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Bravo, biscotti By The Canadian Living Test Kitchen

These Italian-wedding-shower favourites are delicious for any occasion.

Almond Anisette Biscotti
Photography by Yvonne Duivenvoorden

Few cultural traditions rival the liveliness of an Italian wedding shower. It’s one part decadence and one part Mardi Gras – all on a Sunday afternoon. Picture this: 100 of your closest female relatives and friends crowded into a large banquet hall (nonstop laughter, hugging and cheek pinching) sitting down to a catered four-course Italian meal, which is topped off with a homemade cookie buffet that must be seen – and tasted – to be believed.

So why the cookies when you’ve already enjoyed a filling tiramisu with dinner? Well, that’s simple: the cookies aren’t intended for dessert – some families call them the “biscotti booty.”

Once the bride-to-be has opened all the gifts and the last bow has been stapled to the colourful paper-plate hat, you and the other 99 women armed with paper plates and foil converge upon the cookie table, jockeying for position to get the time-honoured favourites (is it Nonna’s mostaccioli?) and scoop up the most cherished morsels (perhaps the pignoli). Some guests even bring extra-large handbags to discretely ferry their riches home to husbands and sons. Think of it as a tasty little thank-you!