Amaretti

Some amaretti are light and snap crisply, while others keep a soft center inside a cracked shell. They are small Italian sweets baked from sugar and egg white combined with almonds or with the kernels found inside apricot stones. Unlike sablés, whose main ingredients are flour and butter, amaretti rely on egg white to bind the oils and solids contained in the ground kernels. The choice of ingredients and the way they are baked vary by region, and this also contributes to differences in texture.

Not Always Made with Almonds Alone

The singular form, amaretto, is a diminutive of the Italian amaro, “bitter.” The same word is also used for a liqueur, but that liqueur is not necessarily added to the sweets. The aroma of sweet almonds combined with bitter almonds or apricot kernels overlaps with the sweetness of the sugar. Although the name means “a little bitter,” the strength of the bitterness differs from product to product.

Apricot kernels are not the flesh of the fruit but the kernel inside the hard stone once it is cracked open; in Italian they are called armelline. The hard products of the Saronno producer Chiostro di Saronno consist of sugar, apricot kernels and egg white, while its soft products also contain almonds and lemon essential oil. By contrast, a sample recipe published by Beigua Nature Park in Sassello, Liguria, grinds 125 grams of almonds and 50 grams of apricot kernels and combines them with 225 grams of sugar, the whites of 2 eggs and other ingredients. Whether almonds or apricot kernels are used, and how they are combined, also varies by region and by product.

Regional Differences in Firmness and Wrapping

Dry amaretti break easily, while soft ones retain moisture beneath a cracked surface. Not only the recipe but also the size to which the mixture is piped and the way the heating proceeds affect this difference. In the published Sassello recipe (the proportions of ingredients and the method), the piped mixture rests for 30 minutes and is baked at 160 degrees for 20–25 minutes. Wrapping in paper with both ends twisted is also known as the local way of packaging these sweets.

The soft amaretti made in Piedmont also involve a step in which they are cooled and then wrapped individually to retain moisture. The Saronno producer Chiostro di Saronno has a product in which both hard and soft amaretti are individually wrapped and packed in a tin. Whether the sweets come in a tin or are individually wrapped does not determine whether they are hard or soft.

Modena amaretti combine a well-baked, brittle exterior with a soft center. Sweet and bitter almonds, sugar or honey, and whipped egg whites are considered the basics, but the proportions vary between artisans and households. Beyond the distinction between hard and soft, there is also a difference in texture between the outside and the center of a single amaretto.

Dry amaretti. The thin shell and interior of a broken amaretto are visible. Photo: Greg O’Beirne, 2009-01-24, location unknown. Original image / CC BY-SA 3.0. Reduced-size version from the distributor; no further processing.

Saronno’s Origin Legend and Histories Elsewhere

According to a legend preserved by Saronno’s local industry museum, in 1718 two young people made round sweets from the sugar, apricot kernels and egg white they had on hand to welcome Cardinal Benedetto Erba Odescalchi, who was visiting the church. The names of the two have not been handed down, but the story continues to be told as the origin legend of the town’s specialty.

Other places have other lineages. The amaretti of Mombaruzzo in Piedmont are associated with Francesco Moriondo, a confectioner who worked at the Savoy court in the late 18th century. Production areas also developed in places such as Valenza, and around Modena commercial production spread in 19th-century Spilamberto, with amaretti appearing in Modena’s shops by the early 20th century. Histories different from Saronno’s origin legend have thus been handed down: in Mombaruzzo, one tied to a court confectioner; in Modena, one of popularization through commercial production and shops.

Uses in Desserts, Fried Dishes and Pasta Fillings

In the Piedmontese molded dessert “bonet,” amaretti are finely crushed and mixed in, spreading their aroma and granular texture throughout. In the local fritto misto, they are sometimes coated whole in batter and fried.

In Mantua, Lombardy, crushed amaretti go into the filling of pumpkin tortelli. Alongside the sweetness of the pumpkin, the saltiness of grana-type cheese and mostarda, which adds the aroma of mustard to fruit, the amaretti contribute their sweetness and the aroma of the kernels. The filling is wrapped in thin egg pasta, and the dish is served with butter, sage and the like. This dish combining sweet and savory flavors also appears on the meatless table on Christmas Eve. Besides being eaten as they are with tea, amaretti are also used in savory dishes by crushing them and combining them with other ingredients.

Glossary