Cantuccini from Mugello

Ingredients for 70 servings:

• 500 g flour
• 400 g sugar
• 1 packet of vanilla sugar
• 1 packet of baking powder
• 5 eggs
• 300 g almonds, unpeeled

Instructions

Working time approx. 30 minutes; Total time approx. 30 minutes

Shake the flour, sugar, vanilla, baking powder, and a pinch of salt onto a large wooden board and mix with your hands. Form a ring (like a wall) and add four eggs to the center. Mix with a fork, breaking up the eggs first and then gradually adding more of the flour mixture. This means the egg mixture in the center thickens until everything is mixed together. (I found this method brilliant because you don’t need any tools other than a fork, and it doesn’t make a mess.) Now comes the hardest part: knead by hand until the dough does the finger test. This means you can lightly press your finger into the dough. When the dent comes out again, it’s finished kneading. Now shape the dough into a sheet and pour the almonds onto it. Fold in from the edges to enclose the almonds, and knead briefly again to ensure the almonds are evenly distributed. Cut the lump into six pieces. Dust the work surface well with flour. Form each piece into a sausage (approx. 3cm in diameter and as long as the baking tray). Place baking paper on the baking tray and place three sausages on the tray, well spaced apart (a normal tray is only big enough for three sausages). Mix the yolk of the last egg with water (I put it in a cup and add about 4-5 tablespoons of water) and brush the sausages with it. Bake at 180 degrees celsius for about 25 minutes until golden brown. Take them out, wait until you can handle them, then cut them into 1.5-2cm thick slices (it works better while they’re hot), let them cool down and then turn them out. They keep for a long time and actually get better all the time.