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On 13 January, Parma celebrates its patron saint, Saint Ilario, and, as in all Italian cities, there is a recipe inextricably linked to the city’s patron saint: in the case of Parma, the recipe is Scarpette di Sant’Ilario biscuits, which you can also easily prepare in a gluten free version.

Why a biscuit with this unusual shape?

History has it that Bishop Ilario from Poitiers (circa 315-369 A.D.) found himself passing through the city of Parma on a cold, snowy winter day wearing only a pair of old, worn-out shoes. Pitifully, a cobbler gave him a pair of new shoes and the next day, in his workshop, Ilario’s old shoes had turned into golden shoes. So it is that the shoe-shaped biscuits richly decorated with coloured icing want to celebrate the Saint on the anniversary of his death, and the generosity of the people from the Emilia region.

Images of the saint can be found in several monuments in the city, including a fresco in the pendentives of the cathedral dome by Correggio and a fresco inside the Church of San Giovanni by Parmigianinoboth of which you cannot miss if you visit my city.

Decorating these biscuit shoes is therefore a tradition, especially to the delight of children who do not go to school on the holiday and thus have time to engage in such a creative activity together with their parents on a somewhat unconventional festive day. To hear the story of St. Ilario in detail, I tell it to you in this episode of Santi comuni.

The only difficulty you might encounter? Finding the mould to cut the biscuits for which you will probably have to resort to some specialised shops in Parma, such as Dalla A allo Zuccheroin the heart of the city to tempt us with everything you need to have fun with sweets.

Naturally, given the abundant use of sugar for decoration, the Scarpette di Sant’Ilario are not very suitable for habitual consumption, especially for those with diabetes: so be careful not to get carried away either by the decorations (which is why I have not been able to tell you the carbohydrate value of the decorated biscuits because it can vary very significantly depending on the decoration made), or by the consumption of these little gems which are a real temptation!

Biscotti a forma di scarpette di sant'Ilario

Scarpette di Sant’Ilario biscuits

carbohydrates of the shortbread 67g per 100 g of baked biscuits

Ingredients

  • 250g gluten free flour mix for bread, brand BiAglut**
  • 250g brown rice flour*
  • 200g softened butter
  • 170g sugar
  • 3 eggs
  • 8g baking powder*
  • grated lemon rind
  • 1 pinch of salt 

Ingredients for the hard icing

  • 150g icing sugar*
  • 25g pasteurised egg white
  • food colours* 

Ingredients for the soft icing

  • 140g icing sugar*
  • 25g pasteurised egg white
  • food colours*

**Ingredients specific for celiacs

*Ingredients whose labels must read “gluten-free” (or, in Italy, present on  Prontuario AIC)

Preparation

  1. Put the flour, butter, sugar, salt and eggs in a mixing bowl. Mix well, then add baking powder and grated lemon zest. Cover with a piece of cling film and leave to rest for the time needed to prepare the icing, about 10-15 minutes.
  2. Take bowls with rounded bottoms, one for each colour you wish to prepare (you can also follow my YouTube video to help you with the preparation of the icings). For the hard white icing, place 25g of pasteurised egg white in a bowl and gradually add 150g of icing sugar, stirring with a spoon so that the mixture is smooth and even. For the soft icing, repeat exactly the same procedure, adding 140g sugar.
  3. Starting with the white bases, add the necessary colours and sugar to obtain the various colours, both hard and soft.
    The hard icing will be used with a pastry bag fitted with a nozzle with a hole of about 1mm, while the soft icing will be dispensed using a teaspoon and the rounded tip of a knife.
  4. Cover all icings with cling film in contact with the surface until use.
  5. Roll out the short pastry with a rolling pin to a thickness of about 5mm, cut the biscuits into the shoe shape, place them on a baking tin covered with parchment paper and bake them in a convection oven preheated to 160°C for 10 minutes.
  6. When the biscuits are completely cooled, form the outline with one of the hard icings, white or coloured, placed in the pastry bag; cover the surface of the biscuit inside the outline using the soft icing to be spread with the help of a rounded tip of a knife so that no gaps are left. Let the icing dry for at least 15 minutes before making other decorations with a pastry bag on the soft icing to avoid colour smudging. To enjoy making other similar biscuits, also check out this recipe.

 Scarpette di sant'ilario

Version with gluten

Replace the gluten-free flour with wheat flour and mix with 2 whole eggs and 1 yolk.

 

Christmas is only a few days away, and in the air you can smell that good scent of celebrations, warmth and longing for closeness that characterises this time of year. It is the time when we think of our loved ones, get together to exchange greetings and gifts and since we believe that a sweet homemade gift is always much appreciated, why not bake these Christmas biscuits?

Enjoy not only baking them, but also wrapping them in nice paper with colourful ribbons and lace.

Let’s begin!

Christmas biscuits

51.25g carbohydrates per 100g

Ingredients

  • 100g granola*
  • 100g gluten-free bread flour mix, brand Revolution**
  • 70 g butter
  • 50g brown sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 45g milk
  • 20g oatmeal*
  • 10g cocoa
  • 8g baking powder*
  • 3g salt
  • cinnamon and ginger powder, icing sugar* for decoration

**Ingredients specific for celiacs

*Ingredients whose labels must read “gluten-free” (or, or, in Italy, present on  Prontuario AIC)

Preparation

  1. In a food processor, chop the granola somewhat coarsely, then add all the other ingredients and mix to obtain a smooth and even mixture; flavour with cinnamon and ginger powder to taste.
  2. Cover the dough with cling film and leave to rest for 30-40 minutes in the refrigerator.
  3. Roll out the dough to a thickness of about half a centimetre, cut out the biscuits with a star-shaped mould and bake them in a static oven preheated to 180°C for about 13 minutes.
  4. Dust the biscuits with icing sugar to taste. Try them dunked in milk for breakfast.

 

biscotti-di-natale-senza-glutine-ph-chiara-marando

Christmas biscuits

Version with gluten of Christmas biscuits

Replace the gluten-free flour with wheat flour.

 

 

We love preparing biscuits for the holiday season! Today we got inspired by colours, the result was some fun Christmas cookies, naturally in a gluten free version.

Take some time and play with us to create many different decorations and enjoy this video for more ideas for decorating cookies.

Or even make a beautiful Cookie house to decorate your Christmas table.

Christmas cookies

67g carbohydrates per 100g of cookie without icing

Ingredients for the shortcrust pastry

  • 250g wholemeal rice flour*
  • 250g bread flour mix for bread, brand BiAglut**
  • 200g butter
  • 150g sugar
  • 3 eggs
  • 4g baking powder*
  • 1 pinch of salt, 1 grated lemon peel

Ingredients for the hard icing

  • 150g icing sugar*
  • 25g pasteurised egg white
  • food colours as needed*

Ingredients for the soft icing

  • 140g icing sugar*
  • 25g pasteurised egg white
  • food colours as needed*

**Ingredients specific for celiacs

*Ingredients whose labels must read “gluten-free” (or, in Italy, present on  Prontuario AIC)

Preparation of Christmas cookies

  1. Place the flour, butter, sugar, salt and eggs in a mixing bowl. Mix well, then add baking powder and grated lemon zest. Cover with a piece of cling film and leave to rest for the time needed to prepare the icing, about 10-15 minutes.
  2. The icings are almost identical, but their texture changes, as they have different functions: hard icing is used to draw outlines and make decorations, while soft icing is used to fill the inner areas inside the outlines. The given proportions are used to obtain white-coloured icings; starting with the white colour, colours can be added to obtain the various nuances.
  3. It is important to remember that if the colours are liquid, a little more icing sugar may have to be added to achieve the same texture of the initial white icings.
  4. Take bowls with rounded bottoms, one for each colour you wish to prepare. For the hard white icing, place 25g of pasteurised egg white in a bowl and gradually add 150g of icing sugar, stirring with a spoon so that the mixture is smooth and even. For the soft icing, repeat exactly the same procedure, adding 140g icing sugar.
  5. Starting with the white bases, add the necessary colours and sugar to obtain the various nuances, both hard and soft.
    The hard icing will be used with a pastry bag with a tip of about 1mm, while the soft icing will be applied using a teaspoon and the rounded tip of a knife.
  6. Cover all frostings with tight clingfilm until they are used.
    Roll out the short pastry with a rolling pin to a thickness of about 5mm, cut the biscuits into the desired shapes, place them on a baking tin covered with parchment paper and bake them in a ventilated oven preheated to 160°C for 10 minutes.
  7. When the biscuits have cooled down completely, form the outline with one of the hard icings, white or coloured; cover the surface of the biscuit inside the outline using the soft icing to be spread with the help of a round-pointed knife so that no gaps are left. Let the icing dry for at least 15 minutes before making other decorations with a pastry bag on the soft icing to avoid colour smudging.

biscotti-di-natale-senza-glutine-uno-chef-per-gaia

  1. For each biscuit, you need on average of 5g of icing, so it is important to remember to add 5g of carbohydrates per biscuit in the carbohydrate count.

biscotti-di-natale-senza-glutine-uno-chef-per-gaia

Store the biscuits in a tin or a sealed cake tin… they will stay delicious for over a week.

Version with gluten of Christmas cookies

Replace the gluten-free BiAglut flour with the same amount of your usual baking flour.

Today, Francesca Morandin gives us an idea to brighten up our day with a mouth-watering recipe that is perfect for sweetening certain moments of the day, such as breakfast, afternoon tea or coffee and, why not, even a tasty after-dinner drink: Coffee biscuits.

To enrich your table with more sweet temptations, try one of my favourite biscuits: gluten free Canestrelli.

Coffee biscuits

51.28g carbohydrates per 100g

Ingredients

  • 250g buckwheat flour mix, brand Petra 5**
  • 120g butter
  • 100g sugar
  • 50g hazelnut flour* (or hazelnuts to be blended into flour)
  • 40g milk chocolate with no added sugar*
  • 10g sprouted buckwheat flour* (optional)
  • 10g ground coffee
  • 1 cup of espresso coffee
  • 1 egg yolk
  • a pinch of salt

**Ingredients specific for celiacs

*Ingredients whose labels must read “gluten-free” (or, in Italy, present on  Prontuario AIC)

Preparation

  1. In a planetary mixer, whip the butter left at room temperature with the sugar. When the mixture is well whipped, add the ground coffee, egg yolk and espresso; mix everything together and only at the end add the buckwheat, hazelnut flour and sprouted buckwheat flour. Mix well and place in the refrigerator for a few hours.
  2. Roll out the shortcrust pastry between two sheets of baking paper and cut the biscuits into the desired shape or, as in this case, form a ball and place it in a paper cup.
  3. Bake in a static oven preheated to 175°C for 20 minutes.
    Meanwhile, melt the milk chocolate in a bain-marie, or in the microwave, and decorate just the tip of the biscuits.

biscottini-al-caffe-senza-glutine-uno-chef-per-gaia

Version with gluten of Coffee biscuits

Replace the Petra 5 flour with 280g cake wheat flour.