Biscuits and cakes

The Italians are well known for their love of biscuits, particularly with coffee, and as with the rest of Italian food, tastes are strictly regional. So, in Tuscany you’ll find the traditional Cantucci biscuits (which are firm and excellent with espresso, and which Castello will be offering in the coming months). In Piedmont, the locals favour Amaretti biscuits, which are made with almonds and wonderful either with coffee or with the local dessert wine, Moscato.

We source our Amaretti biscuits from the home of Amaretti production, a small town in the province of Asti, called Mombaruzzo. You can walk down any street in Mombaruzzo and find an Amaretti producer, but the king of Amaretti makers in Mombaruzzo is Cavalier Vicenzi, a family business who have been making Amaretti for over 100 years and continue to use the traditional production methods. Vicenzi’s Amaretti are wonderfully soft (or ‘morbidoro’ as the Italians say) and frankly they’re to die for. Until recently, the only place in the UK you could get Vicenzi’s Amaretti was on a visit to one of the Roux brothers’ Michelin starred restaurants, but now you can get them right here.