Bocconotti Abruzzesi
Small Abruzzese shortcrust tartlets filled with spiced dark chocolate and toasted almonds, known locally in dialect as buconott.
- Prep
- 40 min
- Cook
- 25 min
- Total
- 65 min
- Servings
- 6
- Difficulty
- Medium
- Calories
- 380 kcal
Equipment
- •12 fluted bocconotti moulds
- •Rolling pin
- •Small saucepan
- •Mixing bowl
- •Baking sheet
Nutrition
Per serving, approximate
- Calories
- 380 kcal
- fat
- 20 g
- carbs
- 44 g
- fibre
- 3 g
- protein
- 7 g
- calories
- 380 kcal
Instructions
- 1
Rub the cold cubed butter into the flour and 100 g sugar until sandy.
- 2
Mix in two egg yolks and lemon zest to form a smooth dough.
- 3
Wrap the pastry in cling film and chill in the fridge for thirty minutes.
- 4
Heat water and 80 g sugar in a saucepan until the sugar dissolves completely.
- 5
Stir in chopped dark chocolate until melted, glossy, and smooth.
- 6
Take off the heat and stir in ground almonds, cinnamon, and two egg yolks.
- 7
Preheat the oven to 180C (160C fan) and grease twelve small fluted tartlet moulds.
- 8
Roll two-thirds of the chilled dough thinly and line each greased mould.
- 9
Spoon the warm chocolate almond filling into each lined pastry cup.
- 10
Roll the remaining pastry thinly and press over the tops to seal completely.
- 11
Bake for twenty minutes until the pastry is pale golden and crisp.
- 12
Cool completely before turning out of moulds and dusting generously with icing sugar.
Chef's tips
Do not overfill the pastry cases as the chocolate almond mixture puffs slightly during baking. Allow the pastries to cool entirely in their moulds before turning them out to avoid crumbling the delicate crust.
Ingredient substitutions
- unsalted butter → lard (strutto), which is the traditional fat used in Abruzzese farmhouse pastry baking
- dark chocolate (70%) → bittersweet chocolate (50-60%), reducing the syrup sugar slightly to balance sweetness
Storage
Store in an airtight tin at room temperature for up to four days.
Reheating
Serve at room temperature without reheating to preserve the delicate texture of the filling.
Common mistakes to avoid
- •Rolling the pastry crust too thickly, which makes the shell heavy rather than crisp.
- •Adding egg yolks to boiling chocolate syrup, which curdles the eggs instead of thickening the filling.
- •Unmoulding the tartlets while hot, causing the crumbly shortcrust to break apart.
Serving suggestions
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