The Christmas is approaching. Illuminations, shopping, holidays, nougat, pandoro and panettone. But there are other Christmas sweets, and more generally winter ones, which have never reached the national stage, and yet are exquisite and rich in flavor and tradition. Like the Cavallucci of Apiro.

Brief history of the Cavallucci of Apiro

It is a sweet from the Marche region of peasant origin prepared at home by the rods (peasants). Typical of the winter period and of the Christmas festivities, it takes its name from Apiro, a high hill town in the province of Macerata, on the border with that of Ancona.

Like any recipe of poor origin, the Cavallucci are born with what is at home. And in the farming families this season dried fruit was available at the end of summer and kept to cope with the long winter; the sapa, obtained at home from cooked wine must, brought to a boil until it is reduced to a thick and highly sugary syrup; liqueurs, also prepared at home, secretly, like the typical mistrà.

The recipe of the Cavallucci of Apiro

As with dishes closely related to the territory, it is difficult to have just one recipe because there are often variations from country to country, from house to house. In the specific case the differences can be found above all for the filling. We have therefore tried to summarize and present the current "standard" recipe.

Ingredients for 5 people

For the pastry
Flour 1 kg, sugar 200 g, seed oil 2 glasses, vanilla 1 sachet, baking powder 1/2 sachet, white wine q.b. heated with sugar.

For the stuffing
Sapa (cooked must) 300 g, shelled walnuts 100 g, shelled almonds 100 g, shelled hazelnuts 100 g, raisins or candied raisins or dried figs 50 g, liqueur that is preferred between mistrà or marsala (if you also want half a cup of coffee) sport, which is usually in the brands Borghetti), cocoa powder 50 g, grated rind of an orange or a lemon, 3 cups of coffee, sugar 150 g, bread crumbs 50 g.

To decorate
Icing sugar q.b., granulated sugar q.b., alchermes q.b.

Method

Garnishing
Let's start with a tip: to have a filling with well blended ingredients we recommend preparing it well in advance, for example the night before.
Soak raisins (or dried figs or candied fruit) with the liqueur chosen (mistrà or marsala). Chop the walnuts, almonds and hazelnuts and add them to the sugar, the last orange (or lemon), cocoa, coffee already prepared, sapa and bread crumbs (and coffee sport if you chose to use it ). Mix everything in a bowl and leave to rest in the refrigerator.

Puff pastry
Now prepare a fountain with flour, baking powder and vanillin. Then add the seed oil and the wine previously heated with sugar (but after cooling it). Knead the dough for about ten minutes and then with the help of a rolling pin, roll out a sheet a few millimeters thick from which to cut out rectangles. Put the filling on top of each rectangle and then close the wallet rectangles, sealing well. Make a slight curve on the casing, to give the shape of a piggyback, and with the tip of the fork make a small pressure at the ends, to draw the legs of the piggyback. Then use scissors to make cuts along the surface, like drawing a mane. At this point put the seahorses in a baking dish and bake at 180 degrees for about 20/25 minutes. Freshly baked, sprinkle with icing sugar or alchermes and granulated sugar.

All photos are taken from Instagram