Baci di dama: tender kisses, no eggs needed

First weigh out all the ingredients and set them out, then everything will go smoothly later on. For the almonds, use white ground almonds, i.e. blanched ground almonds. If you have whole hazelnuts, grind them finely in the food processor together with one tablespoon of the weighed sugar. The sugar keeps the nuts from becoming oily. The finer the nuts, the more delicate the baci. Preheat the oven to 160 °C fan-assisted now.

Put the flour into a large bowl. Add the ground almonds and hazelnuts, the remaining sugar, the pinch of salt and the vanilla sugar. Stir everything briefly with a spoon so the ingredients are evenly distributed.

Now add the butter. It should be at room temperature, so soft but not melted. Cut it into small cubes and add them to the bowl. Knead everything together with your hands until no pockets of flour remain and a compact dough forms. This takes a few minutes. At first the dough will be crumbly, but the warmth of your hands will make it hold together. If it still crumbles after a few minutes and won't hold together, knead in 1 to 2 teaspoons of soft butter (about 10 g). No more than that, otherwise the baci will lose their round shape in the oven.

Take the dough out of the bowl and press it on the work surface with your hands into a rectangular block, about 1.5 cm thick. Press the sides straight with the flat of your hands so the block becomes nice and even. If the dough is very soft and sticky, put the block in the fridge for about 30 minutes. After that it cuts much more cleanly.

Cut the block with a large knife first into strips about 1.5 cm wide, then cut the strips into small cubes. Each cube should weigh 5 to 6 g. Our tip: weigh the first two or three cubes on the kitchen scale. This way you can see straight away whether the size is right, and cut all the others to the same size.

Roll each cube between your palms into a smooth, round ball. Use no pressure at all, just move your hands gently in circles, then the ball won't crack. Place the balls about 2 cm apart on a baking tray lined with baking paper. They barely spread out, so you can fill a whole tray.

Bake the balls in the preheated oven at 160 °C convection for 12 to 15 minutes. They are ready when the bottoms are very lightly golden. The tops stay nicely pale. Straight out of the oven they are still soft and very fragile. So let them cool completely on the tray before you touch them. As they cool they firm up and become nicely crumbly. The underside now has a flat spot, and that is where the chocolate will go later.

Chop the dark chocolate and melt it over a water bath or in a tempering device. Sort the cooled halves by size and always place two matching ones side by side. Now dip one half, flat side down, briefly into the chocolate, let it drip off a little and gently press it onto the flat side of its partner. Use only a small amount of chocolate, so that a fine strip remains in the middle.

Stand the finished baci di dama upright on baking paper and let the chocolate set at room temperature for about 30 minutes. Only then are the little kisses stable and you can fill them into a tin. And of course, try the first pair!