Cat’s Tongues—Langues de Chat, Finger-Shaped Sugar Cookies

Preparation

1. Step 1

   Preheat oven to 425°F and set racks in upper- and lower-middle levels. Butter and flour 2 or more baking sheets (see page 97), and insert a 3/8-inch round tube into your pastry bag. Briefly beat 2 “large” egg whites in a small bowl to blend, and set aside. Using a portable electric mixer, cream 1/2 stick of unsalted butter in another bowl with 1/3 cup sugar and the grated rind of 1 lemon. When soft and fluffy, start folding in the egg whites rapidly, with a rubber spatula, 1/2 tablespoon at a time. Do not overdo. Keep the mixture puffed and fluffy.

   Step 2

   Then, by big sprinkles, delicately and rapidly fold in 1/3 cup all-purpose flour. Turn the batter into the pastry bag and form shapes 4 inches by 1/2 inch spaced 3 inches apart on the baking sheets. Bake 2 sheets at a time for 6 to 8 minutes, until an 1/8-inch border around the edges of each cookie has browned. Remove from oven and at once, with a flexible-blade spatula, dislodge cookies onto a rack. They crisp as they cool.

2. Variation

   Step 3

   COOKIE CUPS. These make charming edible containers. For 8 cups 3 1/2 inches across. Preheat oven to 425°F and set rack in middle or lower-middle level. Lightly oil the outside of 2 large teacups (or bowls or jars that flare out) and turn upside down. Butter and flour 2 baking sheets (see page 97), and mark four 5 1/2-inch circles spaced 2 inches apart on each. Prepare the preceding cookie batter and, one sheet at a time, drop a spoonful of batter in the center of each circle. Spread out to 1/ 16-inch thickness with the back of a spoon. Bake about 5 minutes, until cookies have browned to within an inch of the center. Set baking sheet on the open door of the oven. Immediately and rapidly, remove one cookie at a time with a flexible-blade spatula, turn it upside down over one of the teacups, and press into place. It will crisp almost at once. Proceed with the second cookie, remove the first from the cup to a rack, and proceed quickly with the third, then the fourth. Close the oven door to bring temperature back up to 425°F before continuing with the second sheet. (Cookies will keep a day or two in a closed container, or can be frozen.)

   Step 4

   Serving Suggestions: Fill with ice cream, sherbet, fresh berries, or a dessert mousse.

   Step 5

   TUILES. Rather than being flat, these are curved, like a roof tile. Form the cookies on a rolling pin or bottle, to make a curved shape. Or wrap them around the handle of a wooden spoon for cylinders, or around a cornucopia shape, and fill with something like a sweet raspberry mousse.

   Step 6

   ANOTHER FORMULA WITH GROUND NUTS: TUILES AUX NOIX—ALMOND OR HAZELNUT WAFERS. Use exactly the same formula as for the cat’s tongues, but fold into the creamed butter 1 cup of toasted and ground hazelnuts or almonds and 2 tablespoons heavy cream. Then proceed to incorporate the egg whites, and finally the flour.

3. To Pulverize Almonds and Other Nuts

   Step 7

   Grind up to 1/2 cup at a time in an electric blender with on-off pulses, or up to 3/4 cup in a food processor, always adding at least 1 tablespoon of granulated sugar to prevent the nuts from turning oily.