Langues de Chat
JR Ryall's take on a classic cookie recipe from the new Ballymaloe Desserts cookbook.
Ingredients
- ¼ cup unsalted butter
- ⅓ cup superfine sugar
- 2 large (US extra-large) egg whites at room temperature
- ½ tsp pure vanilla extract
- scant ½ cup all-purpose flour
- pinch salt
- 3-4 tbsp demerara (turbinado) sugar for sprinkling
- chopped pistachios or almonds or flaked coconut, for sprinkling (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/Gas Mark 6. Line a large flat baking sheet with baking paper. Fold the paper in half and open it out again to mark a crease down the centre; this line is helpful when piping the biscuits.
- Cream the butter and the sugar in a bowl until light and fluffy. Slowly add the egg whites and vanilla extract and beat until smooth. Sift over the flour and salt and fold everything together until combined.
- Transfer the mixture to a canvas piping (pastry) bag fitted with a 5-mm/⅕-inch-wide circular tip.
- Pipe the mixture onto the lined baking sheet in long pencil-like strips: using the crease in the baking paper as a guide, start piping each biscuit 2 cm/1 inch from the crease and stop piping when you get near the edge of the paper. Leave a gap of 3 cm/1½ inches between each langue de chat.
- Place the baking sheet in the oven for 1 minute, to allow the mixture to melt and flatten out. Remove from the oven and lightly sprinkle the sugar and chopped nuts, if using, on top of each langue de chat. Return the tray to the oven and bake for 5–7 minutes. The underside of each biscuit should be light golden around the edge and still slightly pale in the centre.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the baking sheet. Once cool, the langues de chat will be crisp. Gently lift each langue du chat from the baking sheet and store it in an airtight container until needed.