My first trip to Piemonte started with a kiss ...
When I was living in Bologna, one of my friends from Piemonte invited me and my study-abroad friends to see his region. Since none of us had ever been, we eagerly accepted. After work and classes on Friday, we planned to do the three-hour drive together.
On Friday, we got a late start. After stopping for gas, making a wrong turn, and getting lost … it ended up being quite a long trip! When we finally arrived, we were all tired and a little grumpy.
Opening the door to our apartment, the mood immediately brightened when we saw the tray of cookies on the kitchen table.
Sono Baci di Dama, our friend told us. Hmm … what were these inviting-looking Baci di Dama? Delicious is what they were! In a manner of minutes, the cookies were all gone.
After a lovely first impression, I have since gotten to know Piemontese Baci di Dama very well.
Baci di Dama have been around for a while… since 1852 to be exact.
As the story goes, King Victor Emanuel II requested the creation of a new sweet treat to give as a gift to a beautiful lady. Reflecting the king’s intent to win over love, the pastry chef created a cookie resembling a Bacio, or a kiss. Depending on your perspective, these delicate cookies could be seen as either two mouths kissing or the lips of a lady about to give a kiss.
Whether or not that legend is true, it is quite certain that Baci di Dama were invented in the town of Tortona in Piedmont’s province of Alessandria. Instead of Baci di Dama, the cookies are sometimes referred to as Baci di Tortona.
The original Baci di Dama recipe used hazelnuts - plentiful in Piemonte.
Eventually, almonds began to replace hazelnuts in many versions of the cookies. If you ask any true Piemontese, however, they’ll tell you that Baci di Dama should only be made with hazelnuts. And not just any hazelnuts – but the best type – the ones from their region – nocciola piemonte I.G.P. (Didn’t know there are different types of hazelnuts? Check out this article in Italian about the 15 varieties in Italy alone!)
In addition to hazelnuts, Baci di Dama are made with butter, sugar, egg and flour. In the middle of the cookie sandwiches is a dollop of melted and hardened chocolate. The result is a crumbly, buttery, nutty and very addictive cookie (be warned!).
Today, you can find Baci di Dama all around Italy, and many spin-offs exist. One of the most famous is Liguria’s Baci di Alassio. Baci di Dama, however, still reign king and are one of the prides of the Piemonte region.
If you’re dreaming of going to Italy and finding love, head to a good panetteria piemontese. There, you’ll surely be able to get a kiss – a lovely Bacio di Dama!
Italian Vocabulary related to Baci di Dama
All Around Italia helps you learn about Italy and also learn Italian! Here are some words related to Baci di Dama. Have you heard these before?
la calotta – semi-sphere
I Baci di Dama sono composti da due calotte di biscotto unite da una striscia di cioccolato. / Baci di Dama are made of two cookie semi-spheres held together by a layer of chocolate.
nocciola – hazelnut
I Baci di Dama tradizionali si fanno con le nocciole piemontesi. / Traditional Baci di Dama are made with Piedmontese hazelnuts.
il dono – gift; synonyms in Italian include regalo or pensierino
Secondo la leggenda, i Baci di Dama furono inventati per re Vittorio Emanuele II da offrire in dono ad una bellissima donna. / According to the legend, Baci di Dama were invented for King Victor Emmanuel to offer as a gift to a beautiful woman.
Baci di Dama are surprisingly easy to make at home. They do take a little bit of time though because you have to let the dough sit in the fridge for two hours. If you use quality ingredients, the result is not very far off from what you might find in Italy.
I like this recipe from il cuore in pentola. Below is my translation from Italian to English with added measurement conversions for the United States.
Ingredients (for about 20 Baci di Dama)
1 cup of toasted hazelnuts or almonds (150 grams)
⅔ cup of butter (150 grams)
¾ cup of powdered sugar (150 grams)
1 egg
1 ½ cups all purpose flour (250 grams)
1 pinch of salt
½ cup of dark chocolate chunks or chips (120 grams)
Kitchen Tools
Food processor
Preparation
Put the toasted hazelnuts in the food processor, and blend to a fine powder. Set aside.
In the bowl of the mixer, sift in the flour and the cold butter cut into pieces. Run the mixer until the mixture is evenly crumbly. If you prefer, you can mix by hand.
Mix in the powdered sugar, hazelnuts, and pinch of salt. Add the egg, and mix until a dough forms. Remove the dough from the bowl. Work it with your hands until it becomes smooth and homogenous – like a short crust pastry dough. Wrap in plastic wrap, and put in the fridge for two hours. The dough needs to become hard.
After two hours, remove the dough from the fridge. Without further rolling or stretching, divide it into pieces that are around 1 inch and even in thickness (7-8 grams).
Roll into small balls and put onto a baking tray, evenly distanced.
Cook in a preheated oven at 325 degrees Fahrenheit (160 degrees Celsius) for about 12 minutes. The cookies should be light-colored/white on the top and slightly golden brown on the bottom. When cooled, they will harden.
For the filling, melt the chocolate in a double boiler. Once melted, let cool until it becomes a dense cream.
Put the melted chocolate into a pastry bag and pipe onto half of the cookies. If you don’t want to use a pastry bag, you can just carefully dollop the melted chocolate on with a spoon.
Use the remaining cookies to create the Baci.
Once the chocolate is hardened, you can move your Baci di Dama to a cookie tin. They will be good to eat for a few weeks.
Buon appetito!