Pan di mort (All Souls spiced chocolate biscuits from Lombardy)

Milanese November biscuits “pan di mort” (dead people bread) – traditionally made early November to remember the dead ones

Here’s another traditional recipe from Lombardy that honours I morti, All Souls. Pan di mort (literally “dead people’s bread”) are quintessential Lombardy biscuits that are sold in bakeries between the end of October and the first week in November. They are diamond-shaped, chocolatey, spicy biscuits, full of nuts and candied citrus peels, quite chewy but not crunchy.They are generally made with crushed biscuits but I find that too sweet.
I prefer the more sombre version from Vecchia Milano in Cucina  (1965) by Ottorina Perna Bozzi,  a food writer with a deep knowledge of the cooking of Lombardy, that does without the biscuits.
The dough is bound with white wine and this lends a subtle alcoholic undertone; I have made them with marsala, with vermouth and even with a light red wine and they always turn out delicious.
Pan di mort biscuits keep for a long time – in fact, unlike humans, they improve with age.
Over the years I have tinkered with the recipe and this is my latest version.

Pan di mort/All Souls spiced chocolate biscuits from Lombardy
Makes about 30 biscuits
adapted from Vecchia Milano in Cucina (1965) by Ottorina Perna Bozzi.

300 gr caster sugar,
260 gr 00 flour 
40 gr fine wholemeal or rye flour 
pinch of salt
½ teaspoon baking powder 
300 gr of  mixed toasted walnuts, hazelnuts and almonds, finely ground,  (not ground to a powder though)
150 gr mixed candied citrus peels, finely chopped 
50 gr toasted pine nuts, finely chopped
5 gr – 10 gr sweet mixed spices, see notes
zest of 1 orange, finely grated
50 gr unsweetened cocoa powder

50 gr 70% bitter chocolate,, finely chopped
120 ml approximately dry vermouth/marsala/ red or white wine
1 heaped tablespoon honey

Place all the ingredients except the chocolate, chosen alcohol and honey in a food processor.
Mix to combine, without overworking.
Transfer into a  mixing bowl and add the last three ingredients.
Mix  the dough by squeezing it  through your hands. At first  It may look as if it will never come together: be patient and keep on squeezing and mixing.
When the dough has turned into a cohesive mass, portion it into tangerine-sized balls.
Flatten them into patties and give them a diamond shape using the cupped sides or your palms. Place them onto a lined oven tray. They will not grow much, so they do not need to be too spaced apart. Alternatively, you could halve the dough, pat it into  two logs, about 18-20 cm long and refrigerate until solid, wrapped. Slice each log  into about 16 biscuits. Lightly press each slice into a diamond shape., again using your cupped hands.

Bake for 30 minutes at 160 C. They will be still a little soft but this is fine as they will crisp up a little as they cool down. Eat them when completely cold, even if they do benefit from a 24 hours rest. Keep at room temperature.

Notes
On sweet spices: whenever I bake something that requires some complex spicing, I use this mix:: 3 teaspoons each nutmeg and allspice, 5 cm cinnamon bark; 2 teaspoons cloves, 5 cm dry ginger root – all lightly toasted and finely ground in a coffee grinder. This recipe is actually from a beautiful book on English baking by Elizabeth David (English Bread and Yeast Cookery), but they lend themselves to most spiced goods. As for quantities, it depends how spiced you like your desserts.