Forti (doughnut-shaped cakes)

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[edit] Description

[edit] Ingredients

• 600 g [1 lb 3 1/2 oz] plain white flour [all purpose flour]
• 250 g [8 oz] caster [superfine] Sugar
• 250 g [8 oz] molasses
• 250 g [8 oz] almonds (unshelled)
• 100 g [3 1/2 oz] bitter cocoa
• 80 g [3 oz] butter
• a scant 0.1 l [3 1/2 fl oz] milk
• 0.1 l [3 1/2 fl oz] fortified red wine
• 2 eggs
• 1 egg white
• 1 pinch powdered yeast
• icing [confectioner's] and granulated sugar
• 1/2 tsp ginger
• 1 tbsp cloves crushed
• 1 tbsp ground cinnamon
• salt
• 1/2 tsp white pepper

[edit] Directions

1. Place the molasses, the ginger, and 50 g [1 3/4 oz] butter, in pieces, in a bowl, mix well, and add the 2 eggs, whole, and the yeast.
2. Shell the almonds, crush 200 g [7 oz] in a mortar, and add to the other ingredients.
3. Add the wine, the cocoa, sprinkled from a sieve, the cinnamon, the cloves, the pepper and the ginger to the molasses mixture.
4. Dissolve the salt in the milk and add to the mixture, then add the amount of flour necessary to form a dough that is both consistent and soft.
5. Place the dough on a pastry board and knead with the hands, return to the bowl, cover with a cloth or a plate and allow to rest for 2 days.
6. Then roll out pieces of the dough, one at a time, to form sheets.
7. Using a small 7 cm [3 in] diameter mould, cut rounds from the dough sheets, making a small hole in the centre of each round with an upside down glass, smaller than the original mould, thus forming small rings.
8. Crush the remaining almonds in a mortar and add a little icing sugar [confectioner's Sugar] and the egg white.
9. Brush this mixture on the "ciambelline" and sprinkle with the granulated sugar, crushed. Use the remaining butter to grease a baking tray [cookie sheet] and bake in the oven at 180°C [350°F / Gas 4] for 15 minutes.
10. With the help of a spatula, remove from the baking tray and arrange on one or more pastry racks.
11. The biscuits [cookies] keep for a long time in metal containers.