I separate the yolks from egg white, that we do not need. I put them in a steel pot with a handle to be placed in bain marie in a larger one. We join to the egg yolks the sugar and we whip until it becomes foamy and very clear. I join little at a time half a glass of liquor and when the mixture is well blended, we can immerse the pot in water. The flame should remain low and never boil. I constantly stir with a whisk for about 15 minutes, until the cream thickens. When it become velvety we remove the cream from the heat and we can immediately pour it in cups or served it cold, stirring until completely cold. Usually it is served in glass cups, maybe with a sprinkling of cocoa and accompanied by dry biscuits! Really delicious its liqueur aftertaste... Try it!

English version

Piedmont is very famous for its pastries and all kind of cookies, that accompany dessert wines, like Amaretti, Baci di Dama, Savoiardi, Krumiri and many others… Among all, every baker does also bake the classic "Lingue di Gatto": elongated biscuits, reminiscent of little cat tongues. Probably it has French origins: in Paris they were traditionally preserved in cans with the illustration of Puss in Boots. They are now spread in every region and baked in different varieties, with hazelnuts, covered with chocolate, or eaten simple, delicious to dip in coffee in the morning, or to be enjoyed with creams like an aromatic "Zabaione"!
The process is very simple, as well the ingredients: we only need egg white, sugar flour and butter divided into equal parts.


Ingredients (for about 50 cookies)

• 100g flour
• 100g butter
• 100g icing sugar
• 4 egg whites
• Vanillin

We put the softened butter in a bowl and we work it with a spoon. Then we add icing sugar until we get a very soft cream. We incorporate sieved flour and Vanillin and finally the egg whites, one at time (we can keep the egg yolk aside for a delicious Zabaione cream!). They should not be too cold. We mix until dough is well blended. With the help of a pastry bag with a 6mm straight tip we form in a baking pan 6cm long sticks, leaving between them a little space so that they do not touch during cooking. We bake them at 200 degrees for about 7 minutes, until the edges begin to brown. Once removed from the oven we can preserve them in a tin-can, or enjoy them right away!;)

Ricopro i piccoli sandwich iniziando prima a uniformare i lati e poi il centro. Meno sbavature ci sono, più la pasta di zucchero coprirà la torta rendendola perfettamente liscia. Le lascio riposare in frigo finché non indurisce la crema e intanto prendo la pasta di zucchero.

At first, we introduce the "Sugar paste"or "Fondant", from the French word "fondre," which means "to melt", because fondant tends to melt in the mouth. This modelling paste for cake icing is currently much in vogue, but known in Europe, especially in England, since a long time. It's primarily made of sugar and water, gelatin and glucose to make it rubbery. It's perfect for covering cakes and cupcakes, and shape everything, creating true works of art. It's widely used in England and United States, so as to call these cakes "English Cakes".

Nowadays we easily find it in supermarkets, but the homemade one s definitely softer and more malleable, because it dries after longer time. If it seems too hard, I recommend a few drops of honey... But if we want to make it at home, here it is the perfect recipe:

For the topping, I highly recommend you to follow the recipe of butter cream rather than jam or others that coulnd't make smooth and cover the dough with sugar avoiding it melts. I didn't' have icing sugar, so I added cocoa to get the right consistency. Anyway I do not recommend it: cocoa could easily get the white fondant dirty. For the buttercream, I mix the icing sugar with softened butter and margarine well. I flush the milk and I go on mixing until creamy, smooth and quite thick. I keep the cream it in the fridge.

I cover the small sandwich starting from the edges to the center. As less there are imperfections as the sugar paste will cover the cake making it perfectly smooth. I leave it in the fridge until it hardens and then I take the sugar paste.

It's better using a knife without teeth to cut out the sugar paste. Once covered all the cakes, we can compose our two-floor "Mini Cakes" putting the smallest cake on the larger one. Due to the small dimensions it's not necessary to use two toothpicks to pierce in the center to hold the weight, but I did it. We spread gelatine or arabic gum diluted in water over it and after we carefully place the cake in the center. A slight pressure and we already haveour structure.

I start to create a fountain of flour. I add salt, yeast, sugar and softened butter. I amalgamate well and then I add the milk. I knead with hands until I get a rather smooth and not sticky dough. I let it rest in the fridge for 15 minutes, wrapped in plastic. 
After this interval, I stretch out the dough into a rather thick layer, about 2cm, and I cut disks with a pastry ring of 6,5 cm. I place them on a large sheet, covered with parchment paper, and I brush the surface with beaten egg along with a tablespoon of milk. 
I just bake at 200 degrees for 15 minutes until they are golden and in a short time we have littles delicious sweet cakes that can be filled with jam, clotted cream, but also lemon curd, or simply to enjoy themselves in all their soften goodness! 

For Ginger it was a delightful discovery, looking forward to taste them again, even for breakfast!;)