Sicilian buccellato is probably the Christmas dessert par excellence on the island. There is no pandoro or panettone that holds. After all, even just taking a quick look at its ingredients would be enough to understand how they are typical of the Christmas holidays. If the long string of dried fruit isn't enough for you, how about honey, raisins and candied fruit?
But we will return to these later. What interests us now is to introduce the history and original recipe of buccellato , a dessert that you cannot fail to try at least once in your life and which - together with cannoli , cassata and almond paste - forms an integral part of the best Sicilian pastry .
Read: 6 typical Sicilian Christmas sweets that cannot be missing in Christmas baskets
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History of Sicilian buccellato
Where is buccellato born ? You will be amazed to know that its name is of Latin origin: " buccellatum " means "bread to be transformed into buccelli", or in bites. The bread to which the word refers is the one that the emperors distributed to the people whose name, buccella, it certainly derives from the buccina, the curved trumpet used by the Roman legionaries.
The history of Sicilian buccellato begins with a single dough: filling and shortcrust pastry mixed together to give life to a rich but different dessert from what we are used to eating today. The presence of candied fruit and citrus peel suggests the possible Arab origin of the dessert. This detail would place its origin in the Arab-Norman period. The wealth of dried fruit in the dough would move the era of belonging to the Middle Ages. For the first official mention, however, we have to wait for an ancient document dated 1485 .
One thing is certain, in our peninsula it is prepared in different regions - the Molise and Ligurian buccellato are among the most famous - and in many variations. What we are dealing with here is a typical product of the province of Palermo and appears in the list of traditional Italian agri-food products (PAT) kept at the Ministry of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policies (MIPAAF).
There is the popular version of buccellato in biscuits . To understand what buccellati means, just think of small morsels consisting of a pastry shell and a filling of dried fruit.
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The ingredients of Sicilian buccellato
Before moving on to grandma 's original recipe, the ingredients of buccellato deserve a mention. This is because you will hardly find a recipe that includes the same and in the same proportions. The variants, as we have said, do not vary only from region to region, but also from province to province. Even from family to family, we might venture. Wanting to summarize the typical ingredients of buccellato, we could summarize them as follows:
- Dried figs
- Candied fruit (pumpkin, citron and candied orange)
- Pieces of chocolate
- Raisins
- Dried fruit
- Spices such as cinnamon and nutmeg
- Honey
Sicilian buccellato, original recipe
Ingredients
For the base
- 600 g of 00 flour
- 180 g sugar
- 200 g of lard (or butter)
- 2 eggs
- 100-120ml of milk
- 1 pinch of salt
- 1 tablespoon of honey
For the stuffing
- 500 g of dried figs
- 50 g of almonds
- 50 g of pistachios
- 50 g of hazelnuts
- 50 g of raisins
- 50 g of dark chocolate chips
- 50 g candied pumpkin (to decorate)
- Zest of 1 orange
- Zest of 1 mandarin
- 1 tablespoon of honey
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon powder
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ½ glass of Marsala
Preparation
Basic
- Mix the flour, sugar and a pinch of salt. Add the eggs, honey and lard.
- Then add the milk a little at a time, just enough to bind everything and obtain a firm and homogeneous mixture.
- Create a ball, wrap it in transparent film and let it rest in the fridge for 30-60 minutes.
Stuffed
- Now prepare the filling: chop the dried figs and put them in a saucepan together with the Marsala wine. Let them rest inside to revive them.
- Chop all the dried fruit. Soak the raisins in warm water for at least 20 minutes.
- Grate the citrus zest. Combine all the ingredients for the filling - except the honey - in a bowl and mix well.
Cake assembly
- Take the dough out of the fridge and roll it out into a long thin strip. Pour the filling into the centre.
- Roll up the dough to form a tube and rejoin the ends to obtain a ring.
- Make cuts on the surface to obtain uniform cracks. Transfer the buccellato to the oven and cook it at 180°C for about 40 minutes or until golden brown.
- Melt the honey kept aside and brush it over the cake. Decorate with candied cherries as desired.
Read: Christmas in Sicily, the traditional Sicilian recipes to know absolutely
Sicilian buccellato, sale
In addition to artisan workshops and pastry shops, buccellato is also on sale online. In Sicily, during the Christmas period, it can also be purchased at the best-stocked supermarkets and in some cases in the bakeries.
Calories of buccellato
We come to the sore point, the one concerning the calories of the buccellato . Which, considering the ingredients with which it is prepared and the fact that it is one of the quintessential Christmas sweets, does not mean anything good. Seriously, 100 grams of buccellato contain about 440 kcal . Not bad, remember that eating it once in a while cannot cause sudden weight gain. Enjoy it lightly, but don't overdo it!
How much does a buccellato weigh?
The weight of the buccellato depends on its format. It is proposed in several with different weights. It is possible to buy a buccellato weighing 500 gr, 1 kg, 1.5 kg or even 2 kg. Choose it according to the number of people who will have to eat it (or the level of your sweet tooth...).
Variations of buccellato
We have repeatedly specified how numerous its variants are. A couple of the ones to know about are the following.
Buccellato with Thermomix
Preparing buccellato with the Thermomix is child's play. If you have it, making it will be much easier. Follow the directions for preparing both the filling and the shortcrust pastry and proceed as above.
B u ccellato without eggs
To compensate for their absence in the pasta, a mix of water and lard (or butter, or seed oil in a smaller proportion than the previous ones) is used. You will have to obtain a firm and smooth compound, easily modelable. Nothing too difficult.
Simple buccellato
A smart way to enjoy it is to make the simple recipe for buccellato . Get some ready-made shortcrust pastry and the ingredients for the filling (generally dried and dehydrated fruit such as dried figs and raisins and some chocolate, which is always good). Blend them and stuff the rolled out dough continuing as above.
