Neapolitan Christmas cookies

Naples has a long tradition of holiday baking. Ms. Francesconi, author of La Cucina Napoletana, recalls that when she was a girl her house would fill with "all the bounty of God." She presents recipes for quite a few Christmas cookies, most of which are quite intricate, and are the sorts of things that many will now buy ready-made from pastry shops (Italians scramble as much as anyone else these days…).

Her recipe for Paste Reali looks like it could be done fairly easily, however.

Bring some water to a boil, remove it from the fire, and soak the almonds for 5 minutes. Pat them dry and rub the skins away, then grind them by running them through a meat grinder three times, then a food mill once, sprinkling them with a little water to keep them from giving off their oil (you can also use a blender, using short bursts. You don't want to turn them into an oily paste or liquefy them).

Combine the 2 fingers of water and the sugar in a pot (if it's round-bottomed, so much the better) and heat, stirring gently, until a drop of syrup poured from the spoon onto a plate does not spread out, and when crushed between thumb and forefinger forms fine threads when you separate your fingers. Add the almonds and cinnamon, and cook over a very low flame, stirring constantly, for 10 minutes. Remove the mixture from the fire and let it cool, stirring frequently. When it is almost cold, spread the it in a half-inch thick layer over the wafers, smoothing the top and sides with the blade of a knife. Depending upon the shape of your wafers you will end up with either diamond or round shaped cookies; they should be about 2 inches across at the most.

Let the cookies set for 24 hours, then trim away the excess wafer.

Prepare the icing by boiling the syrup to the stage described above. Test frequently because if you cook too long the syrup will be too hard. Once it reaches the proper degree of doneness pour the syrup into a bowl and whip it until it is white and fluffy (this takes patience). Spread the frosting over the cookies, dot each with a candied almond, and let dry.

These will keep for several days, though you can expect them to vanish first.