Forgot to say we have a Wee One in the house; baby Clelia is a week old and growing, while Elisabetta is doing fine. A recipe from Artusi for the occasion:
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Ingredients:
- 8 egg yolks
- 1 1/3 cups confectioners' sugar
- 2 ounces cocoa powder
- 3 1/2 tablespoons butter
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Preparation:
"The fair sex," writes Artusi, "which is justly called so, not for its delicacy of manners, but rather for the fine moral fiber that makes it undertake any action to aid or comfort humanity, has contributed considerably to making my book longer and more varied."A lady from Conegliano wrote to say she was astonished not to have found (don't laugh) mother's biscuits, which she considers to be nutritious, delicate, and just the thing to cheer a woman who has just given birth to a child.
"Put the above ingredients in a bowl and stir them with a wooden spoon for fifteen minutes, then pour the batter into four cardboard boxes that are approximately 3x2 inches. Put the boxes in a copper pan and bake them in a slow oven until the batter stiffens markedly, without forming a crust. These sweets should be eaten with a spoon, a fact that makes the term biscuits inappropriate."
