Corolli di Montalcino for Lent
To call them Lent Pastries is exaggerated, these Corolli from the Montalcino tradition are soft buns with little taste
Lent Corollo di Montalcino recipe
By Donatella Cinelli Colombini
In Montalcino, long ago, it was possible to buy these only during the 40 days Easter. Only bakeries sold them, and with their vans they delivered all over the countryside. Even further back the farmer’s wives would bake them in the wood fire, placing them in the oven after everything else had been cooked, so the temperature was much lower.
The Corolli are doughnut shaped buns to be dunked in milk at breakfast timer. They are not very sweet so I always thought that they were “repentance” quite the opposite of the tasty cakes and desserts for carnival time or the rich Ricciarelli and Panforte for Christmas time.
Corollo di Montalcino dough
INGREDIENTS FOR THE COROLLI DI MONTALCINO
A teaspoon of beer yeast, 600 g of flour, 100 g of sugar,60 g of butter, 250 g of sultanas, a pinch of aniseed, 5 g of salt, a few Zibibbo berries
PREPARATION OF THE COROLLI DI MONTALCINO
Blend the yeast with 100g of flour and a little warm water. Leave the dough to rest for about half an hour until it begins to rise. Knead it again using the rest of the flour and adding 250g of water and all the other ingredients: sugar, butter (long ago it would have been lard), sultanas, aniseed and salt. As soon as the dough is nice and smooth leave it to rest for 30 minutes until it begins to rise again.
Divide the dough into small pieces and roll them on the board so as to form a rope like shape, to be shaped in a circle. Place on a greased tin. Decorate the Corolli with the Zibibbo berries, and finally bake at 180-200°C until they take on a light brown colouring. They are to be eaten once cooled, but only within a few hours..
WHAT TO MATCH WITH THE COROLLI DI MONTALCINO
These are to be eaten for breakfast, or served at the end of the meal with Vin Santo. They are absolutely not to be dunked in the wine. Come and taste them at Fattoria del Colle with our Vin Santo that recently was awarded 95/100 by Wine Advocate-Robert Parker