The Queen of these, and the most famous, is the organic cookie named “Biscotti Baicoli”. Created in the 1700’s, the word “baicoli” is Venetian dialect for sea bass. In fact, their oval, thin, long shape is very similar to the sea bass which inhabit the lagoon. At that time, bakers supplied them to coffee shops, or they were served to house guests along with zabaglione cream, hot chocolate or tea. Still others served them with a sweet Doge’s desert wine, the Venetian Moscato dei Doge.

Today they are considered a delicate, light, yet flavorful organic cookie to be enjoyed by everyone. In fact, almost every child in Venice today knows the poem in Venetian dialect which brags of the goodness of the Baicoli and its Venetian origins.

In the lagoon sits Burano, the fisherman’s island, famous for it’s rows of brightly colored houses. From this tiny island comes the organic cookie “Bussola Buranello”, which translated, means the compass of Burano. Here too, the marine traditions date back centuries. Baked in a shape like a backwards “s” or an outline of a circle, this cookie was a typical Easter treat, kneaded at home by the women of Burano, and then brought to the baker’s for baking. On feast days, it was dipped in holy wine “vin santo”, or in local whites. Packaged, they were placed in the middle of clothes drawers in order to scent them with the delicious aroma characteristic of this cookie.

Still today, considered a genuine and nutritional organic cookie, it is enjoyed in the same manner, or served to children.

Both organic cookies are easy to prepare, with simple organic food ingredients. The recipes follow:

Biscotti Baicoli -

Organic Food Ingredients: 1 ¾ cups flour, ¼ cup melted butter (unsalted), ¼ cup sugar, 1 small glass of milk, one half ounce of yeast

Dissolve the yeast in a small amount of tepid milk in a glass, and then mix it together with ¼ cup of flour. Form a ball and leave it to rest, covered by a cloth, in a warm place until it doubles in volume (approx 30 min).

Mix together the remaining ingredients, starting with the flour and sugar, then the melted butter, and finally the tepid milk. (You may also add a bit of freshy squeezed orange juice for more flavor) Add the leavened dough and knead all together.

Leave the dough in the mixing bowl and place the bowl in a larger bowl of boiling hot water in the oven (turned off), for at least one hour.

Divide the dough in roughly 6 long, oval shapes, each roughly 3 inches in width. Cook in the oven for approx 10 minutes at 300°, and then increase the temperature to 430° until completely cooked (approx 1 hour). Remove from the oven and let it completely cool. Then thinly slice the 6 oval shapes into organic cookies, and put them back in the oven to “toast” for approx 20 min at 120° – 175°.

Dip in hot tea, coffee, or hot chocolate. Or serve with zabaglione cream or a sweet desert wine.

Bussola Buranello -

Organic Food Ingredients: 6 egg yolks, 1 cup butter softened at room temperature, 1 cup sugar, 2 cups flour, a dash of extract (choosed between, vanilla, lemon or anise, the island tradition), a dash of salt.

On a kitchen workspace, form a volcano shape with the flour, and in the middle create a crater where you add the softened butter (not melted).

In a bowl, lightly beat the eggs with the sugar. Then add this to the butter /flour mixture, and quickly mix /knead with your hands.

Take the dough and create the desired cookie shapes (outline of a circle or backwards “s”) and cook in the oven at 350° until done.

Modern versions add dark chocolate chips, raisins, or substitute a bit of the white flour with coconut flour.

Serve these organic treats at home along with your usual array of organic foods or try them on your friends at your next gathering. Bring to your table a culinary, organic, pastry delight which is centuries old, yet enjoyed every day by Venetians and tourists alike.

In the 17th century, poor households had their daughters work for the more affluent. The girls were allowed to visit their families one Sunday a month. As a special treat, and to show off their cake baking skills, the girls would bake a simnel cake. This started the tradition of ìmothering dayî but soon the cake became equated with Easter. The word simnel is derived from the Latin ìsimilaî, the type of fine flour used in baking. 

Following below is a delicious recipe for simnel cake so you too can show off your cake baking abilities! 

Ingredients: 

Marzipan (homemade or purchased 450g block)
450g fine ground almonds 
2 cups icing sugar 
3 tablespoons of honey, golden syrup, light corn syrup, or maple syrup
1 teaspoon of lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon of vanilla
3 tablespoons of rum, brandy or other liqueur

Method:

Combine the almond meal with the icing sugar. Add the syrup, lemon juice, vanilla, liqueur, then mix the cake ingredients well. Add more icing sugar until the mixture holds together. Dust a cutting board with icing sugar and put the marzipan onto the board. Knead the mixture until it has the consistency of a stiff pie crust. Cut into three pieces. Take two of the pieces and, one at a time, roll them out into a circle. Place a 7 inch (18 cm) cake pan on top of each circle and cut around the bottom of the pan. Take the last section and divide it into 11 pieces, rolling each into ball (each ball represents one of the disciples, minus Judas). Use the off-cuts to create another ball and place it in the centre to represent Christ. 

Baking your Simnel Cake: 

Preheat the oven to 140 degrees Celsius, (275 degrees Fahrenheit, or gas mark 1).

Ingredients:

175g (6 oz.) butter softened
175g (6 oz.) soft brown sugar
3 eggs beaten
225g (8 oz.) flour
75g (3oz.) glace cherries cut into fourths
450g (1 pound) of raisins, currants or mixed dried fruit
1 tablespoon of lemon zest chopped (take a vegetable peeler and scrape just the yellow part of the peel from the fruit)
1 tablespoon of orange zest chopped (obtain the same way as the lemon zest)
1/2 teaspoon each of cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg
1 pinch of salt
marmalade warmed

Method: 

Place the cake pan on top of a piece of greaseproof or parchment baking paper. Trace around the bottom of the pan and cut out the circle. Cut a strip of paper long enough to go around the inside edge of the pan and just to the top of the rim. Butter the bottom and sides of the cake pan. Place the paper on the bottom and around the sides of the pan.

In a mixing bowl, cream together the softened butter and brown sugar using an electric whisk or a wooden spoon. Add a beaten egg with 1 teaspoon of flour and mix well. Repeat this two more times. Gradually add in the flour (8oz.) a little at a time. Fold in the dried mixed fruit, cherries, spices, salt and citrus zest mixing thoroughly. Add a little milk if the mixture is too thick. 

Put half of the cake batter into the cake pan and level this layer. Cover the batter with one of the marzipan circles. Add the remaining cake batter on top of the marzipan and level this layer. Bake the cake for 2 hours. If the cake browns too quickly, use a piece of aluminium foil to cover the cake and finish baking. Let the cake cool in the pan. 

Brush the cooled cake with warmed marmalade. Place the second marzipan circle on top. Brush the marzipan with warmed marmalade. Place each marzipan ball on top of the cake close to the edge. Put the cake into a hot oven until the tops of the balls and marzipan circle begins to brown.

The simnel cake traditionally decorated with fresh flowers, is decorated today with sugar flowers, chicks or rabbits. A ribbon around the outside of the cake completes the decorating process.