'Nzuddi

🖋️ ' Nzuddi
They are typical sweets of Sicilian gastronomy made with chopped almonds and flavored with cinnamon and orange. Typical of Catania, where they are prepared on the occasion of the feast of the dead on November 2nd and also widespread in the Messina area, Nzuddi are traditional soft almond sweets flavored with cinnamon and orange peel.

✍️ Historical notes
These typical Sicilian sweets used at the end of a meal were created by the Vincentian nuns, from whom they take their name. In fact, the term nzuddo comes from the dialectal pet name for Vincenzo. The ingredients are not many and almonds are certainly one of the main ingredients of the recipe.
Symbol of fertility and good luck, the almond was known and appreciated since Ancient Egypt. During the Middle Ages it was used as a love potion or as a base for creams, body oil and cosmetics. A sweet legacy, all to be tried!

😋 Frank's 'Nzuddi
Frank prepares cookies with a slightly crunchy outside and soft inside texture. Mixing together the flour, sugar, finely chopped almonds, chopped candied orange peel, ammonia and cinnamon. He adds the egg white, taken from his fields, whipped until stiff and the two tablespoons of honey and begins to knead everything with water to be added little by little until obtaining a homogeneous mixture with a fairly firm but slightly sticky consistency.
Separate the dough into small pieces and shape them on a pastry board sprinkled with two parts sugar and one part flour, giving them a more or less circular shape, very wide and about 1 cm thick.
Transfer the 'nzuddi onto a baking tray lined with baking paper and place a whole almond in the centre of each 'nzuddo. Place everything in a preheated fan oven at 200°C and bake until the 'nzuddi are golden brown, then continue baking at 100°C for a maximum of ten minutes so that the biscuits dry out well inside as well.

I bet your mouth is already watering, what are you waiting for? 🤤