Authentic Italian Baking Day

I spent the majority of my day today in the company of my wonderful Nonna (grandmother) and my lovely mom. I have been wanting to learn some of our family recipes so I am able to pass down our traditions. My mom's side of the family is from a tiny town in the region of Abruzzo in Italy. Abruzzo is famous for bocconotti, chocolate cream tartlets. Whenever our family goes or comes to visit from that side of the family, they always bring bocconotti and my immediate family goes nuts for them! Nonna makes them around the holidays each year (not because they are a Christmas treat, but because they are so much work!).

I learned the recipe and translated our handwritten Italian recipe to English.

I can't completely describe what they taste like. The exterior is a dense, lemon cookie-like crust that isn't overly crunchy and is still somewhat soft at the same time. The interior is a chocolate mixture that is so satisfyingly delicious that you cannot help but want more.

The Final Products! Yum!

While we baked the bocconotti, we whipped up some pizzelle. I've made these before from recipes I've pulled from the internet but they are no comparison to Nonna's recipe. It was so simple, yet so different. We kept some plain and rolled some into little cannoli-like rolls filled with extra creme from the bocconotti. The way Nonna makes them actually keeps the pizzelle much softer than your run of the mill variety from a bakery or supermarket. The typical version are crunchy, sweet crackers while these are more like super thin waffles or crepes.

I have been running a variety of changes to make like using the pizzelle rolls to make cannolis (which I make often). I also have been thinking about a way to make reversed bocconotti (chocolate crust with a lemon/vanilla cream).
Anyway, I had to blog about this fun experience today because I had a ball!

Have a delicious evening!!
TheHealthyAngel