Brigidini fried wafers from Lamporecchio

These sweet, crunchy wafersare a real gem of Tuscan cake making.

 

They traditionally come from the town of Lamporecchio and are made from a mixture of flour, eggs, sugar and either aniseed or fennel seeds. The story goes that they were invented by Saint Bridget in the convent of Lamporecchio. She allegedly based her original recipe on communal wafers and in doing so invented these delicious sweet treats which today are found at fairs and festivals all over Italy.

This story however, is just one of many. Another story says that Saint Bridget based brigidini on a typical sweet from her nativeSweden, which she left to visit Romebefore setting up her convent inPistoia. The one thing which is certain is that these wafers have a strong connection to the church. In fact, the same kind of mould is used for shaping brigidini as is used for shaping holy communal wafers.