’mbriachelle!!

(Wine donuts?*) = best. Italian. Cookies. ever. And. SO. Easy!!!

At least in Germany, you can buy what the Americans call biscotti everywhere (we know them as cantuccini in Europe) – every supermarket has them, and indeed even Starbucks sells them. And then there are amarettini – the tiny round super light almond tasting cookies that crumble beautifully on your tongue and which make a superb raspberry Tiramisu. I don’t know if you get them in the U.S., but the fact that Word underlines the word above suggests that maybe not.

But that’s it – those are the staple Italian cookies we know in this country. And while they are both absolutely wonderful, it is a mystery to me why we have not yet started importing ’mbriachelle in industrial quantities. They are SO GOOD. And SO EASY to make.

My parents, who routinely escape to Rome once a year to forage the bookstores (my mom) and the food markets (my dad) brought back a couple of bags of cookies last year, among them these sugary loops, and they were gone within minutes. That good.

So when my roommate Allie asked me what she should bring back from Rome for me (because she is an awesome roommate) I just vaguely said cookies, not even thinking of ’mbriachelle. But when she came back and brought two bags of cookies -- chocolate cantuccini and mbriachelle -- I immediately recognized the shape of the ’mbriachelle. THOSE were the ones I wanted, and I had completely forgotten about them! We tried to limit ourselves to eating one per day in order to make them last longer. And yet, the day came – the day there was only one left.

I assume you can get them at Centro Italia in Berlin (though I didn’t actually check), but I wanted them immediately. Delayed gratification is not exactly my forte. So I googled the word on the label (’mbriachelle) and found this Italian food blog: http://lacucinadiesme.blogspot.de/2013/01/mbriachelle.html. And – google translate is your friend! – I actually got a pretty decent translation of the recipe! (My favorite line: “it ggiungere the flour until the consistency is similar to that of potato gnocchi.”)

Turns out, the secret ingredient is red wine! Who would have thought? (Well, the translation above might have been a clue to you. But I had no idea!). The ingredients sound suspicious at first – half a cup of olive oil? Seriously? And, not very surprisingly, the cookie dough does not taste all that great. Actually, it is disgusting. But, put them in oven, wait for thirty minutes, and you will be in heaven. I promise.

So, here we go (this is adapted from the original recipe above, so I take no credit):

Makes about 20 cookies, I think

½ cup of extra virigin olive oil

½ cup of red wine

½ cup of sugar

About 2 cups of flour or more (use less at first and then more until you get the right consistency)

½ teaspoon baking powder

granulated sugar for garnish.

 In a large bowl, blend together the olive oil, red wine and sugar with a whisk.

Then start adding the flower, little by little, until you get the consistency of potato gnocchi, throwing in the ½ tsp of baking powder at some point (Right… well, I just added enough flour until it wouldn’t stick to my fingers anymore. You could also mix the baking powder into the flour before you add it to the wet ingredients.)

Pour some sugar on a plate.

Form the mbriachelle – mine were about ½ inch thick – into circles. Coat the top in sugar , then place them on the tray.

 Bake at 375 F (180 C) for about 25 minutes.

(To quote Esme: The wine donuts can be stored for several days tightly sealed in a tin, but I assure you that they do not last long!)

Buon appetito!

*google translate suggested wine donuts as a translation, and I haven’t found a better one. But they are not actually donuts – they are baked, not fried. Their shape vaguely resembles that of donuts, though. And the wine part is correct.