Amaretti,
pronounced "am-ah-REHT-tee", is the Italian name for
macaroons, which means little bitter things. Crisp and crunchy on the
outside and soft inside, these small, domed shaped cookies originated in Venice
Italy during the Renaissance period. Amaretti cookies are made from either
ground almonds or almond
paste, along with sugar and egg whites and can be flavored with chocolate or liqueurs. Oftentimes,
two baked cookies are sandwiched together with ganache, buttercream or
jam. Traditionally these cookies were served with a sweet dessert wine or liqueur, but they
are also wonderful with a bowl of ice cream, sherbets, or mousses.
Another favorite way to use these cookies is to finely ground them and then add
them to desserts (such as trifles) for added texture and
flavor.
For this Amaretti recipe I have used almond
paste which is a combination of equal parts ground blanched almonds and sugar,
mixed with glucose, corn syrup or egg whites. It has a pliable yet
grainy texture with a sweet
almond flavor. Sold in cans or tubes, I
recommend using the canned variety as I think it has a superior taste. As
a side note, almond
paste is also used in pastry making and confectionery to cover cakes and
pastries, as well as forming into different shapes and figures. Any
unused portions of almost paste can be wrapped in plastic and refrigerated or else
frozen.
This dough can be made in an
electric mixer or a food processor. I have given instructions for both
methods.
Preheat oven
to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) and line two baking sheets with parchment
paper. Have ready a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2 inch (1.25 cm) plain tip.
Using Food Processor:
Break the almond paste into small pieces and place in bowl of food
processor, with the sugar. Pulse until the mixture is very fine. Add
the egg whites
in three additions, processing well after each addition. Continue
processing the dough until very smooth (about one minute).
Using
Electric Mixer:
Break the almond paste into small pieces and place in bowl of electric
mixer along with the sugar. Mix on low speed until very fine. Add
the egg whites
in three additions, mixing well after each addition. Continue mixing the dough
until very smooth, about 3 to 4 minutes.
Fill
the pastry bag with the almond mixture. Pipe 1 1/2 inch (3.75 cm) mounds onto
the parchment paper, spacing about 1 inch (2.5 cm) apart. After you have filled
the baking sheet with cookie mounds, take a damp paper towel and
lightly press the top of each cookie to smooth out the surface (you want to
smooth out the tip of dough at the top of each cookie caused from piping).
Lightly sprinkle a little sugar on top of each cookie.
Bake
for 15 minutes, or until the cookies have risen, are a deep golden color and have
tiny cracks. Remove from the oven and place baking pan on a rack to cool. When
cool gently peel cookies from parchment. If they stick to parchment, turn the
paper over, take a damp paper towel and gently wipe the bottom of the parchment
paper to loosen the cookie.
Makes 3 1/2 dozen.
Adapted from Great Italian Desserts by Nick Malgieri
Note:
Make your own superfine sugar by processing regular granulated white
sugar in your food processor for about 30 seconds or until sugar is
ground very fine.
s
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