Sicilian S biscotti
“Italian recipes with simple ingredients help keep these families cooking.”
- 250g butter
- 1 cup sugar
- 4 egg yolks
- About 1 kg self-raising flour
- 1 cup milk with 1 tsp vanilla added
Icing
- 1 kg soft icing sugar
- 3 tbsp drinking chocolate
- 1/2 tbsp cocoa
Sydney author Melina Marchetta's family is originally from Sicily, although her mother, Adele, was born in north Queensland. Renowned for her baking, Adele has a vast repertoire of Sicilian biscuits, recipes handed down through generations, which she bakes in huge batches on special occasions. Her daughter keeps the surplus in the freezer so she has some on hand all year round.
"She makes predominantly the almond biscuits and some of those you see in Italian pasticcerias," Marchetta says.
"A favourite is the S biscuit, shaped like an S and coated on top with chocolate."
Method
Preheat oven to 200C. Beat butter and sugar until creamy.
Add egg yolks one at a time until beaten well into mixture.
Add sifted self-raising flour alternately with milk until the right consistency.
Place on floured board and work gently until mixture is able to be rolled out without sticking to board.
Don't work with a firm hand like you're making bread, but very gently, as this makes the biscuit very light.
Roll to 1.5cm thickness and shape dough into S shapes. The biscuit must be about 9cm in length after it is shaped like an S.
Bake until golden brown. Allow to cool.
Icing
Mix all ingredients together and add water gradually to make an icing that is not too hard but not runny. When biscuits are cool, ice and leave to set. The icing must fully cover the biscotti.