12 eggs
1.8 kilograms (about 4 pounds) extra fine flour
600 grams (about 1-1/3 pounds) sugar
200 grams (about 7 ounces) super fine oil
70 grams (about 2-1/3 ounces) butter
30 grams (about 1 ounce) of brewer's yeast
20 grams (about 2/3 ounce) aniseed
1-1/2 deciliters (about 3/5 cup) vin santo
1/2 deciliter (about 1/5 cup) Marsala

For brushing
1 deciliter (about 3/5 cup) of orange flower water
egg yolk

Original Italian text
Uova, N. 12
Farina finissima, chilogrammi 1,800
Zucchero, grammi 600
olio sopraffine, grammi 200
burro, grammi 70
lievito di birra, grammi 30
anaci, grammi 20
vin santo, decilitri 1 1/2
Marsala, 1/2 decilitro
Acqua di fior d'aranci, decilitri 1

You can begin the process in the late evening.

Mix the two wines; wash the aniseed and then let it soak in the liquid.

Step 1: Mix the yeast with half a glass of lukewarm water, using enough flour to make a [small] loaf of the right consistency. Place a mound of flour in a bowl, and then put the loaf in it. Cover the bowl, protecting it from drafts. Let the dough rest overnight.

Step 2: The next morning when the loaf has risen, place it on a pastry board, and mix it with an egg, a tablespoon of oil, a tablespoon of sugar, a tablespoon of wine, and enough flour to make a larger loaf; blend everything together without kneading too much. Place it back in the bowl, on the mound of flour, and cover it as you did the smaller loaf.

Step 3: After six or seven hours (It will take that long for the loaf to rise again), add 3 eggs, three tablespoons of oil, three of sugar, three of wine, and enough flour to form another loaf and let it rise again, just as you did the other loaves. The loaf should now grow to about three times the original size.

Step 4: After the loaf has risen, add five eggs, five tablespoons of sugar, five of oil, five of wine, and the necessary amount of flour.

Step 5, the last step: Add the 3 remaining eggs and all the remaining ingredients. Melt the butter and blend well to obtain a smooth dough. If the dough is too soft, add a touch more flour, though this should not be necessary.

Divide the dough into 3 or 4 parts, and put each one in a baking pan on a sheet of [baking] paper greased with butter; the paper should go well beyond the edge of the pan. As it takes longer to ferment with each new addition, this time you can put the balls to rise in a warming oven. When they are nicely puffed up, brush with orange flower and then an egg yolk.

Bake in the oven at a moderate temperature. Remember that this last step is the most important and most difficult. Since the balls of dough are large, too much heat might quickly cook the surface, leaving the inside raw....

The recipe in this entry was taken from "La Scienza in Cucina e L'Arte di Mangiar Bene manuale Pratico per le Famiglie" compilato da Pellegrino Artusi. The book was first published in 1891. Since then many Italian editions have been published. Olga Ragusa's selection of recipes from Pellegrino Artusi's famous cookbook, titled "The Italian Cook Book," can be found in its entirety at www.archive.org (It's free). The University of Toronto recently published a new English edition of Pellegrino Artusi's "Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well"; many of the recipes in this edition can be found at www.books.google.ca.... Photo: Mary Melfi.

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