Pan de mej

• 90 minutes to prepare • 30 minutes to cook • Serves 15

Elderflowers 

 

Pan de mej is a typical Lombard dessert; its name derives from the word millet, an ingredient widely used in ancient times and which, mixed with other flours, was used to produce bread.

Over time, the normal millet bread was transformed into a delicate sugary dessert which, according to tradition, was prepared on St George's Day (23 April according to the Ambrosian calendar), the ancient date on which contracts for the supply were stipulated of milk between herdsmen and milkmen.

On St. George's Day, the date on which the elderflowers bloomed, the ancient pact was solemnized by preparing the pan de mej sprinkled with elderflowers and the milkmen, for the occasion, gave their customers liquid cream to accompany this delicious dessert , a habit that continued to persist over time.


Here are ingredients for a 15-serving recipe (approximately 15 biscuits):

 

300 g corn flour
150 g flour 00
100 g sugar
150 g butter
3 eggs
1 sachet vanilla baking powder
2 teaspoons elderflowers
powdered sugar
salt

1. Start preparing the pastry: cut the butter into cubes and place it in a bowl. Add flours and vanilla baking powder, both sifted. Add sugar, too, and knead it quickly
2. Stir in the eggs, then add a pinch of salt and elderflowers
3. Place the dough in a bowl, covered by a cloth and let it rest at room temperature for at least 1 hour
4. When we are close to the the 1-hour resting time of the pastry, preheat oven to 180°C
5. Move on to the biscuits preparation: divide the plain butter pastry dough into balls and take 1 of them. Roll the dough out onto a floured sheet of baking parchment to a width of around 10cm, and sprinkle them with powdered sugar
   
6. Bake the biscuits at 180°C for about 30 minutes
7. Once cooked, pull out from the oven to let them cool and enjoy!!!

Nutrition Facts are detailed in the table below. Data is provided per serving (approximately 2 biscuits).