Baci di dama are heavenly cookies, a touch like a feather. These Italian cookies literally translate as a kiss by a lady. If you look at the profile of these cookies, they look like a set of lips wishing to kiss you. I really like this picturesque name which does tell you a lot what these cookies are going to taste like. Roasted hazelnuts are combined with buttery shortbread, which is sandwiched together by delicious melted chocolate. Baci di dama are perfect as a giveaway, superb for a coffee break and simply to enjoy.
You may have wondered why I barely ever introduce bread on my baking blog as I do today with this Italian bread with semolina and olive oil. Yes, there are a few recipes, such as this farmer’s bread, these Danish buns with yoghurt, or homemade croissants. You may think that I mainly eat cakes and cookies, but that is definitely not true. There is a very simple reason why I barely publish bread recipes. The reason is my beloved hubby who is the master of bread-baking. He even has baking running in his blood, his grandfather was the baker of the entire village. So you can probably imagine that he is very good at baking bread, much better than me. Well, at least today. His beginnings were rather humble, I distinctly recall when I told him about the fact that yeast likes it warm and cozy. I also remember when we made our first yeast bread together. He very awkwardly punched the bread and asked me how I knew when the right consistency was reached.
But soon after his humble beginnings he transformed to an excellent bread baker. He works in IT, he is a computer scientist and for that reason he did a lot of research on bread baking, he did experiements and in general loves a very scientific approach to baking. One blogger who definitely contributed to him becoming a master is Lutz from the blog Plötzblog (in German). Lutz also has an extremely scientific approach to baking, he even tells you exactly at which temperature the bread has to rise. His precise language and very scientific recipes were music to the ears of my hubby.