Thursday 21 st January at 18.00 hrs Rome time gluten free Almond biscuits and the best Pannacotta

Like many Sicilian sweets, the biscuit  recipe starts with almonds, which are rich in moisture and essential oils.if you can, make your own ground almonds. This is easily done by reducing blanched almonds to a fine flour in a food processor.

These are as much marzipan sweets as they are biscuit and are iconic in Sicily .Biscotti alle mandorle, or almond cookies, are one of the simplest and most delicious cookie recipes you could ask for, requiring only 4 ingredients and an overnight refrigeration, so you can make the dough one day and bake the next. And because they only use almond flour, they are gluten-free friendly!

Panna cotta is a traditional Italian dessert which literally translates as ‘cooked cream’. Hailing from south of Italy, it is a simple mixture of sweetened cream and gelatine. A good panna cotta is one that is only just set but can still stand unsupported once out of the mould. Prepared ahead it is an ideal and hassle free dessert. Tasty too.