Recipes of the tradition: At Berlingaccio we make Berlingozzo!

Fat Thursday is the last Thursday of Carnival, before Lent, when people once allowed themselves to eat more "fattily" than usual to prepare for the Lenten fasts.
On this date, the Berlingaccio, so called in Tuscany, was celebrated in Florence. The name refers in a way to the act of filling one's mouth, with chatter and food, and this is precisely what was done during on this day: people ate and chatted, in short, they had fun with friends and family before Lent.
“At Berlingaccio, those who don’t have meat should kill the cat!”, it was once proverbially said. This is because during Lent it was forbidden to consume meat, so on Fat Thursday it was essential to eat as much meat as one could.

On the tables of Tuscan families not only could not be missing meat, but also a typical dessert of this festival, Berlingozzo.
Often when looking for the recipe for this dessert you find puffy donuts decorated with colored sprinkles, but the real Berlingozzo is a low donut, with a slightly deflated appearance but still absolutely delicious!
The tradition of Berlingozzo is kept alive above all in Lamporecchio, in the province of Pistoia, where pastry chefs still prepare it as it was done in the past.
Today we offer you a recipe closest to the original one, how it is prepared in Lamporecchio.

BERLINGOZZO RECIPE
Ingredients for the dough:

-250 g of flour
-2 medium eggs
-200 g of sugar
-1 teaspoon of anise seeds
-1 pinch of salt
-1 teaspoon of yeast

For the crunchy topping:
-1 medium egg
-50 g of sugar

In a bowl, place 2 eggs, 200 g of sugar, a pinch of salt and beat the eggs until they become frothy.
Add crushed anise seeds and mix.
Add the sifted flour and baking powder, mixing with movements from bottom to top.
The mixture, which will be sticky and quite firm, must be distributed on a baking tray covered with baking paper in the shape of a donut. You can help yourself by placing a pastry cup in the center and creating the shape around it.
Now beat 1 egg with 50 g of sugar making a cream to pour on the Berlingozzo.
Bake at 180° in a preheated static oven for 25 minutes, until the topping is lightly golden.
This very fragrant dessert goes perfectly with good Vin Santo.
Enjoy!