Easter Figolli

Easter Figolli

Ingredients for the dough

2lbs plain flour
15 oz sugar
15 oz margarine
Zest and Juice of a Lemon
Zest of an orange (optional)
1/2 tbs Vanilla essence
Pinch of Salt
Water to bind
4 egg yolks (save the whites for the filling)

Ingredients for the filling

1lb Almond Meal
8oz Sugar
4 egg whites (slightly beaten)
1tbs Almond Essence

Method

Mix the flours and salt together and add margarine using the rub-in method until mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add the sugar and the lemon zest (+ orange zest if you opt for it) and mix in. Add the yolks. lemon juice and vanilla essence and add water accordingly until you have a pliable dough. Do not knead or overwork the dough, it is a very delicate dough.

I find it easier to split the dough into 4 equal sized balls. The less you work this dough the better. Wrap up in cling film and chill in refrigerator. You can prepare the dough the night before or even a couple of days before, it keeps well in the fridge.

Preparing the filling

Beat the egg whites slightly for about a minute or so. Add the almond essence, almond meal and sugar and mix until you have a paste. You might need to add a dash of water or milk. Mixture should not be too dry but it shouldn't be runny either. It should be sticky to the touch but firm enough to retain its shape.

There are different variations of Almond meal which is called "Intrita" in Malta. A less expensive version can be found in Malta which is made of blanched peanuts flavored with almond essence. "Intrita pura" is self-explanatory, it is pure ground almonds. In the US it can easily be bought from Trader Joe's. It has a nice texture as it also contains the skin of the almonds which gives it an earthy organic texture. Alternatively, if you do not have a Trader Joe's close by, you can purchase Red Bob's Mill Almond Flour, which is a finer grind of almonds without skins. Otherwise if you have a Greek supermarket close by, you can easily find ground almonds by the pound. 

Making the Figolli

In Malta, figolli cutters are easily available for purchase. They are like giant cookie cutters which unfortunately cannot be easily found in the US. But fear not, you do not need these special cutters to proceed. You can draw whichever shape you like on a piece of paper, cut it out and then put it on the dough and cut around it with a knife. Traditionally, the shapes of figolli in Malta are Mermaid, Lamb, Heart, Butterfly, Guitar and "Qoffa" (wicker basket). I have scanned 4 shapes that I made today (forgive my failure at artistic drawing!) and they can be accessed here. Just print them out and you're good to go! 

Take the dough out of the refrigerator and let it set to room temperature. If you are working in a warmer environment, you might need to take out one portion of the dough at a time as if the dough gets too warm it would be impossible to work with. On a floured surface, roll out the dough. Previously I had mentioned that I split the dough in 4 equal sized balls. This is done so as to avoid overworking this delicate dough. Cut two identical shapes. Place one shape on a baking tray and brush with some milk.

I usually roll out the filling just like dough .. using confectioners/icing sugar instead of flour. Roll it out to about 1/3 of an inch (1cm) thick and cut out the shapes with the cutters. Place the filling on top of the shape, brush with some more milk and place the second shape on top, without pressing the edges. 

Bake in a 350 (Fahrenheit) preheated oven for about 30 minutes. Take them out of the oven and let them cool on the baking tray (do not try moving them to a cooling wire rack when they are still warm or else they will break). After completely cool, they will firm up and they can be transferred to a cooling rack to cool off properly.

Decorate with royal icing or chocolate or whatever takes your fancy really. Some people prefer them plain without any icing or chocolate! Traditionally, Easter Eggs are decorated with royal icing and a chocolate Easter egg wrapped in colorful foil is placed in the center of the figolla. If you are feeling particularly artsy, you can use fondant to decorate with. 

This is a recipe which I have worked on for so many years. I must have around 7-9 variations of figolli recipes. The original figolla recipe uses orange blossom water in the filling, but many people find the taste of the orange water to be too overwhelming. However, if you want to stick to the authentic version, add a dash of orange blossom water to the Almond filling.