Josephine writes, "I was wondering if you had a recipe for fig cookies ... I remember baking them with my grandmother especially around Christmas time. It was a sweet dough and we would fill them with figs, almonds and chocolate. An Italian bakery nearby makes this type of cookie at Christmas time --- but they are not the same. My mother used to have the recipe of her mom's -- but where it is now -- who knows? If you could dig a recipe up, I'd like to make it for my mom."
Prep Time: 2 hours
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Ingredients:
- 1 k (8 1/3 cups) the best flour
- 1 pound 8 ounces (650 g) dried figs
- 1 3/4 cups (350 g) sugar
- 11 ounces (375 g) rendered lard
- 1/4 pound (100 g) raisins
- 1/4 pound (100 g) blanched toasted almonds
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or 1 packet vanillin
- Some bitter chocolate
- The zest of a lemon
- The zest of an orange
- The zest of a tangerine (the fruit should be organically grown)
- 1/2 cup espresso coffee
- 1 teaspoon honey
- A handful of diavulicchi (colored bits of sugar)
Preparation:
According to Pino Correnti author of Il Libro d'Oro della Cucina e dei Vini della Sicilia, the families that set up crèches would invite their friends for traditional carols that were always accompanied by the gentle notes of the pipes. Custom was to offer home made cosi di ficu, fig cookies, at the close of celebrations.
Begin by preparing the filling: grind the figs, citrus zest and almonds together, then put them in a bowl and add to them the raisins, chocolate (he doesn't say how much; go by eye), coffee, and honey. Mix well and let rest, covered.
Soften the lard by kneading a little hot water into it and combine it with the flour to obtain a dough, working in the sugar and vanilla too. Roll out the dough and cut it into pieces large enough to be folded over balls of filling (he suggests doing recognizable shapes, for example donkeys, barrels, dogs, dolls, baskets, etc). Once the filling is in the dough, take a sharp knife and trace zigzag geometric patterns in the dough, so that when the cookies bake the dough will pull back, revelaing the filling below.
As soon as they are done, brush them with lightly beaten egg yolk and sprinkle them with diavulicchi. To heighten the chromatic effect.
Mr. Correnti doesn't say anything about baking time or temperature (this sort of omission is much more common than you might think in Italian recipes). I'd figure a baking temperature of 360 F (180 C) and bake them until light golden.
Begin by preparing the filling: grind the figs, citrus zest and almonds together, then put them in a bowl and add to them the raisins, chocolate (he doesn't say how much; go by eye), coffee, and honey. Mix well and let rest, covered.
Soften the lard by kneading a little hot water into it and combine it with the flour to obtain a dough, working in the sugar and vanilla too. Roll out the dough and cut it into pieces large enough to be folded over balls of filling (he suggests doing recognizable shapes, for example donkeys, barrels, dogs, dolls, baskets, etc). Once the filling is in the dough, take a sharp knife and trace zigzag geometric patterns in the dough, so that when the cookies bake the dough will pull back, revelaing the filling below.
As soon as they are done, brush them with lightly beaten egg yolk and sprinkle them with diavulicchi. To heighten the chromatic effect.
Mr. Correnti doesn't say anything about baking time or temperature (this sort of omission is much more common than you might think in Italian recipes). I'd figure a baking temperature of 360 F (180 C) and bake them until light golden.
