Who does not remember the magic of January 6th? With all the socks hanging on the fireplace? The wait for the mysterious old woman who brings sweets for everyone, the hope of finding wonderful surprises inside … The party "that all the others take away" must be honored at best, also because it anticipates the inevitable return to everyday life. To make it even more joyful, you can enrich the ritual with a few do-it-yourself touches, hiding some homemade delights among chocolates and candies or hanging a delicious and fragrant shortcrust pastry model next to the fabric socks or, again, setting up a special breakfast with a themed cake. But where does the tradition of filling stockings with various goodness come from? And the Befana? The origins of these rites are uncertain and varied, even if the custom of gifts has a sure propitiatory and renewal value linked to the beginning of the new year.

The Magi and the old woman
The image of the old woman dates back to the 12th century when a story began to spread that linked the figure of the old woman to the journey of the Magi. In fact, it seems that these, unable to find the way to Bethlehem, lost in the night between 5 and 6 January, asked for information from an elderly lady who rudely he refused to listen to them. Later, the woman, repentant of the rudeness, prepared a sack full of sweets and began to look for them, stopping at each house to give sweets to the children, hoping to meet the baby Jesus among them.

An ancient pagan rite
As often happens, the Christian tradition is grafted onto various pagan rituals, linked to the winter solstice, such as that, documented in some countries, especially in Northern Europe, of burning an old woman of straw. A legend of ancient Rome has it that Numa Pompilius, second king of the seven, he used to receive gifts deposited in a cave by a nymph during the period of the winter solstice.

What about coal?
Initially, the gifts of the Befana would have been dried fruit, apples, oranges: primitive offerings with a propitiatory function. Later, sweets were introduced and then coal. This ancient ritual symbol of bonfires, was initially inserted into the stockings in memory of seasonal renewal. Then it was the Catholic culture that turned coal into symbol of punishment for children who had misbehaved during the year.

We have selected several recipes to enrich our January 6th gifts. Starting with the recipe on the cover: greedy shortbread cookies in the shape of socks.

The stockings of the Epiphany
Ingrediants
450 g of flour – 140 g of sugar – 1 untreated lemon – 1 tablespoon of thyme leaves – 1 egg – 260 g of butter
Method
Prepare a shortcrust pastry with 450 g of flour, 140 g of sugar, the grated rind of one lemon, a tablespoon of thyme leaves, 260 g of butter, an egg and a tablespoon of lemon juice. Keep the dough in the fridge for 4 hours, then roll it out to a thickness of 2-3 mm and cut out, with the help of a cardboard template and a pointed knife, a dozen of the befana socks. oven and make lateral incisions (to keep them open, insert a piece of folded aluminum) for the passage of a ribbon. Put the pan back in the fridge for 15 minutes to stabilize the shape of the biscuits (this operation must always be repeated, before cooking the sweets, in all recipes), then cook them several times in the oven at 180 ° for 12-14 minutes: one Once out of the oven and cold, string them with colored ribbons and form festoons to hang.

Chocolate pampepato
It is prepared in Ferrara throughout the Christmas period. The traditional shape is a loaf, but we offer it in the shape of a sock, cheerfully decorated with colored sprinkles to celebrate January 6th.
Ingrediants
250 g of flour 00 – 50 g of bitter cocoa – 200 g of dark chocolate -150 g of cane sugar – 30 g of candied citron peel – 40 g of candied orange peel – 100 g of almonds – 30 g of hazelnuts – a pinch of pepper – a pinch of nutmeg – a pinch of cinnamon – 3 cloves – 4 tablespoons of powdered sugar – colored sprinkles
Method
Dissolve the cane sugar with 1.5 dl of water and let it cool. Combine the flour in a bowl with the cocoa, almonds, hazelnuts and 50 g of chopped chocolate, diced candied fruit and spices. Pour the syrup and mix, adding, if necessary, a few tablespoons of warm water, until the mixture is consistent but not too dry. Model it in the shape of a sock with your hands greased with oil. Arrange the pampepato on a baking sheet lined with baking paper and let it rest overnight at 18 °. Bake in a preheated oven at 160 ° for an hour and let it cool. Spread the melted chocolate on top of it in a bain marie. Mix the icing sugar with a drizzle of water and decorate with the icing obtained and the sprinkles.

Marzipan cookies
These cookies embellished with marzipan are spectacular and perfect to surprise your children in the stocking of the Epiphany.

Ingrediants
250 g of flour – 50 g of butter – 2 egg yolks – 120 g of granulated sugar – 20 g of icing sugar – zest of 1 lemon – food coloring to taste – marzipan to taste – colored sugars to taste
Method
With cookie cutters cut from a disc of ready shortcrust pastry, rolled out to 3-4 mm thick, star-shaped biscuits (or other shapes), to be baked at 200 ° for 10 minutes. Divide a ready-made marzipan stick in half and dye one part with food coloring. Roll them both out to 2 mm and cut out figures as large as cookies and others that are smaller. Moisten one side of the figures with water and place them on the biscuits, cold, with the wet side facing down. Decorated with colored sprinkles.

Super rocky road nougat
Ingrediants
300 g of 80% dark chocolate – 30 g of butter – 60 g of maple syrup – 12 vanilla and raspberry marshmallows – 80 g of raisins and dried cherries – 30 g of pistachios – 4 spiced biscuits – 8 pistachio sugared almonds – 1 tablespoon of praline American peanuts – 50 g of white chocolate

Preparation
Line a 20×30 cm baking tray with parchment paper. Chop the dark chocolate, melt it in a double boiler in a bowl with the butter and maple syrup. Meanwhile, combine the marshmallows cut into small pieces with scissors, raisins and dried cherries, pistachios and coarsely crumbled biscuits in a bowl; add the melted dark chocolate and mix with a spoon.
Distribute the preparation in the pan in an even layer and immediately garnish with the chopped peanuts and sugared almonds. Melt the white chocolate in a bain-marie and let it fall in irregular threads on the surface of the nougat; let it cool and cut it into long, narrow strips. It can be kept for 2 weeks. Wrap it in food paper or cellophane to put it in the sock.

By Camilla Rocca
January 2022