{"product_id":"lunardi-cantucci-mit-mandeln","title":"Almond Cantucci","description":"\u003ch2\u003eCantucci with Almonds. Cantucci Toscani IGP from Quarrata, crumbly instead of rock-hard.\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCantucci Toscani IGP with almonds\u003c\/strong\u003e are Tuscan almond biscuits from Fratelli Lunardi, baked in Quarrata with whole, unpeeled almonds. Not industrial biscuits, not a biscuit that resists when bitten, none that needs a glass of sweet wine to soften.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\n\u003c\/blockquote\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCantucci Toscani IGP\u003c\/strong\u003e is the protected designation for Tuscan almond biscuits that follow a strict European set of rules. Fratelli Lunardi adheres to these rules while also utilizing the one loophole they provide. In the bakery in Quarrata, the dough strands are still steaming on the baking sheet when the knife cuts diagonally. The cut surface reveals a light, fine-pored crumb with almonds in their brown skins. When you take a piece out of the bag, you feel it between your fingers. This biscuit breaks before your teeth are even involved.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eThe brown skin of the almond makes all the difference\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe natural almond brings a subtle bitterness that contrasts with the sweetness in the dough. Peeled almonds cannot do this.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThen two things happen in the mouth. The crumb crumbles buttery and quickly, the almond pieces remain and crack between the teeth. This coexistence of melt and crunch carries the entire biscuit. Behind it lies a subtle citrus note that makes the aftertaste last longer than one would expect from an almond pastry.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe aroma from the freshly opened bag leans towards warm butter and roasted nuts, not towards marzipan. This is a good indication of the processing. Where almonds are ground, marzipan aroma develops. Where they remain whole, the roasted note persists.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAn almond content of at least one-fifth sounds like statistics, but it is immediately measurable in the mouth. Every bite contains at least half a kernel. The dough is therefore more a binder than the main act, and that is exactly how the recipe was intended.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eEach piece tapers to a point on both sides and is thickest in the middle. As a result, no two bites are the same. At the wide end, the dough predominates, at the tip, the roast, and in between sits the almond.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThose who expect the dry Prato bite will miss something here. These biscuits do not resist, they yield. If you are looking for the hard classic, the \u003ca href=\"\/en\/products\/antonio-mattei-cantuccini-la-mattonella-250g\"\u003eCantuccini Prato style\u003c\/a\u003e are the more honest choice. The butter also makes Lunardi's biscuit richer than its size suggests. Three pieces are a portion, not five.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eA quick dip in Vin Santo is enough\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFor espresso after dinner, this biscuit needs no preparation. It is soft enough to work without liquid.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eTraditionally, in Tuscany, it is dipped in a glass of Vin Santo. This also works here, but requires timing. Two seconds are enough, after which the buttery crumb dissolves and sinks to the bottom. It is not suitable as a dipping biscuit for a long soak in dessert wine. However, it pairs very well with a mild Grappa or a Moscato, as the almond tolerates brandy and residual sweetness.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThree ideas beyond the glass. Two biscuits, roughly chopped, over a scoop of vanilla ice cream, with a spoonful of warm honey. Four to five pieces crushed in a mortar make a crust for baked apricots or peach halves, ten minutes at 180 °C. And as a base for a glass dessert, 60 g of crumbled cantucci replace any ladyfinger, with significantly more roasted aroma.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c!--nl--\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eFor the darker side, the same house bakes \u003ca href=\"\/en\/products\/lunardi-cantucci-schoko\"\u003ebiscuits with coarse chocolate pieces\u003c\/a\u003e, which pair better with red wine than the almond version. Those who have both bags open quickly realize that the lighter variety is the more versatile one.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGood to know:\u003c\/strong\u003e Moisture is the only serious enemy. Close the bag carefully after opening and store it dry, never next to the stove. The refrigerator is also the wrong place because condensation draws into the crumb there. In high humidity, the pastry loses its crispness within a few days. Five minutes at 120 °C in the oven will bring it back, then let it cool completely.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eWhat the IGP seal prescribes and what it leaves open\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe protection has been in effect since January 26, 2016, and links the name to the baking region of Tuscany. The Assocantuccini consortium applied for it five years earlier in Brussels.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe regulations themselves are brief. They require an almond content of at least 20 percent, whole and in their skin. They prescribe the loaf as the baking form and the diagonal cut while hot. They say nothing about the fat content.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIt is precisely in this loophole that Lunardi operates. The brothers add butter, which the seal does not forbid and the biscuit immediately reveals. The sister varieties with chocolate or lemon do not bear the mark, by the way, because the regulation only recognizes the almond variety. Both spellings, Cantucci and Cantuccini, are protected, as long as they are baked in Tuscany.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eMassimiliano and Riccardo Lunardi run the bakery in the second generation. Their parents opened a bakery with an attached grocery store in Quarrata in 1966, offering bread, savory pastries, and some sweets. The sons turned it into a biscuit bakery, without giving up the bread oven. To this day, Schiacciata and Lievitati lie alongside the bags in their two shops in Quarrata and Bottegone.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe filoncini, the elongated dough strands, are shaped by hand. The diagonal cut is made while still hot, because a cooled loaf would break under the knife instead of dividing. The name Cantuccio is derived from the Tuscan word for this corner piece, for the cut end.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eThe Queen next to the King\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn their own home, this biscuit holds a certain rank. The brothers call the chocolate biscuit the king, the almond biscuit the queen. Their own formula hits it more precisely than any praise: the classic Cantuccio, but not a classic Cantuccio.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThis ambiguity is the whole point. Origin, almond content, and cutting technique follow the regulation, while consistency follows an independent decision.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAs a gift, the 200g works particularly well for people who know Italy and consider the hard cantuccio a given. The surprise lies not in the product, but in the first bite. The bag was designed by Florentine calligrapher Betty Soldi, and it looks like many things, but not Tuscan folklore. The same bags are found at Käfer in Munich and Selfridges in London. The contents are enough for a coffee table with four to six people, or for two people over several evenings. And for those who rarely bake, it still provides a dessert that can be assembled in five minutes.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eA Tuscan classic that knows its rules and has decided to do it differently in one specific way. Crumbly, buttery, without a glass needed alongside.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Lunardi Cantucci","offers":[{"title":"200 g","offer_id":56361562767686,"sku":"031WIL5836","price":8.5,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0998\/4960\/1350\/files\/lunardi-cantucci-mit-mandeln_cc392cdb-427a-45e9-b969-b93700f9caab.jpg?v=1776147793","url":"https:\/\/ginusslande.com\/en\/products\/lunardi-cantucci-mit-mandeln","provider":"genussland","version":"1.0","type":"link"}