Baci di Alassio (literally kisses from Alassio) are one of the most representative sweets of the West Italian Riviera.
Made up with hazelnut and chocolate, they were invented and patented by the famous pastry chef Rinaldo Balzola, owner of the homonymous Pasticceria Balzola in Alassio, in 1919.
Mr. Balzola created these tiny sweets specifically to leave a gastronomic souvenir to tourists visiting Alassio.
In fact, in the early 1900s, Alassio began to establish itself as a tourist destination attracting visitors not only from neighboring regions, but also from England and Germany. At the outdoor tables of the Pasticceria Balzola, the international jet set took coffee and pastries and it was not difficult to meet characters such as Maksim Gorky or Gabriele D’Annunzio, and other poets, writers and movie stars.
D’Annunzio himself (one of the most famous “decadent” Italian poet) defined Baci di Alassio the “the sweets of kindness”.
From the twenties onwards, the popularity of this sweet based on hazelnuts and cocoa powder has grown so much that the recipe has obtained numerous awards, such as the certification of product De.co. (Municipality Denomination of Origin) becoming the sweet ambassador of Alassio in the world.
Today all the bakeries of Alassio (and neighboring villages) produce them and jealously guard their recipe.
Here you find mine.
The ingredients are very few, the recipe easy. Just one winning tip: choose hazelnuts, cocoa and dark chocolate of excellent quality!
Baci di Alassio – sweet kisses from Alassio
Ingredients
- 250 grams of toasted hazelnuts
- 200 grams of sugar
- 25 grams of cocoa powder
- 3 egg whites
- 25 grams of honey
For filling
- 70 grams of 70% dark chocolate
- 50 ml of fresh cream
Instructions
- Finely chop hazelnuts together with sugar.
- Pour into a bowl and add the cocoa powder and honey, stirring with a wooden spoon.
- Beat the egg whites until stiff and add them to the hazelnuts, stirring from bottom to top with a wood spoon. You have to get a firm batter but soft enough to be extruded through the pastry bag.
- Take the pastry bag, whip a star nozzle and fill it with the batter.
- On a baking sheet covered with baking paper made little roses about 1 inch in diameter slightly spaced between them.
- Bake in the oven at 180°C. for about 12 – 14 minutes.
- Be careful that they do not cook too much watching that the edges do not turn black.
- Remove from the oven and let them cool completely.
- Meanwhile prepare the filling: bring the cream to a boil for 1 minute, remove from the heat, add the dark chocolate reduced into flakes, turn, let melt completely and let cool down until room temperature.
- Make the kisses by placing a tuft of stuffing on the base of a little rose and covering on another half.
