Take the ferry from Milazzo, and the first of the Aeolian Islands you’ll reach is Lipari. It’s also the largest and the most populated island, and the one from which a number of very good—and very symbolic—pastries come.
Spicchiteddi are soft, not too sweet, and fragrant with warm spices, black pepper, and mosto cotto, or grape-must syrup. Although everyone has a different way of forming them, they always have spirals and exactly two whole blanched almonds per cookie. It is said that they ward against the malocchio, or evil eye, like so many things in Sicily do. Could be.
The moustokouloura of Greece is a nearly identical recipe, also made with mosto cotto. Could this again be the work of Archimedes and his spirals? Or are they fashioned after the Norse triskele and brought down with the Normans in the tenth century? In whichever way they got here, they are soft, spicy, and delicious.
A few notes...
Mosto cotto is an ancient sweetener, as old as wine. Grape must—the freshly pressed juice from wine grapes, still containing some seeds and skin—is cooked down until the sugars have concentrated and the must becomes a thick syrup. If you don’t happen to have mosto cotto on hand, Middle Eastern grape syrup or Greek petimezi make a fine substitute and are readily available in international markets. If you want to try to make your own mosto cotto, the recipe is in the book!
Most Sicilians use vanillina, little 3-gram packets of artificial vanilla powder, in their baking, and so do I, especially in biscotti. It’s a flavor from my childhood, which probably has more to do with why I like it than its quality. By all means use a good-quality vanilla extract instead. Each packet of vanillina is equal to 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract.
Editor's Note: This Spicchiteddi recipe is excerpted with permission from Sicily, My Sweet: Love Notes to an Island, with Recipes for Cakes, Cookies, Puddings, and Preserves by Victoria Granof, published by Hardie Grant Publishing, October 2024.
Spicchiteddi, Spiced Mosto Cotto Cookies
28
servings15
minutes20
minutesIngredients
4-1/4 cups 4-1/4 all-purpose flour (or 3-3/4 cups 00 flour)
2 teaspoons 2 cinnamon
1 teaspoon 1 ground cloves
1 teaspoon 1 cardamom
1 teaspoon 1 black pepper
1 teaspoon 1 fine sea salt
1 teaspoon 1 baking soda
1-1/2 teaspoons 1-1/2 baking powder
1 cup 1 mosto cotto or Middle Eastern grape syrup
1/4 cup 1/4 unsalted butter, melted
1 sachet 1 vanillina (or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract)
Zest of 2 mandarins and 1 lemon (or 1 orange and 1 lemon)
1 cup 1 whole blanched almonds
Directions
- Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Sift together the flour, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, pepper, salt, baking soda, and baking powder into a large bowl.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the mosto cotto, melted butter, vanillina, and zest.
- Stir this into the flour mixture, mixing well to combine and form a dough.
- Cover and chill for 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 350˚F.
- Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and divide it into fourths.
- Divide each fourth into 12 pieces.
- Roll the pieces into ropes about 4 inches long and curl them into spirals of different sizes and shapes.
- As you work, place the spirals on the baking sheets with two finger-widths between each.
- Push the spirals together in pairs.
- When they are all formed, press 2 almonds into each cookie.
- Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until firm to the touch and nicely browned.
- Allow to cool completely, then store airtight for up to a month.
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