Celli Ripieni (Grape jam dumplings)

Author Notes

These little biscuits are made like dumplings, filled with goodness. I love dumplings and I love cookies, so this is just a match made in heaven for me. Another reason I love these is that they are called “stuffed birds” because in one of the many traditional forms of these cookies from Abruzzo, they are made in the shape of little birds for the Festival of St Antonino in Aquila.

Yet another reason I love these is that they are traditionally made with a homemade grape jam that is not so much a recipe but something that, until recently anyway, the women of Abruzzese households seemed to learn how to do without notes or measurements. Just a way of life. This jam, known in dialect as scurchjiata, is made from the local Montepulciano d’Abruzzo grapes and is not as sweet as a store-bought jam.

The cookies are made with a filling of the scurchjiata, chopped walnuts and almonds, then flavoured with orange or lemon peel and sometimes even dark chocolate. Some recipes include a puree of chestnuts, or in the absence of it, chickpeas, breadcrumbs, dried figs, coffee, cinnamon… each household have their own favourite combination of flavours. This filling is then hidden inside a beautiful pastry of flour, white wine, extra virgin olive oil, sugar and eggs, and the whole things are baked and then covered in icing sugar.

Just as traditions go, there are many variations on this recipe, but here’s a basic one that I like to use. - Emiko —Emiko

Test Kitchen Notes

This elegantly simple confection is astonishingly easy to whip up, part of the experience is crafting the dumplings. When mixed together, the mildly sweet dough emits the incomparable earthy aroma of extra-virgin olive oil and wine -- it is hard to resist sneaking little bits! The combination of nuts, orange zest and grape jam yields a rich filling that holds together perfectly with the addition of the crushed biscuits. When baked, the end result is a crusty shell enveloping a decadent paste of citrus-infused jam with generous amounts of almonds and walnuts. Ideally, a pop tart should taste like this. I could have polished off the whole batch in one shot! - Panfusine —Panfusine