Directions

• Soak the raisins in grappa or rum for at least 30 minutes.*
• In a large bowl, beat the butter with a wooden spoon until soft. Add the sugar to the butter and gently mash with a fork until fluffy.
• Next, add the eggs and egg yolks and slowly incorporate them to the mixture.
• In separate bowl, mix together the plain flour, cornmeal, yeast and salt. Remove the raisins from their liquid (reserve 1 tsp of the liquid) and dry them on a piece of paper.
• Add the dry mix to the wet mix, then add orange zest, raisins (or chocolate chips), grappa (or rum), and vanilla essence. Forgot to keep the liquid? You can substitute that for 1tsp water or rum essence.
• Bring the ingredients together into a dough. Wrap it in cling film and put it in the fridge for one hour (ideally overnight).
• Pre-heat the oven to 160°C.
• After one hour (or overnight), take the dough out of the fridge. Knead it a couple of times to loosen it up and roll it on a working surface to form a log of about 5 cm diameter. Cut the roll in 2cm-thick slices (as you can fit).
• Take each slice and shape it with your hand into the traditional zaleti diamond shape. Line the biscuits on a baking tray and bake for 20 minutes.
• Cool on a rack and serve with coffee, tea, wine, or mascarpone cream.