Baci of Alassio
Sweet as their name, which in Italian means “kisses”, the Baci of Alassio are in fact made with hazelnuts and cocoa that processed together create a dough that is not too sweet and soft.
Ingredients for the dough:
375 g of unpeeled whole hazelnuts
300 g of sugar
4 egg whites
35 g of bitter cocoa powder
40 g of honey
Ingredients for the ganache:
100 g of fresh liquid cream
130 g of dark chocolate
Preparation
Start by toasting the hazelnuts in a static preheated oven, at 180 °C, for about ten minutes. Subsequently, once cooled, pour them with sugar and cocoa and blend them. Transfer the flour obtained in a large bowl. Separately, in another bowl, whisk the egg whites with an egg beater until stiff. Pour the egg whites into the powders little by little, stirring from bottom to top. Incorporate the honey, continuing to mix gently with the spatula and then transfer the mixture obtained into a sac-à-poche with a star-shaped beak.
On a baking tray, lined with baking paper, create dough tufts (you should have around fifty of them). It is important that they are even in number!
Bake your biscuits in a static preheated oven, at 180 °C, for 15-20 minutes.
In the meantime prepare the ganache: at the same, melt the chocolate in a bain-marie and in a second saucepan heat the cream until it boils. Mix the two compounds until a smooth ganache is obtained. Transfer it to a bowl by covering it with film wrap and let it to cool for 15-20 minutes.
When it is lukewarm, whisk it with the electrical beater until it is completely cool. Transfer the cream obtained inside a sac-à-poche.
Take one of the small biscuits and squeeze a small amount of cream on the flat side.
Place another biscuit on top and gently press it so that it adheres completely to the cream.
