Ricciarelli di Siena

I read something that said "Ricciarelli di Siena" were originally made in convents or apothecaries, the pharmacies of the past, using spices and aromas essential for their flavouring and storing. And it goes on to say that this tradition is visible today in ancient spice shops near Piazza del Campo, where there are preserved frescoed ceilings with gold lettering praising Ricciarelli, Panforte and other local sweets being made in these shops. Sienese playwright Parige has a Sienese character in his novels "Ricciardetto della Gherardesca", where the name Ricciarelli is said to come from, who, returning to Volterra from the Crusades brought Arab sweets that were curled in the shape of the Sultan’s slippers. Whether you believe any of this guff, all I know is that in the streets of Siena you will find bakers selling fresh Ricciarelli. And there is no better place to buy these from than Nannini. You can buy Ricciarelli fresh or boxed/packaged. The fresh ones need to be eaten very soon after purchase, the boxed ones last slightly longer. They are sweets made with almonds, sugar and egg white and real ones supposedly have orange peel. I have not found anyone yet who does not like them. This recipe here seems to be fairly widespread and was tested yesterday. The taste was bang on and they were very quickly consumed by all that sampled them. But as only excellence is good enough here, I need to further work-on getting them to have more cracks on the top and be slightly less chewy on the edges. Neither of which spoil their delight but I am working on capturing that Nannini experience to the letter.

The two pictures show my prototypes from yesterday (with the required grappa accompaniment in the background) and the required production version along with the appropriate cracking (but no grappa).