Coconut ‘baci di dama’
COCONUT ‘LADIES’ KISSES’
Baci di Dama literally translate as ladies’ kisses, and that has to be because the 2 sides of these iconic Italian cookies, when joined together with chocolate, actually reseble the look of lips sending out kisses!
Direclty from Piedmont, these treats in their orginal form would have 2 almond cookies with a chocolate filling but my version in this case, has a slightly different vibe to it, and there is an actual story to the why.
A few years back, a young trainee in my kitchen was making Baci di dama for its first time and, when picking ingredients in the pantry, he mistook dried coconut for grounded almonds. The acutal dough turned out pliable enough so he went ahead and made coconut baci di dama. The first batch turned out not great but the spark was ignite and we had to work what it is now this recipe, coconut and cocoa baci di dama with a white chocolate filling.
Absolutely delicious, the perfect bite-sized treat to have with coffee after a meal if you ask me.
Chef’s tip: Serve the baci di dama strichly at room temperature but if you want to store it for longer than 3 days, please do it in sealed bags in the fridge for up to 1 week.
Serve – about 20/25 pieces // Prep time – 30 minutes // Cooking time – 18 minutes
Ingredients
75 g almond flour
75 g dried coconut, grounded into flour
125 g plain flour
25 g cocoa powder
110 g sugar
150 g unsalted butter
Dried coconut to garnish
A pinch of salt
For the filling
150 g of white chococolate, chopped
80 ml of doubel cream
Method
To make the dough simply knead together the flour, the butter, sugar, grounded almonds, cocoa powder and coconut flour (pulse the dried coconut into a processor) then add a little pinch of salt.
If you do not have a mixer you can do it by hands but be careful to do not heat the dough. As soon as the ingredients bind and the dough it’s form stop. Let it firm up a couple of minutes in the fridge if necessary then continue kneading until smooth. When ready wrap it in film and let it rest about 1 h in the frige to fully firm up.
Now, line a baking tray with parchment and with your hands grab pieces of dough and roll them into about 1 cm balls. As you form the little cookies place them on the parchment in a orderly manner keeping 2 cm distance from each other as they will grown when in the oven. Once all are ready, place the tray in the fridge for another hour to firm up again and pre-heat the oven to 150 C.
Bake for about 15 minutes, until fragrant and crispy. Let them cool completely and once cool store them with care in a airtight container or sealed bag.
To create the ganache simply bring the cream to a simmer than remove from the heat and melt the chopped white chocolate into it. Mix often as it cools. It shouldn’t but if necessary, return the ganache on low heat and carefully mix it until it the white chocolate is fully metled. White chocolate will create lumps in a matter of seconds if left alone on the stove.
When smooth, let the ganache cool and firm up into a pastry bag. Refrigerate for 10 minutes if still too runny and not pliable enough.
Place a little dollop of white chocolate ganache onto the flat side of half of the cookies than quickly top them with the other half, essentially joining them together and creating the baci di dama. Sprinkle with a little extra dried coconut and let the baci di dama firm up in the fridge for about 1h before serving at room temperature.