Hard, flattened ring-shaped Christmas biscuits from Naples, built on flour, sugar and coarsely chopped almonds and driven by the pisto, the Neapolitan spice blend of cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg. Glazed with egg to an amber shine and baked rock-firm, they are made from the feast of the Immacolata on 8 December through the Christmas season and softened by dipping in vermouth, marsala or sweet wine.
Neapolitan tradition traces the roccocò to 1320, when they are said to have first been made by the nuns of the Real Convento della Maddalena in Naples; some accounts instead tie the earliest mention to a document of the convent of the Suore della Croce. The name is usually derived from the French rocaille, the rounded, shell-like motif of Baroque decoration, echoing both the compact ring shape and the hard, stony crust. Long a fixture of the Neapolitan Christmas, roccocò are baked for the Immacolata on 8 December and sold through the holidays alongside susamielli, mustaccioli and raffiuoli.
Straight from the tin, a roccocò is genuinely hard—it wants a dunk, not a bite. Softened in vermouth or sweet wine it yields a dense, chewy crumb studded with pieces of toasted almond, deeply spiced with cinnamon, clove and nutmeg and edged with the bittersweet tang of candied orange.
The signature texture comes from baker's ammonia, the traditional leavener. Heated past about 60°C it breaks down completely into ammonia gas, carbon dioxide and water, all of which escape the low-moisture dough; leaving no residual salt, it produces a dry, friable, distinctly hard crumb, and the smell bakes off entirely. The dough itself is low in water and rich in sugar, so as the biscuits cool and lose the last of their moisture they set into a hard, glassy matrix; toasting the almonds first develops Maillard aromas and keeps them crunchy, while the egg glaze browns through the Maillard reaction to give the amber sheen. Dipping in wine simply rehydrates that hard matrix back to a chewable softness.
Variations
Roccocò come in two camps: the traditional spaccadenti ('tooth-breakers'), baked hard and meant for dunking, and a softer modern version pulled from the oven while still pale and yielding. Hazelnuts sometimes stand in for almonds, the candied fruit may include cedro alongside orange, and cooks who like a stronger perfume build their own pisto with added star anise, coriander, pepper or cardamom. A slick of dark chocolate over the top is a common contemporary finish.
On the Palate
Where Roccocò sits in the Italian flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 12How it's made
7 steps · 30 min
- 112 min
Lightly toast the almonds, cool them and chop coarsely, leaving them in pieces rather than grinding to a powder.
Watch outToast the almonds and leave them in pieces, not powder — whole shards keep their crunch and won't turn the dough oily.
- 28 min
In a large bowl combine the flour, sugar, pisto, baker's ammonia and a pinch of salt, then work in the grated orange and lemon zest, the candied peel and the chopped almonds.
- 310 min
Add a little water or milk to bring the mixture together into a firm, homogeneous dough, kneading briefly.
- 415 min
Divide the dough, roll each piece into a rope about 20 cm long and join the ends into a flattened ring; space the rings well apart on lined trays.
- 55 min
Brush the tops with beaten egg for the characteristic amber glaze.
- 620 min
Bake at 180°C for 18 to 20 minutes, until golden but not dark; over-browning makes them rock-hard once cold.
Watch outBake to golden but not dark — over-browned, these set rock-hard once cold instead of firm-crisp.
- 730 min
Cool completely on a rack and store in a tin; serve dipped in vermouth, marsala or a sweet wine such as Moscato.
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