Give them a kiss, a chocolate-hazelnut kiss. Italian baci d’alassio taste as good as they look, spoiling chocophiles with two cookie rosettes held together by a sticky-sweet ganache.
Make the dough a day before baking the cookies.
To make the cookies, mix the sugar, nuts, cocoa powder and butter on low speed in a 5-quart mixer until smooth.
Add the honey and mix on low speed until smooth.
Add the egg whites and vanilla extract and mix on low speed until smooth.
Pipe 1-inch-by-1-inch rosettes onto greased parchment. Leave out uncovered for 24 hours to dry.
For the ganache, chop the chocolate into small pieces and place them in a bowl.
Bring the cream to a boil and pour it over the top of the chocolate. Let the mixture sit for 1 minute and then whisk it to a smooth consistency.
Place plastic wrap directly on top of the ganache and reserve it at room temperature.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Bake the cookies for 10 minutes. They should be firm when pressed. Let the cookies cool completely and then glue two cookies together with a dot of cooled ganache.
3 cups hazelnuts, ground and toasted
¼ cup cocoa powder
3 Tbsp. butter, softened
¼ cup honey
4½ egg whites
½ tsp. vanilla extract
8 oz. bittersweet chocolate
1 cup heavy cream
This article appears in Dec 1-31, 2008.