Figolli - Easter Characters
by Anne & Helen Caruana Galizia

Figolli are almond pastries cut out to represent symbolic figures. They come into their own at Easter time. It is wisest to buy then from a reputable confectioner. Some charities make and sell them too, but beware of the quality, no matter how deserving the charity. You will need the metal cutters. If you cannot obtain these, you can make your own templates, like gingerbread men, out of cardboard. The traditional shapes are men, Women, fish and baskets, the last perhaps being fertility symbols. More recently, new shapes have begun to emerge, such as butterflies, lambs and cars. A shop window filled with these figolli is a colourful sight. The human shapes are easily identifiable by the old-fashioned oleograph faces stuck on to the icing. An Easter egg wrapped in coloured paper is an essential part of the decoration.

Make the pastry by mixing the sugar with the flour, then rubbing in the butter until the mixture resembles fine crumbs. Add the grated lemon rind and the yolks, mixed with a little water to make a pliable dough. Leave to chill. Add the sugar, orange flower water and lemon rind to the ground almonds, and bind with the egg whites. Roll out the pastry and cut out your shapes. Make two of each figure as they will be sandwiched with almond paste. Lay the first shape on a greased and floured baking tray, spread with almond paste, leaving a small margin. Lay the second shape over the top and press the edges together. It helps if you wet the edges with a pastry brush to ensure adhesion- Bake at 200'C/400'F/gas 6 for 5 minutes, then at 180'C/350'F/gas 4, for about 20 minutes, until pale golden. Cool on the tray.

When cold, coat with glacé icing, then decorate with royal icing in a different colour, but nothing too gaudy. While the icing is soft, press a small, foil-wrapped Easter egg in the middle of each shape. As children we used to be intrigued by the egg right in the middle of the man or woman's tummy. Ground almonds are very expensive and full-size figolli are enormous. You might like to consider making the quantity of this recipe and making the figolli half the size, using tiny sugar-coated eggs. Less traditional but still good.

For more recipes by Anne & Helen Caruana Galizia see their book "The Food and Cookery of Malta" by Anne and Helen Caruana Galizia Publisher: Pax Books/ 3rd edition published 1999 Reprinted three times.