Italy is not a large country, yet each region has its own distinct traditional dishes of which the people are incredibly proud. Regional specialties are fiercely protected and traditional recipes are passed down through the generations. The traditional desserts in particular are often associated with festivities or special holidays, so as you can imagine, Christmas is a time for the country to show off the best of what the sweet kitchen offers. Several Christmas desserts or cakes, like Panettone or Pandoro, can be found in the homes of most Italian families throughout December, while others may sometimes be prevalent only in their region of origin.
Buccellato is a traditional fragrant and sweet Sicilian pastry that starts appearing in December and is usually associated with the Christmas holidays. Dried figs, spices, sweet Sicilian wine, nuts (including pistachios, walnuts and almonds) and dark chocolate are encased in a sweet shortcrust pastry, which is shaped to form a wreath and decorated with bright candied fruit decorations, making Buccellato the perfect centerpiece for any Christmas banquet.
While Panettone and Pandoro are widely manufactured industrially, Buccellato is still made by hand. Traditionally, the dish was an important gift that was baked to mark family milestones, being associated with good fortune and prosperity. The ingredients can be expensive, so it really was a gift that was made and given from the heart, and something that would have been greatly appreciated by the recipient.
Every year, my mother, who is English, would make Christmas Pudding, Christmas Cake and Fruit Mince Pies for our Christmas celebrations, and I know that is why I love Sicily’s Buccellato. Dried fruits, nuts and alcohol together are always a marriage made in heaven as far as I am concerned. Some people make a variation called “Buccellatini”, which are made using the same ingredients, but resemble a “Fig Newton” and are sometimes decorated with icing and hundreds & thousands. I remember my Calabrian Nonna making something like these during my childhood, and I endeavored to make some of these cookie-like versions of Buccellato when I had some leftover pastry and filling.
BUCCELLATO
INGREDIENTS PASTRY
- 500g plain flour
- 150g white sugar
- 100g butter
- 100g lard
- 3 eggs
- pinch salt
- 1 tablespoon honey
- Sift the flour and add to a food processor. Add all of the other ingredients and mix until a dough forms. Turn out onto a lightly floured worktop, knead gently and roll into a sausage-like shape. Cover in plastic kitchen wrap and refrigerate for at least one hour.
FILLING
- 500g dried figs, chopped
- 250g fig jam
- 100g almonds
- 100g hazelnuts
- 50g walnuts
- 50g pistachio nuts
- 250ml “Zibibbo” wine or Marsala
- 300g mixed candied peel
- 100g dark chocolate, grated
- 50g suet (or vegetable fat I.e. Crisco)
- Zest of 1 lemon -1 teaspoon cinnamon -½ teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 beaten egg (to brush on pastry) -Marmalade, glacè cherries, ground pistachio and candied orange peel to decorate
PREPERATION
- Chop the figs and candied peel into small pieces.
- Place the nuts in a food processor and pulse until finely chopped.
- Add the figs, nuts, fig jam, Zibibbo wine, candied peel, lemon zest, suet, cinnamon and ground cloves to a large saucepan. Heat over a low heat, and mix all ingredients well for about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and allow filling to cool completely.
- Mix grated chocolate through filling.
- Preheat oven to 180°C.
- Roll pastry out onto a lightly floured board and cut into a rectangle of around 35cm x 20cm. Place the filling on the center of the rectangle, shaping into a sausage shape Using a pastry brush, paint one long edge of the pastry with the beaten egg. Gently roll the pastry around the filling and carefully roll back and forth to unite the pastry around filling, forming a long log shape.
- Brush the beaten egg on one end and join the ends by gently shaping the log to form a wreath. Transfer Buccellato onto an oven tray lined with baking paper.
- Using pastry tweezers, pinch the pastry around the wreath Brush the entire Buccellato with beaten egg and bake for 30–40 minutes until golden brown.
- Heat marmalade in a saucepan over low heat, and once warm, use a pastry brush to coat the entire surface of the Buccellato.
- Decorate as desired.
