Er, there were some Garibaldi biscuits there. Unfortunately they were so good we ate 77% of them before I got round to taking a pic.
Garibaldi biscuits are one of the things I make when I have nothing in my cupboards. (The other is banana bread). Given this fact, I'm surprised I don't make them more often, because I often have nothing in my cupboards.
Do you know who I dream of being? You know the 'pantry staples' lists at the start of cookbooks, telling you that in order to rustle up a gourmet meal after work you should have certain foodstuffs in your kitchen? It usually goes pasta, capers, San Marzano canned tomatoes, anchovies, soy sauce, lemons, balsamic vinegar, couscous, pesto, walnuts, artichokes etc? I dream of being that person, the person who actually has all the pantry staples at hand. My mother is that person - you should see the endless ingredients in the floor-to-ceiling cupboards in my parents' kitchen. It's like they just returned from a round-the-world culinary journey. I am so not that person. I am always missing half the recipe.
Which is why I end up baking a lot of things like banana bread and Garibaldi biscuits. Things that do not require a lot of fancy ingredients. Things I might actually be able to whip up after work without a trip to Sainsbury's Local.
Given the name (and the fact that my recipe comes from an Italian cookbook) you'd think these little gems are Italian. But they're actually a British classic, invented by famous biscuit maker John Carr in Victorian times, and named after the famous Italian general who had made a visit to the UK in 1854. Given that this was a commercially produced cookie from the get-go, it's kind of interesting that so many recipes for homemade ones exist. If you think about it it's actually a bit like baking your own Oreos or custard creams. So maybe instead of going to the trouble of baking these, even though I do have the ingredients handy, I should admit defeat and go buy a package at Sainsbury's Local.
Garibaldi Biscuits
From Ursula Ferrigno's Complete Italian Cookery Course
115 g plain flour
85 g unsalted butter
55 g caster sugar, plus a little extra to finish
115 g dried currants
1 large egg, beaten
Preheat the oven to 180 C / 350 F. Grease a non-stick jelly roll tin (about 7x11 in), or if using a tin without non-stick properties, line with parchment paper so it overhangs on two sides of the tin.)
Place the flour, sugar and butter in a medium bowl and rub the butter in using your fingertips until it is evenly distributed throughout. Stir in the currants. Add almost all of the beaten egg to bind everything together and form a soft, but not sticky, dough.
Turn the dough into the tin and press down so the surface is even. Brush all over with the remaining egg and sprinkle with the extra sugar, to taste.
Bake in the centre of the oven for about 30 minutes, until the top is golden brown. When it is out of the oven cut into as many squares as you want, and leave to cool before eating.
16 comments:
Despite the ease of buying these - your homemade ones look 10 times as good!
I have no idea what's in my cupboard either! I resolve weekly to be organised, like an ongoing, never fulfilled resolution... The other day I discovered four sepearate half used jars of ground ginger. And only because i had just bought a fifth jar in the supermarket...
On the plus side it does throw up occasional gems, like the half bar of green and blacks I found earlier. It was like is won the lottery!
The biscuits look lovely!
Amazing store cupboard recipe!
I cant see into the back of my cupboards (I'm far too short, and they are ridiculously high...) so I often suffer from cupboard-amnesia!
My cupboards are just messy! Thanks for the history - love knowing the stories behind the bakes.
I love that you ate most of them before you took the picture. this is what I do the most!
OMG, how delicious do these look? Thanks for sharing your recipe!
Mary
Oy. So, I have this huge pantry and it is well stocked. I have lots of canned goods, grains, all different shapes of pasta, nuts, etc. etc. But I still cannot make dinner out if it exclusively. I need fresh veg, as a side or a salad. So, I do chip away at my pantry but not as much as I should!
I think I inherited that trait from Mum instead of you :)
I've made Rachel Allen's Garibaldi biscuits before, but hers are more work-you roll out the dough and use a cookie cutter. I bet these are just as tasty and far easier!
I have not had these since I was a child and I don't think I ever tried homemade ones, they look so yummy! Thanks for sharing the recipe with us :)
wow - this seems suspiciously easy.... I made the banana bread/cake recipe thing from one of your earlier posts for a Cub coffee morning - and someone paid real money for the whole thing!!! How chuffed am I?
I can't believe you made these! My daughter and I were just talking about the Sunshine Raisin Biscuits we use to buy; they stopped making them in 1998.
I researched if there was something else like it and found that Sunshine actually took their recipe from the Garibaldi biscuits! Thank you for a recipe to replace one of our favorite cookies. XOXO
Wow, these look yummy, not surprised you ate them before taking the picture!
It never occurred to me that Garibaldis were Italian, we always used to call them "fly biscuits"!
Not had any for years, I imagine home made ones are much much nicer.
I have a garibaldi recipe that I've been using for a while but these look so much more golden and exciting. I will be giving these a try. I have everything in my cupboard except the eggs...
I made this a couple of days ago - they didn't make the next day, they are spookily good..... had no plain flour though, so they were a bit poofy - will be giving them another go though - tres popular! Thanks for another reliable recipe!
Hi there! I bake allergy free so I just made an egg free dairy free version of this recipe and they are delicious! Thanks, I'll be making this lots now!
Bev
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