar until fully coated on all sides — insufficient coating will cause sticking and suppress the characteristic surface crack. This is where the dish lives or dies: baking temperature must hold at 150 °C; any higher and the exterior hardens before the interior can expand, producing a crunchy biscuit in place of the required moist, yielding crumb.

Arrange the coated ricciarelli on the prepared sheets with space between each. Bake at 150 °C for 15 minutes. The surface will crack naturally as the interior expands. Remove from the oven when the cracks are clearly defined, the surface is dry and ivory-gold at the edges, and the centres retain a slight give when pressed lightly — they will firm further as they cool.

Leave on the sheet until fully cool before lifting — the bases are fragile when warm. The finished biscuit should yield to gentle pressure, the interior moist and chewy, the exterior crisp and white with icing sugar.