"Mustazzoli from Erice"

The word “Mustazzola” indicate a kind of Sicilian sweet. They are really different, varying from place to place in most cases they are biscuits. Where does this word come from? Not from the Latin “mustum” (“must”) but from “mustace”, some kind of bay leaf: ours ancestors in fact used to prepare the “mustaceum”, a sort of flat bread for weddings, a cake wrapped in “mustace” leaves (it gives fragrance during the cooking time). After that the saying “loreolam in mustace quaerere” that is “to look uselessly for the bay leaves that burned in the oven”.

INGREDIENTS

For 6 Servings:
100 Gr almonds
1 kg. flour
400 Gr. Sugar
10 Gr cinnamon
1 clove
1 spoon of yeast
butter and flour for the baking-pan.

Pour the flour on a plain surface, make a “hole” in the middle and put in it the toasted minced almonds. Add the cinnamon, the minced clove and the sugar (melted in a glass of water together with the yeast). Knead until you have smooth and elastic kneading, adding (if necessary) a glass of water. Shape with the mixture some biscuits 4 Cm long and 2 cm wide. Grease with butter and flour a baking-pan. Arrange the biscuits in it and bake at high temperature. For 10/15 minutes.