Baci di dama, «lady's kisses», are a Piedmontese sweet from the province of Alessandria: two small domed hazelnut shortbread cookies sandwiched with a dab of dark chocolate, set so the pale halves meet like two lips in a kiss. The dough is a classic shortbread of finely ground hazelnuts, butter, sugar, and flour in roughly equal weights, with no eggs, baked low and pale so the little domes stay round and tender. They are made above all with Piedmont hazelnuts, the prized Tonda Gentile, and an almond version exists too. Not too sweet, sandy and melting, with a soft seam of bitter chocolate binding the two halves, they are a teatime and gift cookie of the region.
Baci di dama are a documented Piedmontese specialty of the province of Alessandria, dating to the second half of the 19th century; encyclopedic sources give a window of roughly 1852 to 1893. Two towns claim them. The popular, brand-bearing attribution is to Tortona, where the pastry-maker Stefano Vercesi made an almond version, the baci dorati or «golden kisses», that won a gold medal at the 1906 Milan International Fair, the firmest single fact on that side. The other claim, to Novi Ligure, is the one Italian and English encyclopedic sources call supported by written sources: it credits the pastry chef Augusto Manelli in the 1890s, with the name reportedly trademarked there and a paternity dispute between Novi and Tortona decided in Novi's favour, though the precise years vary between sources. A separate romantic tale, that a Savoy court chef created them in 1852 for King Vittorio Emanuele II, is explicitly labelled a legend by the reliable sources; the 1852 in the dating window is only its lower bound, not a documented royal commission. The cookie holds Piedmontese PAT recognition but no DOP or IGP; the IGP belongs to the hazelnut, Nocciola Piemonte, registered in 1993.
A delicate, sandy shortbread that crumbles and melts on the tongue, rich with toasted hazelnut and butter. The two pale domes give a fine, tender crunch, then dissolve, and the seam of dark chocolate in the middle adds a soft, slightly bitter, fudgy contrast that glues the halves into one bite. They are not too sweet, more nutty and buttery than sugary, and they finish clean. Good ones stay pale, never browned, and break with a short, fine crumb rather than a hard snap.
The dough is a pasta frolla shortbread bound by ground hazelnuts, butter, sugar, and flour in roughly equal weights, the classic one-to-one-to-one-to-one, with no eggs. With no egg or added water, there is little gluten and no egg-protein set; instead the butterfat and the oil released from the finely ground nuts coat the flour and bind the crumb, giving the short, sandy, melting texture. Chilling is structural: the dough is rolled into small balls and rested cold so the butter firms up, which keeps the high-fat domes from spreading and flattening in the oven and lets them hold their round shape. The bake is deliberately low and pale, around 160 to 170°C, so the domes set without browning or cracking. The two flat sides are then joined with melted dark chocolate, just set or lightly tempered so it re-solidifies firmly and holds the halves together.
Variations
An almond version, baci di dama alle mandorle, follows the historic golden-kiss lineage, and some makers swap the plain dark chocolate seam for gianduia, the Piedmontese hazelnut-chocolate. Both Tortona and Novi Ligure claim them, Novi holding a municipal mark of origin. They should not be confused with two other Italian «baci»: baci di Alassio, a different Ligurian cookie made flourless with hazelnut meal, cocoa, and egg white and no butter, soft and dark; and Baci Perugina, not a cookie at all but a gianduia chocolate praline invented by Luisa Spagnoli in 1922 in Perugia and wrapped with a love note. In Chinese the cookie is the «lady's kiss», a name that should be kept distinct from the Perugina chocolate.
On the Palate
Where Baci di Dama sits in the Italian flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 6How it's made
8 steps · 40 min active + 1 hour 30 min waiting
- 15 min
Combine the finely ground hazelnuts, flour, sugar, and a pinch of salt in a bowl.
- 25 min
Add the cold cubed butter and work it in quickly, just until the dough comes together, so the butter stays cold.
Watch outWork the cold butter in just until the dough comes together — overwork it or let it warm and you lose the short, sandy, melting crumb.
- 360 min
Shape the dough into a disc, wrap it, and chill until firm.
- 415 min
Pinch off small even pieces and roll them into little balls about a centimetre and a half across.
- 530 min
Chill or freeze the shaped balls again so they hold their domes in the oven.
Watch outChill the shaped balls again before baking — cold domes hold their round shape; warm ones spread and flatten in the oven.
- 617 min
Bake at 160 to 170°C until just barely golden underneath but still pale on top, then cool completely on the tray.
Watch outBake only until barely golden underneath, still pale on top — overbake and the delicate nut shortbread dries hard instead of melting.
- 75 min
Gently melt the dark chocolate and let it cool until just thickening.
- 810 min
Match the domes by size, dab chocolate on the flat side of one, press its partner on top, and leave to set before storing.
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