Langues de Chat (Cat’s Tongues)
Although I find this recipe needing a little more work, I decided to share it with you now. I thought maybe you’d like to follow me in my quest to perfect lengua de gatos.
What’s wrong with my cat’s tongues? Well, they are crisp in texture and golden in color as they are supposed to be. However, I find them far too sturdy and cakey, lacking the buttery taste and melt-in-your mouth fragility of the lengua de gatos I remember. I am not sure if it’s the proportions of ingredients I need to tweak or the piping style I have to modify but something is definitely amiss. Or maybe the recipe is already perfect as it is, and what caused its slight demise was my shifting things a bit. As I have a bad habit of not using measuring implements even in baking wherein the directions are less forgiving, I might have miscalculated my salt. Next time, I’ll stick to the recipe to the letter or maybe play with it a bit more and see what I’d come up with. If you have any suggestions, please!! I’d love to hear from you.
Makes 4 Dozens
Ingredients
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup superfine sugar (caster sugar)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3 egg whites
3/4 cup sifted flour
1/8 tsp salt
Procedure
Preheat oven to 400 F. Lightly butter and flour baking sheets.
In a mixing bowl, cream together butter, sugar and vanilla extract. Add egg whites, one at a time, beating mixture thoroughly with each addition.
Gently but completely fold into creamed mixture the flour sifted with the salt.
Spoon mixture into a pastry bag fitted with a plain tube of about 1/2-in diameter. Pipe the batter onto prepared baking sheets, pressing them about 2 inches long and spacing at least 1 inch apart.
Bake in preheated oven until cookies are just edged with brown, around 6 minutes.
Transfer completely to a rack to cool.
Update: It seems from the discussion in the comments and from further research, Langues de Chat are very similar and yet, quite different from the Lengua de Gatos I remember from the Philippines. One of my favorite food bloggers, Jude of Apple Pie Patis & Pate, explored lengua de gato cookies in his kitchen and came up with the secret to everyone’s fragile, buttery childhood favorite!
Recipes From the Oven in The CookMobile Archive:
More Good Food!
Maybe try substituting 1/4 - 1/3 cup of the castor sugar for powdered sugar… I know it makes my shortbreads nice and melt in your mouth! An egg yolk would help with the tenderness too.
Hope that helps!
Good ideas…I’ll try them this weekend…Thanks.
They look really good. To make them crispier I would reduce the egg whites and increase a little bit the flour. I would also bake them a little longer at lower temperature. I don’t really know if that would work, but it’s worth the try.
Hi Ben!
They are alright. Crisp and delicious but I remember having special lengua de gatos that were thinner, buttery and practically melt in the mouth…
the Martha Stewart recipe i use calls for whole eggs and powder sugar
Lina,
You are the second person who suggested that…maybe that’s the real trick. Actually, I’ve been going over some of the langues de chat recipes I’ve found online…I think langues de chat (which are the French version) are supposed to be crisp on the outside and chewy in the inside like mine were. I might be confusing this with Filipino-style lengua de gato that are so fragile and buttery. That might be a whole new recipe…
Oooh, I loved these as a child but haven’t had any in such a long time. On my to-do list now.
Wow i thought it’s original recipe from my country,Indonesia. But it has a French name… Whenever it come from this is my FAVORITE cookie ever.
Hi Js,
I loved them as a child and still can’t get enough of them as an adult! Please share how yours come out!
Hi Lanee,
I think we all have different versions in our country. Lengua de gato is what we call them in the Philippines.
I remember snacking on these in the philippines… Has a nice slightly caramelly and very buttery taste. Used to sneak some out with my sister
Hi Jude,
I know you love to bake. I am a big fan of all your special breads!
Know of a good lengua de gato recipe?
I just made Langues de Chat last night. It is part of the Advanced baking class I am taking. As explained by our chef instructor, the method for Langues de Chat calls for - the eggwhite and sugar mixed together, then flour and butter added as last. For Lenguas de Gato, butter and sugar are mixed together at the start. Yes, do not confuse Langues de Chat with Lenguas de Gato.
You are also right, Langues de Chat is crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside. The method of eggwhite and sugar mixed together at the start made the texture chewy. I want to practice further on this new methodl.
I have not had the pleasure of eating this kind of cookie, which is a shame as they look good. Will follow your progress on finding the perfect recipe.