Recipe: Tarralucci or Lady Fingers (Italian cookies)

Tarralucci or Lady Fingers (Italian cookies)
rec.food.cooking/Diane M. Ferrell (1993)

1 dozen extra large eggs
2 1/4 cups melted shortening (butter, margarine, and Crisco mixed together)
2 cups sugar
5 tbs pure vanilla
3 tsp orange extract
2 tsp lemon extract
4 tbsp grated orange rind
3 tbsp grated lemon rind
(the purchased variety is okay for both the rinds)
14-17 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder per cup of flour used

Whip the eggs until foamy. Add the sugar and cream well. Add the melted shortening--cool it first. Then mix in the extracts and rinds. Mix well.

Place the mixture in a very large bowl (at the very least 8 quart size). Add about half the flour and baking powder and mix well with a heavy spoon.

At this point you will probably have to begin using your hands for the mixing. Start adding the flour and baking powder 2 cups at a time and mixing well after each addition. Oil your hands to help keep the dough from sticking as you mix.

This is the tricky part, knowing when the dough has had enough flour. It should be very smooth and slightly tacky but come clean from your hand. Continue kneading the dough for about 2-3 minutes. I usually turn it out on a well floured board, oil my hands and continue kneading. It will have a slight sheen to it and be smooth--although not as smooth as bread dough and definitely not as elastic. Cover with a towel and let the dough rest for about 1/2 hour.

My grandmother taught me how to do this and I don't know if it comes across right when it is written.

To form the cookies, you can do several things. They can be made into the shape of a doughnut or a lady finger and I sometimes get tired of these and form "s". For doughnut shape - pinch off a good handful of dough and roll it into a short log in the palms of your hands. Then roll the log into a piece approximately 8 inches long and about 1/2" thick--like a rope. Do this on a board or on your table. Bring the two ends together and pinch together well so that there is not seam. You should be able to place two fingertips inside the hole of the doughnut. Place on a greased cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees until just golden on the bottom. They will really raise. For a large (the old kind--that's all I've got) cookie sheet - you should be able to get two dozen cookies per sheet.

For lady finger shape - you don't need quite as much dough - form into a log about 3" long and 1/2" in diameter. You can get about 30 per cookie sheet.

For the "s" shape - roll out the log only slightly thinner and then wind it in from each end to the middle making sure that it sticks together at the middle.

Keep oiling your hands to prevent the dough from sticking either on the board or your hands.

ICING:
4 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup melted butter
1/2 cup milk
small tsp of vanilla
small tsp of lemon extract
coloring if desired - use the paste kind rather than liquid.

Mix well. The icing should be thick runny - that is - if you lift out a handful of the icing it should form a thick ribbon from your hand. To ice the cookies usually requires two people. One person works quite quickly and ices each cookie all over. The second person either dips the cookies in shredded coconut, chopped walnuts or sprinkles non-periels (spelling) over them.

This recipe makes about 33 dozen lady fingers and slightly less tarralucci's.