Pan dei Morti start to appear in patisseries here in the north of Italy a few weeks before Holloween. Literally translated they are called " Bread of the Dead" and are eaten during the weekend of " All souls Day", the first of November when Italians go to pay respects to their loved ones who have passed away..
The recipes vary but they are generally made by mixing old cake crumb, biscuit crumbs, some honey or jam , cocoa and a bit of flour and some add dried fruit like saltanas or even figs.. They are formed into long diamond shapes and although their name is less than appetising, they are somehow moreish..
This recipe was given and demonstrated to me by a retired pastrycook from Novara. Thank you Silvano.
About 200g old cake crumb (patisseries tend to have a lot of old cake stocked in the freezer. If you don't just happen to have old cake crumb, buy some sponge from the supermarket.)
about 100g broken biscuits ( savoiardi or some amaretti for extra flavour.)
125g plain flour
100g caster sugar
100g of chopped, toasted hazelnuts or almonds
50g honey
20g cocoa
100g saltanas
10g baking powder
abut 40g jam
Mix all of the dry ingredients together making sure that there are no large chunks of sponge cake or biscuits.
Add the honey and mix well with your hands.
The mixture should be firm but a little bit sticky. If the ingredients aren't sticking together, add some jam one spoonfull at a time.
To make the correct shape there are two methods;
weigh 40g pieces and roll them into balls then elongate them so that they are fatter in the middle and the ends are pointy, then flatten them so they are about 1cm thick.
The other way is to roll the whole mixture into a large log, cut 1cm slices and form each one into diamond shapes.
When all are placed onto a baking sheet with baking paper, press a line down the middle of each one then sprinkle them with icing sugar and allow to rest for 15 mins.
Bake at 170°c for about 40 mins.
They should a little bit chewy.
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