'Cicognini' gift box

Small Hatbox with an assortment of Biscottificio Mattei products

• Description

  The 'Cicognini' hatbox offers a tasting of the most famous Mattei Biscuit Factory products.
  Contains 500 g of Mixed Biscuits (Prato Biscuits and Brutti Buoni), a Medium Mantovana Cake (about 600 g) and the Small Candied Cherry Loaf (about 500 g).
  
  Prato Biscuits - also commonly known as almond cantucci or cantuccini - are part of the Tuscany confectionery tradition and are perfect after a meal paired with Vin Santo.
  Prepared with 5 simple ingredients: flour, sugar, free-range eggs, almonds and pine nuts, they do not contain preservatives, animal fats or vegetable fats.
  
  The Brutti Buoni 'Ugly but Good' are biscuits based on chopped almonds, sugar, free-range egg whites.
  They are crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside, and have always been part of the historic desserts of our biscuit factory.
  The broken almonds and the egg white rest and melt for a few hours, before meeting the other ingredients (flour and sugar), become Brutti Buoni and go in the oven.
  
  Mantovana is a soft and fragrant Butter-based cake, with fresh free-range eggs, flour and sugar, which is then covered with almond grains and icing sugar.
  It does not contain yeast.
  Just like a homemade cake, it is best enjoyed within the first days of being made and in any case within the recommended dates.
  
  The Candied Loaf is a cake made with a sheet of brioche bread topped with a thin layer of apricot jam and candied cherries; it is all rolled up and garnished with almond paste and dusted with icing sugar just before cooking.
  In fact, the sugar cooks and caramelises, forming a crunchy crust which together with the chopped almonds gives a consistency which contrasts pleasantly with the soft dough and cherries.

• History

  Since 1858 our Biscuits have been baked daily and packaged by hand one by one, in the classic Blu Mattei bag.
  
  Prepared with flour, sugar, free range eggs, almonds and pine nuts, they do not contain preservatives, animal fats or vegetable fats.
  
  The Brutti Buoni have been present in our Bottega since 1910 or there abouts ... thanks to the 'know-how' of the aunt Italia Ciampolini.
  In fact, they were created from the need to reuse 'leftover' ingredients from other recipes: broken almonds, because in Prato biscuits we only use whole almonds, and the egg white that is a 'leftover' from the Mantovana Cake recipe, which requires more yolks than egg whites.
  
  In 1875 two nuns from Mantua, on a pilgrimage to Rome, were hosted by Antonio Mattei: to thank him, they gave him the recipe for the Mantovana cake which takes the name from their city.
  
  The recipe for the Glacè Cherry Loaf was created by Ernesto Pandolfini around 1930.
  The coloured and candied cherries were white, red and green, in honour of our Italian flag.

• Sizes
  Diameter

  27 cm

  Height

  20 cm
• Notes

  Weight 3.1 kg with external shipping packaging.
  The box contains fresh pastry products, therefore we recommend you to enjoy them within 12 days from production, the date is printed on the label.