Pizzelle

The grids and flowers on the baked surface are not patterns drawn on afterward. They are the marks left when a soft batter is pressed between two iron plates, spread out, and baked. Pizzelle are an Italian sweet made by baking a batter of flour, eggs, sugar, fat, and other ingredients in an iron mold. In Abruzzo they are also called ferratelle, neole, or nevole, and similar sweets are found in Molise and Lazio. Depending on the combination of mold and batter, they range from thin wafers that shatter to thick, soft ones.

Iron molds engraved with family marks, and wedding customs

Iron molds in Abruzzo have been engraved with family crests, the owner’s initials, and the year they were made. Such tools, common from the late 18th to the early 19th century, also became part of a bride’s dowry. There was a custom of serving the sweets to people who came to see the dowry, and in parts of Molise they were handed down as a wedding sweet. With molds engraved with family marks, celebratory sweets were baked one at a time, over and over.

Today they are made year-round and appear at religious events and family celebrations. In Italian American households, they are also popular as Christmas cookies. They are also listed among the traditional foods of the Lazio region, and their names and methods continue beyond the borders of Abruzzo.

Pizzelle with a flower pattern. A photo presenting immigrant culture in the United States. Photo: PEO ACWA, 2019-01-31 (from the image’s capture data), location unknown. Original image / CC BY 2.0. Reduced-size version from the source; no additional processing.

Molds turned over a flame, and electric molds

When a small amount of batter is placed in the center of the heated mold and the mold is closed, the batter is pressed from above and below, spreads out, and bakes against the raised and recessed surface. The batter fills the grooves of the mold, leaving grids, diamonds, flowers, and other patterns on the baked surface.

Traditional iron molds have long handles; they are held over the flame of a hearth or stove and turned over partway through to bake both sides. Electric models are also used today. The thickness and texture vary with the size of the mold, the depth of the grooves, and the amount of batter used. Shapes include not only circles but also squares, fans, hearts, and more.

Once baked, they are removed from the mold and cooled. Those meant to be thin and crisp are laid out on a rack to let the steam escape and stacked once they have cooled. In some methods, batter that has spilled over the edges is trimmed with scissors, or the wafers are finished with a dusting of powdered sugar.

In Cese, in the Marsica area, people remember grandmothers reciting an Ave Maria for each side baked to time the baking. Watching the heat as they turned the mold, each household used the length of a familiar prayer as a guide to baking time. In this area’s records, the name ferratelle is also linked to iron cooking tools.

Ferratelle from Atessa. The grid pattern of the iron mold remains on each one. Photo: Controllore Fiscale, 2008-09-29, location unknown. Original image / Public domain (rights waived by the photographer). Full size; no additional processing.

How eggs and fat are used changes softness and aroma

There is more than one way to make the batter. In one formula, eggs, sugar, salt, and vanilla are mixed, then flour and baking powder, followed by melted butter, are added in turn, and the soft, thick batter is dropped onto the hot mold. The result is close to a thin cookie with the flavor of butter and eggs.

In Abruzzo there is also a method in which the egg whites are whipped first, then the yolks, olive oil, sugar, and lemon zest are added before the flour is folded in. Whether the fat is butter or olive oil, and how the eggs are handled, also create a range of aromas and degrees of softness in the batter.

For ferratelle in Molise, there is a method that combines flour, eggs, sugar, passito, and anise. Although the iron mold is a shared tool, the ingredients vary by household and place.

Anise aroma, and versions filled with jam or cream

The best-known flavoring is anise, used as seeds or extract. They may also be flavored with lemon zest, vanilla, rum, and the like. Biting into the thin, ridged wafer releases the aroma along with the flavor of the eggs and fat.

Besides being eaten singly as they are, some are made by sandwiching grape jam, cream, chocolate, honey, or the like between two wafers. Soft ones can also be rolled up, and thin, crisp ones are served with gelato.

Pizzelle filled with cream and rolled up, served with orange and almonds. Photo: Hungry Dudes, 2011-04-28, location unknown. Original image / CC BY 2.0. Color adjustment and removal of small blemishes were done by the Commons publisher. Reduced-size version from the source; no additional processing for this article.

Nevole from Ortona and coperchiola from Cese

Some nevole from Ortona have mosto cotto added to the batter. They have the flavor of cooked-down grape juice and are rolled into cones. Names sometimes overlap from place to place, but each version has its own characteristic formula and shape.

Coperchiola from Cese is a sweet in which chopped walnuts and almonds are bound with warm honey and sandwiched in small amounts between two wafers. The name likens the top wafer to a lid, or coperchio. If the same filling alone is spread thinly on a board and cut, it becomes a different Christmas sweet, copeta. Even with the same nuts and honey, the name and shape change depending on whether the filling is sandwiched between wafers baked in an iron mold or set on its own.

Glossary