Cuccidati and their Saturated Fat-Free Cousins

Gail makes these at Christmas. I proposed that Suzanne and I make them. Predictably, Suzanne did most of the work while I served as sous-chef.

Aren't these lovely? Not ours. Copied from the web.

Now isn't this cat cute? Not ours either, but we do seem to have a gallery of pictures of a certain cat in here, so I thought no one would censor this guy. Dan, of course, is a Cat of Rectitude. This one seems to have more in common with the Honeybadger, mentioned in a post of Suzanne's, below.

The honeybadger: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4r7wHMg5Yjg

Anyway, all of the cuccidati got the same filling: Pulse 1 c figs and 1/4 c raisins. Stir in 3.4 c. mild honey, 1.4 c brandy, 1 1/2 t. finely grated fresh orange zest and 1 t. finely grated fresh lemon zest (Rob did a fine job on that), 1 T. ground cinnamon, 1/4 t. cloves (Rob may have forgotten that part b/c she found four cloves at loose ends in the spice grinder the next day), 1/4 t. grated nutmeg, and 3/4 c toasted almonds and 3/4 c toasted pecans, all coarsely chopt. (I suppose one could use coarse language while chopping them.) Let that chill for 8 hours. Sure. Plan ahead next time.

For the dough for the non-fat-free branch of the family, whisk or process 4 c flour, 1 c. + 2 T. sugar, 1 T. baking powder, and 1 t. salt. Add 2 lightly beaten eggs, 1/2 c. whole milk, 1 1/2 t. vanilla, and 1 t. finely grated fresh orange or lemon zest. Stir until you can gather it into a blob. Halve the blob and gather each half into a ball, then flatten each half into a rough 6 x 4 inch rectangle. This can fit into a plastic bag. Chill 8 hours. Now boys and girls, here's a tip: keep your flour in the freezer. Really speeds up the chilling process.

Another tip: This recipe quite elegantly matches the quantities of the dough and the filling. Those of us who are tempted to take pinches on the sly must purloin equally from the filling and the dough.

For the abstemious cousins, omit the milk and substitute 1/2 c eggbeaters and 1/2 c roasted almond oil. Whiz the liquids with that little bastard that sent me to the emergency room a few weeks back.

Preheat oven to 350. Roll out each rectangle of dough into 12" x 14" rectangles, and cut each rectangle into 3 lengthwise strips. A few rolling strategies: chill each blob in a 1 gal. plastic bag and roll it out to fit the innards of the sealed bag. If you can spread it any more (and those lithe fat-free guys were admittedly more supple), you can then cut open the bag (leaving the bottom seam intact), flop the square down on the sheet, remove the bag, and use it atop the dough to spread it further. Spread the filling down the middle of each strip, then close it up and pinch it shut. Roll the logs over so that the seams are on the bottom. Cut the logs into 1 1/2" slices, leaving the slices dough side down on a buttered (or for the fat-free folks, otherwise stick-free) cookie sheet. Bake until golden around edges for 16 - 20 min. If you forget to slice them, they take longer to cook, but they turn out ok anyway.