In January, in the patisseries and bakeries in Parma there is never lack of this type of glazed cookies in the shape of a shoe, much loved by Parmigiani and ideal to accompany hot tea or coffee but also a nice glass of fresh Malvasia.
This dessert owes its shape and its name to a legend according to which, seeing Sant’Ilario pass from Parma barefoot during a snowfall, a shoemaker gave him a pair of shoes. The day after the shoemaker in the place where the donated shoes were placed, he found a pair of gold shoes.
Ingredients:
500 grams of flour wheat
4 eggs
250 grams of sugar
150 grams of butter
1 vanillin envelope
grated lemon peel
200 grams of icing sugar
food colour by choice
sugar pearls
Preparation:
pour the flour on the pastry board, make a crater in the middle and pour the ingredients before the mixing.
Soften the butter at ambient temperature, break the eggs using two entirely and of the other two just the yolks, knead the eggs taking the flour from the sides and add the soften butter, the grated lemon peels and the vanillin.
Knead properly up to obtain a compact compound that must be stretch out with the rolling pin till it becomes five millimeters thick. Cut the dough with a knife in order to obtain several ankle boots, that is the classical St Hilary’s Shoes.
Anoint a baking-pan with butter and then put the biscuits in the oven at a medium temperature until they form a golden crust (about half an hour). In the meantime prepare the icing: put in a bowl the icing sugar and some spoon of water, stirring with a wooden spatula.
When the mixture will have reached the right consistence add some food colour’s drops.
As soon as they are cooked take the biscuits from the oven, cover it with icing and adorn them with sugar pearls.
Serve it with a fresh bottle of sweet Malvasia.
