Biscotti allamarena
Biscotti allamarena are classic Neopolitan cookies I came across quite accidentally. I’ve done some reading, and the first thing I liked about them is that they are utilizing leftover cake or cookies to make a stable filling, which is them wrapped inside a thin layer of shortcrust.
The cookies are soft, and the filling stays stable and quite moist during baking. Their flavor threw me back in time, and I found them to be very delectable.
To my understanding, in recent years Italian bakeries have been making the filling from fresh sponge cake that is made especially from scratch.
As I am making a lot of cakes routinely, I never throw away the leftovers, and keep them in a ziplock back at the back of my freezer.
They last for many months, and I use them little by little as needed. Here, however, we need to use quite a lot of leftover cake. But as I mentioned before, you can even use stale cupcakes or cookies (which I don’t recommend for this recipe as we want to keep the filling moist).
In addition, the filling also includes Amarena Cherries Jam (also called “Black Cherries Jam”), which can sometimes be hard to find or expensive. Even so, you can use any berry jam you have at your disposal, and the result would be just as good.
Finally, you add in some syruped cherries, which adds more interest to the cookies. I made my own cherries in syrup at home, as it’s very easy, and don’t think they’re worth buying. However, you can skip them altogether.
I followed the original recipe posted here, however, unfortunately it wasn’t accurate and I had to make all sorts of changes and adjustments in order to get proper results.
Clearly, gluten free or vegan variations are not to be found anywhere, so I’ve done some more changes and tests in order to make sure they turn out perfect 🙂
By the way, these cookies are traditionally glazed with royal icing prior to baking (which is called “glassate”), which contributes to their unique appearance. However, you may also skip this step if you don’t feel like it.
These cookies are very easy to prepare, and as you probably understand by now, there are so many stuff you can change here, so you are more than welcome to give them a try.
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Biscotti allamarena:
Equipment: No special equipment required.
Recipe: 10 Large cookies
For the dough (Dairy or Gluten free)
| Ingredient | Amount (g / units) |
| All-Purpose Flour, or All-Purpose Gluten Free Flour Blend * | 200g |
| White Granulated Sugar | 75g |
| Salt | 1/8 tsp |
| Cold Unsalted Butter (Cubed) | 75g (for Gluten Free: use only 60g) |
| Eggs | 50g (1 Medium sized egg) (for Gluten Free: also add 20g cold water) |
* Any all-purpose gluten free flour blend that is based on white rice flour AND contains xanthan gum should work
For the dough (Vegan)
| Ingredient | Amount (g / units) |
| All-Purpose Flour | 200g |
| Cornstarch | 20g |
| White Granulated Sugar | 75g |
| Salt | 1/8 tsp |
| Cold Vegan Unsalted Butter (Cubed) | 75g |
| Soy Milk | 50g |
For the Filling:
| Ingredient | Amount (g / units) |
| Leftover Cake ** | 310g |
| Dutch Processed Cocoa Powder | 30g |
| Jam of Choice (Black Cherries Jam is used traditionally, however any berry jam works just great) | 160g |
| Egg Yolk (Optional) | 17g (of 1 Medium sized egg) |
| Syrup (that the cherries are soaked in) (Optional) | 10g |
| For topping: Cherries in Syrup (Optional) | QS |
** It’s recommended to use chocolate cake if you have any, but vanilla cake would also work. For gluten free version use gluten free cake leftover.
I made this recipe using cake leftovers, and I don’t recommend using ground cookies for this recipe.
For the glaze (Optional)– Mix thoroughly the egg white with the powdered sugar to a paste consistency.
| Ingredient | Amount (g / units) |
| Egg White | 15g |
| Powdered Sugar | 75g |
| Jam of Choice *** | 40g |
*** It’s important to note that the jam should be very smooth in consistency, without any seeds or pulp. Otherwise, it is going to clog the piping bag. If needed, pass the jam through a sieve before transferring into the piping bag.
Preparation instructions:
It is possible to make everything by hand, however, recommend using a food processor or even a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment – it makes like a lot easier.
To make the dough:
- Add the flour, sugar and salt into the food processor, or into the bowl of a standing mixer bowl, fitted with the paddle attachment and mix them together to combine.
- Add in the cubed butter and process until the mixture looks like very small peas.
- Add in the eggs and process until crumbly- when pinched between the fingers the mixture comes together to a dough.
- Take the crumbs out and knead them together to a smooth and nice to the touch dough.
- Cover the dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour. Meanwhile, prepare the filling.
To make the filling:
- Into the same food processor or the bowl of a standing mixer bowl, fitted with the paddle attachment (there’s no need to wash them in-between!) add in the leftover cake and process until fine crumbs are formed.
- Add in the cocoa powder and mix to combine.
- Add in the jam, yolk and syrup (if desired) and process to a mixture of a dough consistency, that is slightly tacky.
- Shape the filling into a log that is 32cm long, and place it on a piece of parchment paper. Roll the filling inside the paper and refrigerate to set, until ready to use.
Assembly and baking:
- Roll out your dough to a rectangle sized 35cm (l) x 16cm (w) x 5mm (thick). It is easier to do it on a parchment paper, while covering the dough with a large piece of plastic wrap.
- Place the filling on top of the dough, leaving a 1.5-2cm gap away from the edge. Place the cherries on top and ensure they are hidden inside the filling.
- Using the parchment paper, life the dough and roll it together with the filling, until it fully envelopes it (see video). The overlap of dough should be minimal; the any leftover dough should be discarded using a pizza cutter.
- Lightly flatten the seam – it helps close it and also flatten the entire log of dough.
- Turn the log of filled dough with the seam facing down.
- Evenly spread a thin coating of the royal icing, and pipe 6-7 rows of jam, lengthwise. Use a toothpick to make a chevron design as seen in the video.
- Using a very sharp knife, cut off the edges, then cut into 10 units, 3.5cm wide each.
- Arrange on a baking tray lined with parchment paper, and bake in a pre-heated oven to 175C, fan mode OFF, placing a baking rack at the center of the oven, for 20 minutes.
- Allow to cool down before serving, and store in an air tight container at a nice room temperature for up to 5 days.
Notes:
- As I’ve made royal icing for a glaze, I didn’t want to just throw away the egg yolk, so I added it into the filling. Either way, you can leave it out.
- I’ve tried making a vegan version of the royal icing glaze using soy milk and aquafaba. The version with the soy milk didn’t turn out good at all. The aquafaba version did create a white layer of coating, but it wasn’t as uniform and consistent when compared to the result obtained with using the egg-white version.
