Buccellato is the traditional sweet of Lucca, created by confectioners back in 1450 to delight the palates of the city's nobility. It owes its name to 'buccella,' which means morsel in Latin: for the ancient Romans, buccellatum was a round-shaped bread formed from a crown of rolls. In fact, the modern Buccellato di Lucca also originally had a doughnut shape and was never missing from the Sunday tables of the people of Lucca.
It is a very simple but tasty cake: inside it has a sweet and soft dough rich in raisins and ani seeds, while outside it is coatd with a layer of sugar and egg, which gives it its typical shiny brown color. A saying in Lucca goes “Chi viene a Lucca e non mangia il buccellato è come non ci fosse mai stato” (He who comes to Lucca and does not eat buccellato is as if he had never been there) emphasizing the historical connection of this dessert with the city's tradition.
Mix flour, sugar, butter, yeast, salt and one of the two eggs, softening with milk and a some warm water, making a fountain.
Form a soft ball of dough by gradually including the raisins (possibly softened with some liquor) and anise seeds. Let the dough rest for about 1 hour.
After the dough has risen, make sausages with it (or doughnuts) by making a slight cut with a knife on the top of the dough to help it rise. Let it rise for another 1 hour.
Finally coat the top surface of the dough with a mixture of sugar and egg and bake in preheated oven for about 1 hour.
