On my way to work in Rome, I used to stop at the same café every day for my morning cappuccino. The choice was partly habit, partly location, partly a judgement of the great coffee – but the main thing tugging me back was the delicious little biscuit which the barrista would (sometimes! Brilliantly, only sometimes) nestle onto the saucer, under the curve of the cup. I later learned that these heavenly rich and crumbly little treats are called ‘lady’s kisses’ – and they certainly had me coming back for more.
Prep Time 15 Minutes
Serves 120
Cook Time 15 Minutes
Difficulty Easy
Ingredients
- Skinned hazelnuts – 100g/3.5oz
- Ground almonds – 100g/3.5oz
- Caster sugar – 65g/2.3oz
- Plain flour – 165g/5.8oz
- Salted butter – 175g softened/6.2oz
- Chocolate spread (recipe below)
- 100g dark chocolate - Olive oil Chocolate filling Melt the chocolate using a double boiler, then remove from the heat and stir in the olive oil and cocoa, mixing until smooth. It will be liquid at first, but leave it for a few hours and it will set at room temperature so you can spread it or use for connecting your kisses.
- 50ml olive oil
- you can use extra virgin, or it is delicious with flavoured oil such as Chilli or Mandarin.
- 15g cocoa
- Sea salt to taste
Method
- Grind the skinned hazelnuts in a blender and put them into a mixing bowl with the almonds, sugar and flour. (If you can’t find skinned hazelnuts toast some unskinned ones in an oven at 180oC/350oC/GM4, and whilst they are still hot rub off the skins in a kitchen towel.)
- Cut the softened butter into cubes and mix with your hands into the dry ingredients. Once it’s well mixed line a baking tray with parchment paper, take a small piece of dough and roll it into a 2cm diameter ball (a bit wider than a dime).
- Press the ball onto the baking tray to make the bottom flat; make sure you spread the balls well out on the tray as they will expand.
- Bake for 15 mins or until they start to go golden, and then cool on a rack.
- Once cool, put a dollop of the chocolate spread below and create your baci.